Science
On 7-5 vote, AQMD rejects gas appliance surcharge aimed at improving air quality
On a 7-5 vote, the South Coast Air Quality Management District on Friday rejected controversial measures aimed at reducing air pollution by imposing surcharges that could make natural gas-powered water heaters and furnaces more expensive to buy.
In voting to deny the measures, AQMD board member Janet Nguyen said the rule would unnecessarily penalize people by raising the cost of household appliances.
“I, like everybody here, support clean air,” said Nguyen, who also serves as an Orange County supervisor. “But we must also pursue environmental progress without punishing the very people we serve today. These rules don’t target refineries or shipping ports. They target people, the 17 million homeowners, renters …”
Board member Holly Mitchell took the other side, saying the rules were needed to improve air quality in the nation’s smoggiest air basin.
“We have to make tough decisions on the greater good every day,” Mitchell said. “I think that we have to do what we can as quickly as we can, to get into [air quality] attainment, to avoid federal penalties and to do what’s in the best interest of the public’s health.”
The AQMD governing board’s vote followed a warning Friday from Bill Essayli, the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, that any action to impede the use of domestic energy resources would face a legal challenge by his office.
“California regulators are on notice: if you pass illegal bans or penalties on gas appliances, we’ll see you in court,” Essayli said on X. “The law is clear—feds set energy policy, not unelected climate bureaucrats.”
During a six-hour public hearing before the vote, environmental advocates favoring the measure squared off against Southern California Gas, the largest gas utility in the nation, and others who said the measure would make gas appliances less affordable and place a greater burden on an already-stressed electrical grid.
“It would be a devastating financial blow to our most low-income and senior, vulnerable citizens,” said Bob Karwin, mayor pro tem of the Riverside County city of Menifee. “If electric was better, cheaper, faster and safer, people would choose it on their own.”
Lynwood City Councilman Juan Muñoz-Guevara countered that the clean air standards cannot be reached without the measures.
“Gas appliances in our home are now one of the largest sources of smog-forming pollution in the region,” Muñoz-Guevara said. “The proposed rules are a long-overdue step toward environmental justice. They will save lives and begin to correct decades of pollution burden on front-line communities.”
The measures denied Friday would’ve imposed pollution-mitigation fees on manufacturers that sell gas-powered furnaces and water heaters in the region. The amount of these fees would’ve depend on manufacturers’ compliance with newly established sales targets for electric space and water heaters.
To meet the targets, 30% of manufacturers’ sales would have needed to consist of zero-emission models starting in 2027. That would rise to 50% in 2029 and eventually 90% by 2036.
Under the rule, manufacturers would be charged $100 for each gas furnace and $50 for every gas water heater they sell within the targets. For sales that exceed the cap, they would pay $500 and $250, respectively. Revenue from these fees would be used to help pay for zero-emission appliances, especially in disadvantaged communities, according to the air district.
The rules were expected to significantly boost the installation of zero-emission heating equipment across Southern California, gradually displacing some of the region’s 10 million gas-powered furnaces and water heating units. The policy would apply across the air district’s jurisdiction, which includes Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and a portion of San Bernardino counties.
Once fully implemented, they were expected to prevent the release of 6 tons of smog-forming nitrogen dioxides each day — roughly the amount released by two natural gas power plants. It is also expected to avert nearly 2,500 premature deaths and more than 10,000 new cases of asthma, according to the air district.
The governing board ultimately agreed to consider alternative measures, including one that would culminate with a 50% sales target for electric space and water heaters. However, air district officials said the issue was unlikely to return before the governing board again this year.
Ahead of the vote, the air district was flooded with more than 14,000 public comments, most of which were opposed to the new rules, and more than 100 people packed the air district’s headquarters in Diamond Bar for Friday’s vote.
Environmental advocates were seated in the gallery holding signs that read “Delay is Deadly” and “Clean Air Now.” They shared the room with business representatives and some local elected officials who opposed the rules.
Many opponents argued that heat pumps are several thousands of dollars more expensive than gas furnaces. However, air district officials noted that heat pumps are dual-purpose appliances providing heating and cooling that can replace furnaces and air conditioning. When viewed through that lens, replacing both appliances can save homeowners money, according to the air district.
