Solar Power Milestone - LAist

Solar Power Milestone

- It accounted for 53% of new capacitySolar farm in Central California.(Cavan Images/Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Topline:
Solar accounted for most of the capacity the nation added to its electric grids last year. That feat marks the first time since World War II, when hydropower was booming, that a renewable power source has comprised more than half of the nation’s energy additions.
Specifics: “It’s really monumental,” said Shawn Rumery, senior director of research at the Solar Energy Industries Association, or SEIA. The trade group announced the 2023 numbers in
a report released today with analytics firm Wood MacKenzie. The 32.4 gigawatts that came online in the United States last year shattered the previous high of 23.6 gigawatts recorded in 2021 and accounted for 53% of new capacity. Natural gas was next in line at a distant 18%.
Read more ... for a closer look at the factors that led to this solar surge.
Solar accounted for most of the capacity the nation added to its electric grids last year. That feat marks the first time since World War II, when hydropower was booming, that a renewable power source has comprised more than half of the nation’s energy additions.
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This story was originally published by
Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.
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Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.
“It’s really monumental,” said Shawn Rumery, senior director of research at the Solar Energy Industries Association, or SEIA. The trade group announced the 2023 numbers in
a report released today with analytics firm Wood MacKenzie. The 32.4 gigawatts that came online in the United States last year shattered the previous high of 23.6 gigawatts recorded in 2021 and accounted for 53 percent of new capacity. Natural gas was next in line at a distant 18 percent.
SEIA called 2023 the best year for renewables since the Second World War. Texas and California
led a solar surge driven mostly by utility-scale installations, which jumped 77 percent year-over-year to 22.5 gigawatts. The residential and commercial sectors also reached new milestones. Only the relatively nascent community solar market missed its previous mark, though not by much, said Rumery. Overall he called it an “almost record-setting year across the industry.”
One factor driving all that growth was an easing of supply chain constraints, which had slowed the delivery of solar panels. The problem arose in early 2022
after a small California manufacturer, Auxin Solar, filed a petition with the Department of Commerce accusing Chinese companies of circumventing U.S. tariffs by funneling panels through Southeast Asia. The government largely sided with Auxin, and new tariffs are set to take effect in June.
The dispute “really set back a lot of utility-scale projects,” said Rumery. But, he explained, solar developers found workarounds that helped foster such strong 2023 growth, when projects slated to finish in 2022 finally wrapped up. While the boost from delayed installations will dissipate in coming years, and
residential solar faces headwinds due to changes in net metering rules, experts generally expect renewable energy to keep on its torrent trajectory.
“It’s very likely to continue because solar and wind are now very well established,” said Rob Stoner, director of the
MIT Energy Initiative. “Solar costs continue to fall far below where we ever thought they would.”
Read Next
Solar is one of the cleanest power sources we’ve got. But it could be even greener. Maddie Stone
Despite its rapid ascendance, solar still makes up just 5 percent of the U.S. electricity mix. But today’s report projects that, over the next decade, the nation will add nearly 500 gigawatts of solar power. The authors warn, however, that deployment could shift dramatically depending on how policies and the market progress. Their bull scenario would see as much as a 17 percent increase from that base case, while their bearish outlook predicts up to a 24 percent decline — swings that could account for some 200 gigawatts of capacity.
Rumery says he’ll be watching the extent to which companies take advantage of funding from the
Inflation Reduction Act, which includes significant incentives for renewable energy deployment. So far interest in solar appears to be strong, with one tally pegging utility-scale investment at $53 billion in 2023. But, according to Stoner, the biggest open question is how quickly projects can connect to the grid.
“Interconnect times are nationally very long for utility scale,” he said. “That’s a big problem.”
Rumery said companies are expecting wait times to grow from around five years to as long as a decade or more. He adds interest rates and state-level policies such as net metering rates to the list of factors that could shape the future of solar. But overall, he said, there’s just one direction the industry is headed.
“We certainly expect the solar industry to grow,” he said. The only question is by how much.
This article originally appeared in Grist at https://grist.org/energy/solar-hits-a-renewable-energy-milestone-not-se…. Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at Grist.org Climate Emergency QuestionsFires. Mudslides. Heat waves. What questions do you need answered as you prepare for the effects of the climate emergency?
- A guide to experiencing the holy monthHundreds of people attend Friday midday prayer at the Islamic Society of Orange County mosque.(Samanta Helou Hernandez/LAist)
Topline:
On Monday, Muslims in Southern California begin fasting for Ramadan. During the holy month, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset for 29 or 30 days depending on when the new crescent moon is sighted. We have a comprehensive guide to help you observe the holy month.
Why now: We pull the curtain back on how Muslims in Southern California observe the month with where they go for night prayers, the best shops for Ramadan and Eid decor and places to hang out after breaking the fast.
We also include information on how to support a fasting friend or colleague, or best practices to follow if you are invited to break fast with them.
Muslims in Southern California begin fasting Monday for Ramadan from sunrise to sunset for 29 or 30 days, depending on when the new crescent moon is sighted. We have a comprehensive guide to help you observe the holy month.
Where does everyone go for tharaweeh prayers
From Corona and Pasadena, from the South Bay and the Valley, most Muslims make their way to the Islamic Society of Orange County mosque in Garden Grove for the evening prayers called tharaweeh, which is derived from the Arabic word for rest and relaxation. On weekends, the mosque has guest speakers who talk about tenets of the religion. There are also food trucks and small business stalls set up on the mosque grounds for visitors to peruse.
