Bay Briefing: How wildfires are undermining California’s climate progress - San Francisco Chronicle

The fire may be out in Paradise, but problems are far from over. Not only did the Camp Fire destroy lives and homes, reporter Kurtis Alexander writes, it’s harmed the state’s fight against climate change. And now, flooding caused by heavy rainfall is prompting evacuations around the Butte County town.

The Camp Fire released as much greenhouse gas as all of California’s cars and trucks produce in a week, according to state estimates. That’s relatively small when it comes to worldwide emissions. But last year, the cumulative greenhouse gases released by California fires were equal to about 9 percent of the total generated by human activity statewide.

And the problems don’t end there.

The fires are burning down forests that, when healthy, absorb heat-trapping gas and help stabilize the Earth’s temperature. That absorption is being lost. The effect is what one conservationist calls a “double whammy”: Wildfires add to the planet’s carbon emissions, while also destroying a source of long-term storage for carbon that’s slow to rebuild.

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Are California’s forests now giving off more greenhouses gases than they take in? That remains in dispute. But climate scientists agree that the balance is heading in a bad direction.

More fallout from the Camp Fire: California regulators signaled on Thursday that they want an existing safety investigation into PG&E to be expanded to include a review of recent wildfires. Their meeting was interrupted by more than 30 activists blaming the utility for the Camp Fire, chanting “Justice for Paradise.” The utility faces billions of dollars in liability if found culpable for the fire.

Top of the News

•Windfall: San Francisco got a surprise payday. Excess funds from a state program poured an unexpected $415 million into city coffers. More than half will go to budget reserves, the SFMTA, public schools and other services under rules set by the City Charter. But what do Mayor London Breed and the Board of Supervisors want to do with the remaining $181 million?

• ‘Worth a special journey’: San Francisco’s Atelier Crenn and Healdsburg’s Single Thread are the newest Bay Area restaurants to be elevated to three-star status in the 2019 Michelin guide, one of the top honors in the global food world. The additions mean the region has more restaurants with the distinction than any other place in North America.

•Top Dem resigns: California Democratic Party Chair Eric Bauman resigned Thursday after being accused of multiple instances of sexual misconduct last week, following additional reporting by the Los Angeles Times and a call from Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom for Bauman to step-down.

•Election surprise: As California ballot counting continued deep into November, Republicans in the state saw leads they had on election night shrink and evaporate. Democratic votes eventually flipped seven GOP-held congressional seats. John Wildermuth and Tal Kopan report on why the party was caught off-guard by a minor change to the election rules signed by Gov. Brown two years ago.

•Not enough KD: Kevin Durant scored 51 points, but his dazzling performance wasn’t enough as the Warriors lost to the Raptors in Toronto 131-128 in overtime in a matchup that might be a precursor to next spring’s NBA Finals.

•Another issue for Juul: Six California legislators say they’ll be introducing a bill to ban the sale of flavored tobacco in retail stores and vending machines on Monday. If it passes, it will become the first such statewide ban in the nation.

•I can’t top this for my 34th: July 26, 1978 — it was Mick Jagger’s 34th birthday and the Rolling Stones had made the Oakland Coliseum a last-minute addition to their U.S. tour. The hype and spectacle were hard to beat, even for the Stones, writes Peter Hartlaub. We’ve dug up rare photos of fans at the “Very Special Day on the Green” from the Chronicle archive.

•281 curves: The last remaining piece from the “Crookedest Railroad in the World” that once climbed Mount Tamalpais in the early 20th Century, is back in the Bay Area. Engine No. 9 is in an “undisclosed location” in Marin County to avoid crowds, but the group that purchased it from Scotia has plans to repair and eventually display the engine for a new generation of Muir Woods visitors.

•Evicting the eviction fee: They rented out their Oakland home after being reassigned to a base in Washington state. Now a married military couple who had to pay thousands of dollars to boot their tenants to move back into the house on short notice say the city law requiring the fee violates their rights. Their lawsuit could have implications for similar laws in San Francisco and Berkeley.

•How well do you know the Golden State?: Quick — how deep is Lake Tahoe? Test your knowledge with our quiz on California trivia — you might just learn something about your home state.

The Kicker

“I can’t go to Paris and not go to Bordeaux!” That’s what Warriors power forward Draymond Green told wine writer Esther Mobley as he waxed nostalgic about his off-season trip to some of the world’s most highly regarded wineries in France.

Green is one of many NBA players who are full-fledged wine aficionados, among them Lebron James, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony. What started as an alternative drink to spirits for Green has now turned into a regular hobby.

“It’s more about actually tasting the wine, trying to figure out the differences in grapes, the difference between younger wines and older wines,” Green says.

So why has wine become the new status symbol in the NBA?

Bay Briefing is written by Taylor Kate Brown and sent to readers’ email inboxes on weekday mornings. Sign up for the newsletter here and contact Brown at taylor.brown@sfchronicle.com

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