For decades, Southern California has failed to comply with federal air quality standards for smog. The failed regulations were among the latest actions designed to reduce smog-forming emissions from gas appliances. Last year, the board voted to enact a new rule phasing out gas-fired water heating equipment for pool and hot-tub owners.
In recent years, regulation that aims to transition away from gas appliances have become more politically charged, with a number of Republican elected officials vowing to fight rules that would ban the sale of gas appliances, such as stoves.
Our universe might be chock-full of cosmic wonder, but you can observe only a fraction of astronomical phenomena with the naked eye. Meteor showers, natural fireworks that streak brightly across the night sky, are one of them.
The latest observable meteor shower will be the Lyrids, which has been active since April 14 and is forecast to continue through April 30. The shower reaches its peak April 21 to 22, or Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
According to NASA, the Lyrids are one of the oldest known meteor showers, and have been enjoyed by stargazers for nearly 3,000 years. Their bright, speedy streaks are caused by the dusty debris from a comet named Thatcher. They appear to spring from the constellation Lyra, which right now can be seen in the eastern sky at night in the Northern Hemisphere.
The moon will be about 27 percent full tonight, appearing as a thick crescent in the sky, according to the American Meteor Society.
To get a hint at when to best watch for the Lyrids, you can use this tool, which relies on data from the Global Meteor Network. It shows fireball activity levels in real time.
And while you gaze at the heavens, keep an eye out for other stray meteors streaking across the night sky. Skywatchers are reporting that the amount of fireballs is double what is usually seen by this point in the year.
Where meteor showers come from
There is a chance you might see a meteor on any given night, but you are most likely to catch one during a shower. Meteor showers are caused by Earth passing through the rubble trailing a comet or asteroid as it swings around the sun. This debris, which can be as small as a grain of sand, leaves behind a glowing stream of light as it burns up in Earth’s atmosphere.
Meteor showers occur around the same time every year and can last for days or weeks. But there is only a small window when each shower is at its peak, which happens when Earth reaches the densest part of the cosmic debris. The peak is the best time to look for a shower. From our point of view on Earth, the meteors will appear to come from the same point in the sky.
The Perseid meteor shower, for example, peaks in mid-August from the constellation Perseus. The Geminids, which occur every December, radiate from the constellation Gemini.
How to watch a meteor shower
Michelle Nichols, the director of public observing at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, recommends forgoing the use of telescopes or binoculars while watching a meteor shower.
“You just need your eyes and, ideally, a dark sky,” she said.
That’s because meteors can shoot across large swaths of the sky, so observing equipment can limit your field of view.
Some showers are strong enough to produce up to 100 streaks an hour, according to the American Meteor Society, though you probably won’t see that many.
“Almost everybody is under a light-polluted sky,” Ms. Nichols said. “You may think you’re under a dark sky, but in reality, even in a small town, you can have bright lights nearby.”
Planetariums, local astronomy clubs or even maps like this one can help you figure out where to go to escape excessive light. The best conditions for catching a meteor shower are a clear sky with no moon or cloud cover, sometime between midnight and sunrise. (Moonlight affects visibility in the same way as light pollution, washing out fainter sources of light in the sky.) Make sure to give your eyes at least 30 minutes to adjust to seeing in the dark.
Ms. Nichols also recommends wearing layers, even during the summer. “You’re going to be sitting there for quite a while, watching,” she said. “It’s going to get chilly, even in August.”
Bring a cup of cocoa or tea for even more warmth. Then lie back, scan the sky and enjoy the show.
Where weather is least likely to affect your view
Storm systems sweep across the country in early spring, and some will be obscuring skies tonight. But there will still be plenty of areas with clear skies, particularly in parts of the central United States.
“The best spot is going to be in the Upper Midwest,” said Rich Bann, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center.
Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa will offer especially good sky-viewing weather and a beach on the Great Lakes could be a nice spot to look up at the stars.
But don’t expect to view the show from Chicago, as Illinois could see some thunderstorms. The weather will be better in the Northern and Central Plains, particularly the eastern Dakotas.
High, wispy clouds are expected over the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys and into parts of the Mid-Atlantic. But, Mr. Bann said, “you may be able to see some shooting stars through thin clouds.”
Clouds will be draped across much of the Southeast and the Northeast, though there could be some clearing in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia. Remember, the meteors could be visible all night long. If you look outside and see clouds, try again later.