Barakah Cafe on the premises keeps worshippers caffeinated for the prayers that go well into the early hours of the morning, especially during the last 10 nights of Ramadan. Don’t sleep on the rose cardamom latte.
Other mosques to go to for tharaweeh prayers:
- King Fahad Mosque in Culver City
- Islamic Center of Yorba Linda
- Islamic Center of Reseda
- Islamic Society of Corona
Greetings
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On the first days of Ramadan, you can greet your colleague or friend with: Ramadan Kareem or Ramadan Mubarak
On Eid ul-Fitr, the festival culminating the end of Ramadan, you can say: Eid Mubarak or Eid Saeed
Where to get Suhoor (morning meal) after Qiyam (late night prayers)
@hamzahpt.2
feels like im back home
#alamir #anaheim #ramadan ♬ original sound - فاطمـــة ᥫ᭡
Qiyam is prayed in the wee hours of the morning, just after midnight, and usually ends at around 3 a.m. Where can one grab a meal at those hours? The IHOP in Fullerton serves halal food, or food that includes meat that is slaughtered according to Islamic rites and prepared under Islamic rules.
Other food options:
- Naz’s Halal Food in Garden Grove
- And the OG: Al Amir Bakery in Anaheim. Pro tip, get the za’atar manakeesh topped with pickled turnips, sliced red onions and arugula
Invited for iftar/suhoor: Best practices
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- You don’t have to bring anything, but if you want to, fresh flowers are a nice gesture. Be mindful of taking alcohol or food as not every Muslim drinks and some might adhere to halal guidelines.
- If they pray, you don’t have to participate.
- Wait for them to break their fast to eat.
- Muslims typically eat with their right hands.
- Be on time so you won’t miss the experience of breaking fast or beginning a fast.
Best spots for "Ramadan vibes" — where does everyone hang out after they break their fast?
Where did we all go before
Qamaria Coffee opened last year? Ever since the Yemeni coffee shop opened, getting a table after Maghrib prayers (sunset prayers) is a challenge. Groups of friends and families gather around tables sipping Adeni tea and eating spoonfuls of milk cakewell into the night. The cafe has a policy of not asking patrons to leave after they finish their food and drink, allowing time for rounds of cards, backgammon and Taboo.
Other options:
- Nubia Cafe in Anaheim
- Yama Shisha close to the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles
How to support your fasting friend/colleague
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- Be thoughtful when you plan a meeting so that it doesn't clash with the time to break fast or too late in the day when energy levels can be low.
- Don’t make jokes about eating or drinking in front of them. It is completely OK to eat in front of a fasting person, but making jokes or inappropriate comments won't sit well.
- Don’t ask why someone isn’t fasting. There are so many reasons Muslims are exempt from fasting, such as being on their period or traveling long distances.
- Not even water? Don’t put the onus on a Muslim colleague or friend to explain Ramadan to you, there are plenty of resources available online.
What's on everyone’s playlist
Imam Omar Suleiman releases a daily Ramadan video series where he discusses a topic pertaining to a theme. This year’s series explores accepting one’s fate. And these prove to be a hit with fasting people, especially during the day.
Muslim Girl emphatically declared Maher Zain is to Ramadan what Mariah Carey is to Christmas time. My social feeds already have the songs Ya Nabi and Rahmatun Lil’Alameen on a loop.
What else to listen to:
- The Qalam Institute Podcast
- Muslim Central Podcast
The SoCal businesses to patronize for Ramadan and Eid decor
The Nour Company in Anaheim is like a Muslim Hallmark store, selling Ramadan themed gift wrap, Eid greeting cards and culturally relevant decor. Valeria Trevino, a Latina who converted to Islam, opened the business as a way for Muslim families to experience the joys she did around Christmas time.
For those who want to shop online, Chino based designer
Erum Khalili’s Ramadan and Eid products are inspired by traditional Islamic art, but given a modern twist.
Where else to shop: What questions do you have about Southern California?
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- Today will be a few degrees cooler.Forecast highs for Monday.(Courtesy NWS)
- Today’s weather: Cool, partly cloudy
- Beaches: mid 60s
- Mountains: 50s-60s
- Inland: mid 60s
- Warnings and advisories: Wind Advisory
Expect another day of pleasant weather with highs in the mid 60s and partly cloudy skies.
Good morning and welcome to Monday. We're going to experience a cooler afternoon with partly cloudy skies today. Quick Facts
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- Today’s weather: Cool, partly cloudy
- Beaches: mid 60s
- Mountains: 50s-60s
- Inland: mid 60s
- Warnings and advisories: Wind Advisory
Along the coasts you can expect highs in the lower 60s, up to 64 degrees in Santa Monica. In downtown Los Angeles expect a high of 65 degrees. Inland areas including the valleys will see highs in the mid 60s, up to 66 degrees in Riverside and Anaheim.
Tonight's lows will drop to the 50s. Tomorrow will be much like today, except just a couple of degrees warmer.
A wind advisory has been issued for the high desert specifically Apple and Lucerne Valleys where west winds will range between 20 to 30 mph, some gusts reaching up to 50 mph.
This day in history
On this day in 2011, the effects of a 9.1 magnitude earthquake in Japan was felt all the way in San Diego and the SoCal coast, producing some minor but strong waves.
Things to do
- Real Estate: Indie rockers Real Estate bring their sixth album, Daniel, on tour to the Bellwether this week. Pitchfork compared the band’s latest, an REM-inspired collection of songs recorded at Nashville’s RCA Studio A, to "having beers in your neighbor’s garage" – in a good way.
Check out our full
list of things to do this week. What questions do you have about Southern California?
