California has sold out of the first pollution permits issued  at an inaugural auction as part of a landmark offensive against greenhouse gases, regulators said Monday, adding that the sale went smoothly. The effort to curtail carbon emissions involved the sale of 23.1 million permits — each allowing for the release of 1 ton of carbon — for $10.09 apiece, the California Air Resources Board said. Read More

The utility company responsible for last year’s deadly pipeline explosion on a quiet suburban street in San Bruno announced Tuesday it’s claiming financial liability. However, residents affected by the blast say that’s not enough, and many still think PG&E needs to pay for what it did to the neighborhood. Residents said they plan to hold the company responsible for punitive damages by pursuing their original lawsuits. Read More

In an all-day hearing, federal investigators summed up what many residents of San Bruno assumed months ago: PG&E is to blame for a massive pipeline blast that leveled a neighborhood and killed eight people one year ago. National Transportation Safety Board investigators concluded the powerful utility company had several opportunities to avert the deadly Sept. 9 explosion, but failed to do so. The tragedy was made worse by PG&E’s poor response after the disaster. Read More

When news spread that a quiet San Bruno neighborhood was going up in flames, emergency officials from more than a dozen cities and three counties immediately came together in a massive, coordinated effort to save lives and homes.And that effort wasn’t cheap. Read More