Baykeeper publishes a monthly column on San Francisco Bay cultural, environmental, and maritime issues.
(June 2017) Do you love San Francisco Bay? Do you want to see the Bay pollution-free, with healthy wildlife? Do you want to support a powerful local cause? Then mark your calendar for the fourth annual Bay Parade on Sunday, July 9, when you can join San Francisco Baykeeper on the water for an unforgettable day on the Bay.
You have lots of ways to join the Bay Parade. You can swim 6.5 miles (solo...
(May 2017) Twenty-one Bay Area industrial facilities used to contaminate San Francisco Bay every time it rained. But this year, during the record rains, these sites didn’t pollute the Bay, thanks to Baykeeper and our Bay-Safe Industry Campaign.
The types of industrial facilities that cleaned up their sites under our campaign include auto dismantlers, ship repair yards, manufacturers of concrete...
(April 2017)
This year, the Bay Area has been deluged with rain. After years of severe drought, we’re not complaining. However, the downpour came with side effects. Creeks, roads and neighborhoods flooded. Sewage overflows caused major spills in local communities. Billions of gallons of rainwater washed off polluted surfaces, moving heavy loads of trash, oil and other contaminants into San...
(March 2017) Amid the drama of alternative facts and security leaks, the new administration has been unpredictable. And as its anti-environment agenda becomes clearer, Baykeeper’s attorneys and scientists are evaluating how best to protect San Francisco Bay from looming threats.
One imminent threat is the administration’s short-circuiting of environmental protections in order to facilitate...
(February 2017) San Francisco Bay’s native fish are dying for water.
In the past, the Bay was an exceptionally rich environment for wildlife. San Francisco Bay is part of the Bay-Delta estuary, where fresh river water mixes with salty ocean tides. This creates multiple diverse ecosystems that sustain a variety of fish, birds, seals and other mammals, as well as other creatures large and small...
(January 2017) Cars stopping when San Francisco Bay water washes onto roads. Waves breaking on pedestrian sidewalks. Water flooding onto polluted oil refinery shorelines. It all happens during the year’s highest tides—and could happen daily as global climate change causes sea levels to rise.
In the years to come, Bay Area shorelines will be at greater risk of the kind of flooding now only seen...
(December 2016) Recent elections brought good news for San Francisco Bay—and some uncertainties.
The good news: In November, California voters passed the statewide ban on single-use plastic grocery bags, Proposition 67. The measure succeeded despite the plastic bag industry spending more than $6 million against it. And it won in spite of the industry’s efforts to include Proposition 65 on the...
(November 2016) More long freight trains of tank cars full of crude oil, chugging along San Francisco Bay’s shore and rumbling through our communities. That’s the oil industry’s vision for the Bay Area.
Baykeeper, along with partner environmental groups and concerned Bay Area residents, has a different vision. And together, we have derailed two major pieces of the oil industry’s strategy for...
(October 2016) After more than 20 years as an environmental advocate, I shouldn’t be surprised by industry shenanigans, but I still am. Case in point: On November 8, California voters will have the chance to vote on a ballot measure, Proposition 67, to ban single-use plastic bags.
Most people know that plastic bags are bad for our environment. We see plastic bags littering our creek beds,...
(September 2016) A plastic takeout cup dropped on a Napa street, a food wrapper tossed outside the Giants’ ballpark, cigarette butts stubbed out in an Oakland park—it’s all likely to end up in San Francisco Bay. Trash in the water mars the Bay’s beauty. It poses a hazard for swimmers and surfers. And for wildlife, trash is a matter of life and death. Fish and birds can mistake plastic and other...