- Listen: Oscars Recap, moreListen • 6:31Listen • 6:31Oscars 2024 Recap, Landfill Conversion Project Faces Barriers & A New Bird In Town — The A.M. EditionYour morning update from the LAist newsroom.
Today's headlines:
Who went home with Oscar gold at last night's Academy Awards?
Delays are jeopardizing a project in the San Fernando Valley aimed at capturing stormwater and alleviating flooding.
A new brightly plumed bird finds a home in the Southland.
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts to get The LA Report delivered to you twice on weekdays, with special editions on Saturday and Sunday.
- The public network could lower prices for everyoneArcadian Infracom, a digital infrastructure company, held a groundbreaking event in December in Boyle Heights.(Courtesy of the California Department of Technology)
Topline:
California is spending billions of dollars to create a new “middle-mile” network that would make it less expensive for commercial providers to connect homes and businesses that currently don’t have internet access. About 10,000 miles of fiber optic cable are being installed around the state.
Why it matters: The internet is considered essential for modern life, yet an estimated 3.5 million California households don’t have broadband. Experts say cost is the main barrier.
Why now: Construction is underway in Los Angeles County and across the state. All projects must be completed by December 2026.
The Backstory: In 2021, the state launched
Broadband For All, a $6 billion state and federal investment to close the digital divide. The legislation provides for construction of an open access middle-mile network.
Go deeper: Read more about the
digital divide in Los Angeles here.
Millions of Californians don't have internet at home because it’s either too expensive, unreliable or not available where they live. The state is working to change that by 2026.
Construction is underway on a new “middle-mile” network that would make it easier and less expensive for service providers to connect to disadvantaged rural, tribal and minority urban neighborhoods. In many cases, those companies have been reluctant to provide service because it’s not seen as profitable.
While 91% of households have internet service, an estimated 3.5 million Californians remain disconnected.
Officials say that by providing competition to commercial providers, the state's network could also help bring down internet prices for everyone.
The $5 billion project is the largest of its kind in the U.S. About 10,000 miles of fiber optic cable is being installed throughout California, including more than 500 miles in Los Angeles County.
You may see construction happening around the region, although existing networks are also being used to avoid disruption.
“2024 is a year many of us have been working towards — to move from planning and design into construction,” said Mark Monroe, deputy director of the middle-mile broadband initiative during a recent Middle-Mile Advisory Committee hearing. The state is building a new backbone network made up of high-capacity fiber lines that carry large amounts of data at high speeds over long distances.(California Department of Technology)
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to really provide connectivity where there hasn't been,” said Liana Bailey-Crimmins, the state’s chief information officer and director of the California Department of Technology.
The middle-mile broadband initiative is part of the
Broadband For All plan, a $6 billion state and federal investment to close the digital divide. In 2021, the state allocated $3.8 billion of those funds for the middle mile. In January, the project received a $1.5 billion boost in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget proposal ($250 million in 2024-25 and $1.25 billion in 2025-26). A revised budget plan is due in May.
Advocates have raised questions about the state’s ability to fund the entire network, given the projected
$73 billion budget deficit that was recently announced. They also sounded the alarm after low-income communities in South and Southeast L.A. were deprioritized last summer, while plans to build in wealthier areas like Beverly Hills moved forward.
But Bailey-Crimmins said the state had "always intended" to build the entire network by 2026, and that the governor is "very committed” to funding the project, even as rising inflation drove construction costs up by about 40%.
“Every budget process is unique, but we are hoping that things go the way they should," she said. About 10,000 miles of fiber optic cable are being installed around the state.(Courtesy of the California Department of Technology)
The middle-mile network does not reach individual homes and businesses, however. That will be done by a “last mile” connection, where internet companies, municipalities, nonprofits and others would pay the state to tap in and deliver broadband to residents who live within a certain distance. Middle mile vs last mile
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Middle mile: Backbone network made up of high capacity fiber lines that carry large amounts of data at high speeds over long distances. The state owns and manages the system.
Last mile: Final leg of the network that brings the service into homes and businesses.
The network will go online to the public in "phases or as they become available," according to Bailey-Crimmins.
Breaking ground
More than 80% of the middle mile is now under contract. Caltrans is building about 4,000 miles of new infrastructure throughout the state, but the remainder will be established through a mix of purchase and lease agreements. About 10,000 miles of fiber optic cable are being installed throughout the state, including more than 500 miles in Los Angeles County.(California Department of Technology)
The state estimates it will spend about $340 million to complete the network in L.A. County. Four companies were awarded contracts to build in the area:
- Lumen (lease)
- CVIN (lease)
- Arcadian Infracom (joint-build)
- HP Communications (standalone Caltrans construction)
Lumen won a $400 million contract to build network infrastructure throughout the state. The telecom company is set to begin construction on the project near Los Angeles International Airport later this spring.
"Digital inclusion is critical for the United States to maintain its leading position as a global economic and innovation powerhouse," said Lumen CEO Kate Johnson. "Bringing high-speed broadband to unserved and underserved locations will accelerate greater and more diverse participation in our education system, the world's digital economy and access to high-quality health care."
In December, Arcadian held a
groundbreaking event in Boyle Heights for the California portion of its L.A. to Phoenix fiber route. The project will help serve residents in East L.A. and extend to communities in Barstow and Needles (the route totals 306 miles, but only 40 are within L.A. County limits).
Joint-build or construction projects require more time because workers have to dig into the ground and put fiber in. But areas with lease or purchase agreements could begin connecting people as early as summer 2025.