Catching the spectacle will be challenging across much of the West, particularly from Washington into Northern California, where a storm system is bringing rain and snow. That system will move east overnight.
There are likely to be some pockets of clear skies at times across southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southwest Utah, Mr. Bann said.
Amy Graff contributed reporting.
WASHINGTON — Amid growing national security concerns, the FBI said Tuesday that it has launched a broad investigation in the deaths or disappearances of at least 10 scientists and staff connected to highly sensitive research, including four from the Los Angeles area.
“The FBI is spearheading the effort to look for connections into the missing and deceased scientists. We are working with the Department of Energy, Department of War, and with our state and state and local law enforcement partners to find answers,” the agency said in a statement.
The FBI’s announcement comes after the House Oversight Committee announced that it would investigate reports of the disappearance and deaths of the scientists, sending letters seeking information from the agencies involved in the federal inquiry as well as NASA, which owns the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, where three of the missing or dead scientists worked.
“If the reports are accurate, these deaths and disappearances may represent a grave threat to U.S. national security and to U.S. personnel with access to scientific secrets,” Reps. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the committee, and Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) wrote in the letters.
President Trump told reporters last week that he had been briefed on the missing and dead scientists, which he described as “pretty serious stuff.” He said at the time that he expected answers on whether the deaths were connected “in the next week and a half.”
Michael David Hicks, who studied comets and asteroids at JPL, was the first of the scientists who disappeared or died. He died on July 30, 2023, at the age of 59. No cause of death was disclosed.
A year later, JPL physicist Frank Maiwald died at 61, with no cause of death disclosed.
Two other Los Angeles scientists are part of the string of deaths and disappearances.
On June 22, 2025, Monica Jacinto Reza, a materials scientist at JPL, disappeared while on a hike near Mt. Waterman in the San Gabriel Mountains.
On Feb. 16, Caltech astrophysicist Carl Grillmair was fatally shot on the porch of his Llano home. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department arrested Freddy Snyder, 29, in connection with the shooting. Snyder had been arrested in December on suspicion of trespassing on Grillmair’s property.
Snyder has been charged with murder.
There is no evidence at this point that the deaths and disappearances, which occurred over a span of four years, are connected.
A spokesperson for NASA, which owns JPL, said in a statement on X that the agency is “coordinating and cooperating with the relevant agencies in relation to the missing scientists.
“At this time, nothing related to NASA indicates a national security threat,” agency spokesperson Bethany Stevens wrote. “The agency is committed to transparency and will provide more information as able.”
Representatives from Caltech, which manages JPL, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The sun had barely risen over the Pacific Ocean when a small motorboat carrying a team of Indigenous artisans and Mexican biologists dropped anchor in a rocky cove near Bahías de Huatulco.
Mauro Habacuc Avendaño Luis, one of the craftsmen, was the first to wade to shore. With an agility belying his age, he struck out over the boulders exposed by low tide. Crouching on a slippery ledge pounded by surf, he reached inside a crevice between two rocks. There, lodged among the urchins, was a snail with a knobby gray shell the size of a walnut. The sight might not dazzle tourists who travel here to see humpback whales, but for Mr. Avendaño, 85, these drab little mollusks represent a way of life.
Marine snails in the genus Plicopurpura are sacred to the Mixtec people of Pinotepa de Don Luis, a small town in southwestern Oaxaca. Men like Mr. Avendaño have been sustainably “milking” them for radiant purple dye for at least 1,500 years. The color suffuses Mixtec textiles and spiritual beliefs. Called tixinda, it symbolizes fertility and death, as well as mythic ties between lunar cycles, women and the sea.
The future of these traditions — and the fate of the snails — are uncertain. The mollusks are subject to intense poaching pressure despite federal protections intended to protect them. Fishermen break them (and the other mollusks they eat) open and sell the meat to local restaurants. Tourists who comb the beaches pluck snails off the rocks and toss them aside.
A severe earthquake in 2020 thrust formerly submerged parts of their habitat above sea level, fatally tossing other mollusks in the snail’s food web to the air, and making once inaccessible places more available to poachers.
Decades ago, dense clusters of snails the size of doorknobs were easy to find, according to Mr. Avendaño. “Full of snails,” he said, sweeping a calloused, violet-stained hand across the coves. Now, most of the snails he finds are small, just over an inch, and yield only a few milliliters of dye.
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