“You don't have to permit, you don't have to close down lanes of the freeway in L.A. And you can just get that into those communities as quickly as possible,” Bailey-Crimmins said.
All projects must be completed by December 2026. How is your community experiencing the digital divide?It can be difficult to navigate life in Los Angeles without a smartphone or access to a strong Wi-Fi connection. But there are thousands in LA who don’t have that basic technology.
- They help unify communities post-disaster(Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Topline:
From Appalachia to the Bayou to the desert Southwest, here's how culture can teach us about adapting to a warmer world.
Why it matters: How will people carry their heritage into a world reshaped by climate change? It requires looking to
tradition-bearers— the people within a community who are preserving its customs, songs, and stories and passing them on — for clues to how best to navigate this tumultuous time without losing generations of knowledge. In that way, folklorists across the country increasingly strive to help communities adapt to a new reality, understand how tradition shifts in times of crisis, and even inform climate policy.
Read on ... for a deeper examination on how culture and climate can coexist.
When politicians and planners think about climate adaptation, they’re often considering the hard edges of infrastructure and economics. Will we divert flooding? Should we restore shorelines? Can we fireproof homes? Folklorist Maida Owens believes such questions don’t capture the full picture. When climate disaster comes for the diverse Cajun and Creole fishing communities of Louisiana’s islands and bayous, it has the potential to tear their cultural fabric apart.
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This story was originally published by
Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.
-
Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.
“There’s more to community resilience than the physical protection of properties,” Owens, who works with Louisiana’s state folklife program, told Grist.
Radical change is already occurring. Louisiana’s coast is slowly being swallowed by the sea; the Southwest is drying out; Appalachia’s transition from coal has been no less disruptive than a recent battery of floods and storms. These crises, which are unfolding nationwide, interrupt not only infrastructure, but the rituals and remembrances that make up daily life.
The study of those rituals and remembrances may seem like an esoteric discipline, one relegated to exploring quaint superstitions of the past or documenting old men in overalls playing homemade instruments. It’s true that those who study and preserve folklore don’t concern themselves with high art — that is, the sort of thing supported by networks of patronage and philanthropy and gallery exhibitions. Their mission is to record the culture of ordinary people: us. Our jokes, our songs, our spiritual practices, our celebrations, our recipes. Such things are the glue that holds society together, and as the climate changes our ways of life, Owens and her peers say, it’s important to pay attention to how culture adjusts.
Doing that goes beyond the practical question of how people will carry their heritage into a world reshaped by climate change. It requires looking to
tradition-bearers— the people within a community who are preserving its customs, songs, and stories and passing them on — for clues to how best to navigate this tumultuous time without losing generations of knowledge. In that way, folklorists across the country increasingly strive to help communities adapt to a new reality, understand how tradition shifts in times of crisis, and even inform climate policy. Folklore doesn’t seem like it would teach us how to adapt to a warming world, but even as it looks over our collective shoulder at the past, it can prepare us for a future that is in many ways already here.
In the coal towns of eastern Kentucky and West Virginia, Emily Hilliard has written extensively on this idea, which she calls visionary folklore. She looks for ways to sustain culture as those who practice it experience incredible change so that they might “send traditions on to the future.” As climate disaster threatens to wipe away entire towns and ways of life — both literally, in the case of the communities lost to the floods that ravaged Kentucky in 2022, and figuratively through the loss of archives and museums to those inundations — she considers this continuity an essential part of retaining a sense of place and identity, two intangible feelings that help give life meaning. A Perry County school bus, along with other debris, sits in a creek near Jackson, Kentucky, on July 31, 2022.(Seth Herald/AFP via Getty Images)
“Folklorists can help communities pass on these traditions,” she said.
Hilliard is a former West Virginia state folklorist who has, among other things, collected oral histories, songs, artwork, and legends for the West Virginia Folklife Program. It’s impossible to talk about climate in Appalachia without talking about coal, and the communities she has documented have a gnarled and thorny relationship with that industry, which has both sustained them and helped create the climate impacts they’re left to grapple with.
People, Hilliard said, face a grave risk in “the way that climate disaster breaks up communities, so that communities may no longer be able to share food and music traditions.” Visionary folklore is, in part, about trying to restore, replace, and sustain these things, while finding ways to bulwark and adapt traditions for an uncertain future.
Climate change, like the coal industry that fostered it, threatens to rewrite some of the region’s cultural memory. Hilliard recalls members of the Scotts Run Museum in Osage, West Virginia, a place where town elders regularly play music, tell stories, and share meals, talking of rising floodwaters threatening their community gathering spaces. She sees collaboration with communities to preserve these important community resources as part of her life’s work.
As she strives to help communities sustain old traditions, Hilliard sees new ones emerging as coping strategies for a world in which foundations are shifting. As floods have repeatedly swept through Appalachia, she has seen communities come together to repair and replace family quilts, musical instruments, and other heirlooms and keepsakes, some of which were painstakingly crafted by hand and many of which have been handed down through generations. Community members in Scotts Run established “repair cafes” where people with various skills helped neighbors recover. Coal company towns’ often hardscrabble existence made such expertise necessary, and in an era of looming environmental destruction, those knowledge pathways allow people to simultaneously come together to grieve and to begin to rebuild their community. Such things are not limited to Appalachia, of course.
“There may exist beneficial practices and adaptations to crises within our historical and current practices,” said Kimi Eisele, a folklorist with the Southwest Folklife Alliance in Tucson, Arizona. Eisele, who is beginning a folklife project focused on climate change, manages
Borderlore, a journal operated by the Southwest Folklife Alliance. It recently received a $150,000 grant to collect oral histories that amplify the environmental history and future of the Southwest through the eyes of Indigenous peoples, immigrants, and other historically excluded people.
In southern Arizona, where Eisele lives and works, triple-digit temperatures, aridity, and groundwater depletion present a dire threat to agriculture and even long-term human settlement. Many of the interviews Eisele and others have collected focus on the impacts of climate change on Indigenous traditions and how those traditions are changing. The Tohono O’odham, whose ancestral land is divided by the border with Mexico, have for example long relied on willow for basket-weaving, but as farms and groundwater diversion have lowered the water table, willows have dried up and died. Basket-weavers now use the hardier yucca plant. Climate change is also causing traditional adobe homes to crack and decay; Native architects are working to shore them up and explore how modern technology can preserve them, even as the structures provide a model for building cooler, more energy-efficient homes.
The interviews describe adaptations made over millennia that still work – mind-boggling, perhaps, to a society that has managed to nearly
deplete its resources in just a few hundred years. The Hopi, Tohono O’odham, Diné, and other peoples have weathered climate fluctuations, droughts, floods, and famine in the tens of thousands of years they’ve lived in the Southwest. Hopi farmer Michael Kotutwa Johnson, who raises corn, believes that heritage provides essential tools for adapting to the climate crisis. He is working to ensure others learn to use them.Hopi farmer Michael Kotutwa Johnson relies on the annual monsoon to water his cornfields, and on what he knows of the land to prepare for the season ahead. He believes traditional farming methods will become increasingly vital as the climate changes.(Courtesy Michael Kotutwa Johnson via Borderlore)
“As Hopis, we adjust to these environmental fluctuations,” Johnson told Eisele
in an interview for the Climate Lore oral history series. “It’s part of our faith.” Even if this period of climate crisis is unprecedented and unpredictable, Johnson says, he feels prepared to bear it out.
Johnson is a dryland farmer, meaning he uses traditional farming methods that don’t require irrigation. He relies on the annual monsoon to water his fields, and on what he knows of the land to prepare for the season ahead. In 2018, for example, he realized early on that a drought was intensifying because “biological indicators that usually appear in April weren’t there,” he told Eisele. “Plants weren’t greening up, so we knew the soil moisture wasn’t going to be there.” In response, he and other Hopi farmers planted only a quarter of their usual crop to avoid depleting the soil. What he describes as “bumper” years can take communities through leaner times — if everyone is careful and pays attention.
“We’ve had a system in place to handle a lot of it. We plant enough to last three to five years,” Johnson told Eisele. “When you have everybody doing that, then you have to have a good supply to get through climatic changes.”
He hopes other farmers, particularly Native farmers, collaborate in practicing regenerative agriculture rather than relying on destructive groundwater withdrawal to maintain crops the desert simply can’t support. Eisele finds stories like Johnson’s invaluable in helping people everywhere adapt. “We are really looking at folklife as a tool for liberation,” she said. Dr. Michael White and Company lead a jazz funeral procession during a wreath-laying event to remember the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina at the New Orleans Katrina Memorial.(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, Maida Owens, takes such work a step farther, trying to use folklore to shape public policy and make the world more welcoming toward those displaced by the climate crisis.
The Bayou State has been losing
up to 35 square miles of coastland each year for the better part of a century. As erosion and rising seas have remade the state, entire communities have had to move. Climate migration, new to some parts of the world, is as much a fact of life for Louisianans as the changing of the tides.
Even as Louisiana has focused on reclaiming lost land and restoring coastal wetland, Owens has urged special attention to adaptation, teaching people in harms’ way how to adjust their ways of life without losing what’s most important to them. She works with the
Bayou Culture Collaborative, which brings together tradition bearers from impacted communities to talk “about the human dimension of coastal land loss” so residents, and their elected leaders, can better plan for the migration already afoot. Research has shown that when people make the difficult decision to pack up and leave, most of them go only a few miles.
“People from all over the coast are starting to leave and move inland,” Owens said. In the parlance of her field, the places they leave behind are “sending communities”; where they’re headed, “receiving communities” await them. Owens has begun to convene meetings online and in receiving communities to discuss cultural sensitivity to help people prepare for their new neighbors, knowing that migration can exacerbate class and racial tension.
In the Louisiana folklife program’s ongoing
“Sense of Place – And Loss” workshop series, Owens hosts discussions about the future of bayou traditions to collectively imagine what the near future might look like as the Gulf Coast changes. Artists, other tradition bearers, and community leaders are invited to envision how they might make their towns and counties more welcoming for climate migrants, and Owens assists them in developing concrete action plans. Such an effort includes having receiving communities inventory their cultural and economic resources to see what they can offer newcomers, invest in trauma-informed care for disaster survivors, and consider what they might need to make themselves ready to integrate newcomers.Louisiana’s combination of rising waters and sinking land give it one of the highest rates of relative sea level rise in the nation.(Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The Louisiana state coastal protection and restoration authority has
identified some towns that might have the capacity, and need, for more people; many of these places have the space but lack the social infrastructure to support the continuation of rural peoples’ foodways and artistic traditions. Though receiving communities may not be far away, those most vulnerable to displacement are often Indigenous, French-speaking, or otherwise culturally distinct, and moving even a short distance can expose them to unfamiliar circumstances. In her workshops, Owens is proposing ideas lifted in part from the adaptation strategies immigrants often rely upon, like cultural festivals and an emphasis on cultural exchange and language education. In a recent project, several coastal parishes (what Louisianans call counties) near Terrebonne created a collaborative quilt at a regional community festival as a way to draw attention to the beauty and ancestral importance of their wetlands and deepen their connections with one another.
That’s where Owens hopes folklorists can affect policy change, too. Owens is keeping a close eye on the state’s
Coastal Master Plan, providing feedback with an eye towards supporting the culturally rich, and vanishing, coastal parishes. The Louisiana Folklore Society has urged the state to conduct its planning with respect to the desires and needs of the people who live on the coast, prioritizing engagement before any major mitigation project, and saving habitat not merely for its inherent value but also for its importance to the coastal tribes it sustains.
Though climate disasters have already thrown towns along the Louisiana coast and beyond into disarray and prompted seismic changes in how residents live, this is just the beginning. As floods and fires, droughts and erosion, and the myriad other impacts of a warming world wreak greater havoc, some of the answers to the crisis won’t be found in engineering or science, but in the cultural fabric that binds us together.
This article originally appeared in
Grist at https://grist.org/culture/as-climate-change-fractures-communities-folkl….
Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at
Grist.org Climate Emergency QuestionsFires. Mudslides. Heat waves. What questions do you need answered as you prepare for the effects of the climate emergency?
- Be on the lookout for this beautyA Swinhoe's white-eye photographed in San Diego.(Ruslan Balagansky)
Topline:
You may soon start to see plenty of Swinhoe’s white-eyes pop up in parks and yards across Southern California, as their population appears to be on the brink of explosion, according to a recently released research article.
Spreading fast: They’ve been in Orange County since 2006, and have begun to multiply rapidly in recent years, though it’s unclear why. It's a bit surprising, as our local habitats are much different than their native range.
Time to worry?: It doesn’t seem as if the Swinhoe’s white-eye is invasive, as it's not displacing any native birds or destroying local habitats, however more research is needed.
Help the scientists: Download the
iNaturalist app to take photos of any Swinhoe’s white-eye that you see, as researchers utilize user submitted data from it to help track movement and population size. You can also submit photos to eBird from Cornell University.
As spring arrives, you may notice a new visitor sucking nectar from hummingbird feeders and picking juicy fruits from shrubs and trees.
The Swinhoe’s white-eye is a tiny bird with chartreuse plumage, native to places like Southeast Asia, whose population appears to be growing rapidly throughout Southern and Central California.
Nearly two decades ago, there was just a small number of them living in Orange County, likely arriving as a result of the pet trade. Now, they can be found as far south as Baja and as far north as San Luis Obispo. A Swinhoe's white-eye in San Diego.(Beverly Reynolds)
A paper recently published in the journal
Biological Invasions suggests that given their solid growth in recent years, their population could be on the precipice of exploding.
“Their distribution in Southern California is expanding really rapidly. The range map that we put in the paper that's like six months to a year old now is already out of date,” said Devon DeRaad, Ph.D. student at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum and lead author of the paper.
Why are they successful?
What makes their expansion especially interesting is that the California habitats they’re expanding into aren’t like the warm, humid, subtropical habitats they go to in places like China, Vietnam and Malaysia.
“It's not totally clear to us still why they're able to survive and reproduce and seemingly thrive in Southern California,” said DeRaad.
What’s going on?
They seem to avoid native oak woodlands, deserts and chaparral in favor of developed urban environments, which in California, tend to have tons of ornamental flowers and fruit trees kept alive with supplemental irrigation. They could’ve adapted to using these sources of food quite successfully, much in the way that the screeching
parrots from Mexico have.A Swinhoe's white-eye in San Diego.(Beverly Reynolds)
At least part of the increase could be chalked up to a documentation issue, as researchers rely on pictures from the public to document bird populations. Maybe people are just more focused on them now?
Their population could’ve just grown enough for them to reproduce prolifically. It’s not unheard of for a population to show up, hang out in small numbers for many years and then explode as they adapt to the surrounding areas.
Or maybe … they’re just really good colonizers. They did establish themselves offshore on the Channel Islands after all.
Are they invasive?
The good news is that as of right now, they don’t appear to be invasive.
There are more than 100 species of white-eye around the world, and it’s been confirmed that these aren’t the same white-eye as those that’ve taken over Hawaii and displaced native birds. A Swinhoe's white-eye in San Diego.(Ruslan Balagansky)
While the expansion of their populations likely means fewer resources for other animals, it’s unclear if they’re impacting any native species negatively. They largely avoid drier and less verdant native habitats, sticking to modified urban areas. That said, further research is needed.
“So far, we haven’t seen any negative consequences on native species, but that could change at any time,” said Allison Schultz, associate curator of ornithology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and co-author on the paper.
European starlings, for instance, nest in tree cavities and displace native birds like woodpeckers. Swinhoe's white-eye in San Diego.(Beverly Reynolds)
How you can help scientists study them
It’s tough to accurately track bird movement and population size, so researchers often turn to user supplied data from the
iNaturalist app and the eBird website from Cornell University to help build their databases.
The iNaturalist app is free and can help you identify birds, plants and insects. If you download it and start taking pictures of various nature-ey things that you find, you too will likely be helping a researcher somewhere.
The Swinhoe’s white-eyes seem to be attracted to hummingbird feeders, and fruiting trees and shrubs in developed urban areas. So keep an eye out at parks and in your yard. They’re pretty zippy, so you’ll have to move fast. What do you want to know about fires, earthquakes, climate change or any science-related topics?Jacob Margolis helps Southern Californians understand the science shaping our imperfect paradise and gets us prepared for what’s next.
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- A needed project in Sun Valley faces delaysA conceptual rendering of what the complete Rory M. Shaw Wetlands Park Project in Sun Valley will look like. The space is currently a former landfill and large open dirt pit.(Courtesy of L.A. County Department of Public Works/LAist)
Topline:
The Rory M. Shaw Wetlands Park Project in Sun Valley will turn a former landfill into a brand new park with a lake that can capture stormwater as well as lessen flooding. But technical issues and funding challenges jeopardize the project.
Why it matters: Sun Valley has long been one of the most flood-prone parts of the city. It’s also a pollution hotspot, with landfills and heavy industry amid homes. The largely working class, Latino community also has some of the least green space, so a new park would go far in improving quality of life and cooling the community amid rising heat.
Why now: Longtime members of the community, who suffered the most from the landfill and other industry pollution, worry they’ll never benefit from the project. Plus, as delays have continued, the site is becoming a worsening source of trash, illicit activity and dust.
The backstory: The Rory Shaw project has been in development since the early 2000s. The first major delay came in 2014, when food waste and other organic material producing methane was discovered. The whole thing had to be redesigned. Now, a lack of funding is the biggest delay — a $180 million funding gap due to skyrocketing materials and labor costs.
What's next: The project is now expected to be completed by 2028 or 2029. The county has promised it will double down on maintenance and community engagement in the meantime.
Sun Valley has long been one of the most flood-prone parts of the city. In the ‘80s and '90s when it rained, news crews would head there for the most dramatic shots. The largely working-class, Latino neighborhood in the northeast San Fernando Valley is also a pollution hotspot, with landfills, auto shops and heavy industry nestled amid homes. Listen • 3:31LA Has Big Plans To Turn A Landfill Into A Wetland, But Delays Are Jeopardizing The Project
At the same time, as the climate crisis leads to hotter droughts, more intense rainstorms and less reliable snow — traditionally our largest source of drinking water — L.A. desperately needs to become more like a sponge.
That will help to capture more stormwater locally when rain does come and lessen devastating flooding, said Edith de Guzman, a UCLA water equity and climate adaptation researcher.
“We’ve created a problem because we have paved a large majority of the area,” de Guzman said. “What used to be porous is not porous.” Flooding on Tujunga Avenue in Sun Valley during rain storms in winter 2024.(Courtesy of Mariam Moore/LAist)
Turning a landfill into a park
In Sun Valley, an effort to address flooding, the need to capture more stormwater and add much-needed green space is decades in the making. Behind the name
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Rory Shaw was a civil engineer for the city of Los Angeles who was killed after floodwaters swept him into a giant sinkhole that opened up on Tujunga Avenue during a 2005 storm. At that time, Sun Valley had no flood control or storm drains.
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Flood alleviation projects in Sun Valley over the years, including
this one that we profiled last year, have significantly helped, but the climate crisis could hurt that progress as storms are only expected to grow more intense when they do come.
The
Rory M. Shaw Wetlands Park Project will turn a 46-acre landfill formerly used for materials such as concrete and gravel into an engineered wetland that can boost local water supply and alleviate local flooding. It’ll also become a 15-acre park with a lake and walking paths. It's one of several projects(including one we profiled last year) in the area that aims to address flooding. But it's the only one that will add such a large new green space.
The project will capture stormwater in the lake, then allow that water to seep into a 10-acre “wetland” that will filter pollutants. That stormwater can then be pumped underground into the neighboring
Sun Valley Park, which was retrofitted in 2006 with huge underground chambers that filter water into the groundwater basins to be treated and used for drinking water later. That project has helped significantly to reduce flooding in the area, according to community members and the county.A conceptual rendering of a walking path along the engineered wetland at the future Rory M. Shaw Park in Sun Valley.(Courtesy of L.A. County Department of Public Works/LAist)
But the largest benefit of the Rory Shaw project is adding significant green space in a neighborhood that sorely lacks it.
“This is not a luxury project for us. This is a must,” said Mariam Moore, who lives next to the former landfill and serves on the Sun Valley Neighborhood Council Board.
This is not a luxury project for us. This is a must.— Mariam Moore, Sun Valley resident
Sun Valley has some of the least green space in the entire county, so outside of its ability to capture stormwater and help with flooding, the new park would go far in improving quality of life and helping to cool the community amid rising heat. A conceptual rendering of new basketball courts and other recreational areas at the future Rory M. Shaw Park in Sun Valley.(Courtesy of L.A. County Department of Public Works/LAist)
Long timeline and delays
Planning for the project first began in earnest in the early 2000s. The timeline was always long — if all had gone according to plan, it could have been done
by 2019 or 2020, according to L.A.'s 2015 Stormwater Capture Master plan. The project’s potential to rectify environmental injustice and disinvestment of the past has led to a long list of supporters throughout the years, from former County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky to former City Councilmember Nury Martinez to current U.S. congressman Tony Cárdenas and current County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath.The current landfill site beside a sketch of the future Rory Shaw park.(Courtesy of Andy Lipkis/LAist)
But for now, the site of the future park remains a massive open dirt pit, right next to a neighborhood.
The first major delay came in 2014, when the project broke ground and food waste and other organic materials producing methane were discovered in the landfill, which was supposed to only have materials such as concrete and gravel. The county covered and sealed the methane leak, then had to entirely redesign the project to include a methane capture system. Construction had to be pushed, with a new completion date of around
2025.The current entrance to the site. Trash, damage to the fencing and graffiti are common.(Erin Stone/LAist)
But now, the biggest barrier to completing the project is funding, said Mark Pestrella, the director of L.A. County Department of Public Works, which is spearheading the project (after it’s constructed, the city of L.A. will take over maintenance). The new goal is to complete it by 2028 or 2029.
“Our timelines have been getting pushed out because we do not currently have the funding to complete the project,” Pestrella said.
The pandemic drove up material and labor costs, which is why roughly $180 million dollars is still needed, Pestrella said. So far, L.A. County has already invested more than $86 million in the project (a chunk of that was purchasing the former landfill for $28 million). Proposition O and Measure W are providing $27,800,000. In total, the project is expected to add up to around $240 million.
Frustrations in the community
The ongoing funding challenge is why many longtime members of the community — who have suffered the most from the landfill and other nearby industries’ pollution — worry they’ll never benefit from the project. Maria Luisa Lopez Jacquez, 73, has lived next to the former landfill for more than 40 years. Here she stands in front of her house with the project site in the background. She worries she won't live to see the park project completed.(Erin Stone/LAist)
73-year-old Maria Luisa Lopez Jacquez has lived in a corner house right across from the former landfill for more than 40 years. She made her living selling tamales and burritos in Sun Valley Park across from her home. She said her house is always dusty and she has to put up plastic on her windows to block the dust from the former landfill at times.
“And that doesn't matter, all the dirt goes in my guest house, in my house, everywhere,” she said. Trash along the perimeter of the site is common and a major frustration for nearby residents.(Erin Stone/LAist)
For years, she knocked on doors and reached out to local city and county leaders to get something done about the dust, the many trucks driving in the area and other pollution from the landfill and its neighboring recycling facility. She watched as her grandsons and other local kids suffered from nosebleeds, headaches and breathing issues after playing in the park. She herself has asthma and other health issues she attributes to living near the landfill and recycling plant for so long.
“This problem is for a long, long, long time,” Lopez Jacquez said, shaking her head.
When she first heard about the Rory Shaw project in 2008, she was excited things might finally change. But now, she’s lost hope it’ll be done within her lifetime.
They just promise and they don't do nothing ... We worked so hard for this. I’m tired.— Maria Luisa Lopez Jacquez, Sun Valley resident
“They just promise and they don't do nothing,” Lopez Jacquez said, tears coming to her eyes. “After that, they don't want to talk to us. We worked so hard for this. I’m tired.”
It’s an emotional topic for many people in the community.
Site needs attention now
Moore lives on the other side of the park from Lopez Jacquez in a house also right across from the former landfill. She has worked with Lopez Jacquez to engage the community with the project, and having only moved in a few years ago, has brought a new energy to fighting for it to get done, especially in her role on the Sun Valley Neighborhood Council Board. Sun Valley residents Norma Chavez, left, and Mariam Moore, who lives right next to the former landfill, look at a printout of a 2021 presentation from the county about the project. It was the most recent time there was serious community engagement about the project, which has frustrated Moore and other residents.(Erin Stone/LAist)
“We pay taxes for these funds to be available for projects like this,” Moore said.
Furthermore, Moore said mitigation measures are needed now, such as more security at the site, cleaning up trash along the perimeter, addressing ongoing dust issues, better maintaining fencing, and adding sidewalks and improved drainage to surrounding streets, which quickly turn into lakes even in mild rain. She, Lopez Jacquez and others in the community see the lack of investment as a form of environmental racism.
We feel like we're third-class citizens and we don't matter.— Mariam Moore, Sun Valley resident
“Because Rory Shaw has been taking so long for this community, it impacts us severely,” Moore said. “We feel like we're third-class citizens and we don't matter. If this project was somewhere else in the city, it would have been completed 10 years ago.” Dumping is common along the perimeter and within the site, especially along Tujunga Avenue, which is pictured here. The project site is in the background.(Erin Stone/LAist)
Promises from the county
In an interview with LAist, Pestrella acknowledged he’s not satisfied with his department’s engagement with community members in recent years, and promised to regain their trust through more public meetings this year. He also said the county will double down on maintaining the site now, mitigating dust and cleaning trash and graffiti at the perimeter, and potentially adding lighting and security patrol. Trash and damaged fencing along the perimeter of the future Rory Shaw park site.(Erin Stone/LAist)
“I agree that the site is becoming somewhat of a nuisance,” Pestrella said. “More needs to be done to get the site into a condition so that it doesn't become a blight on community, that we make sure that there's no trash on site, we control the dust on the site. We’re gonna treat it with a lot more attention. They’re gonna see a big investment in an interim solution.”
“We pretty much just need to secure the site as if it's going to sit in this condition for some time until we can secure the funding,” Pestrella added.
As for shortening the timeline to actually getting the project done, Pestrella said it’s unlikely, but that he’s prioritizing getting the needed funding. He said the department has applied for grants for the project from the Biden Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and is pushing for funding from the state.
It is a priority. My biggest regret is we can’t get it going faster.— Mark Pestrella, director of L.A. County Department of Public Works
“It is a priority,” Pestrella said. “My biggest regret is we can’t get it going faster.”
“We’d like to make this our shining star for the Olympics, frankly,” he added. “It's an example of what can be done anywhere in an urbanized area.” A view of the site as it is today.(Erin Stone/LAist)
Meanwhile, he urged community members to report any issues at the site to the county.
At this point, the project is proof that even with the support of the community and local, state and even federal leaders, it can be really difficult to get these kinds of long-term projects done.
“It takes a long time to undo what we did in the past,” said de Guzman, the UCLA researcher.
For now, all residents such as Lopez Jacquez and Moore can do is continue to wait and push for the promises to be fulfilled.
Resources and how to submit concerns Flooding in your neighborhood? Here’s how to advocate for Measure W funding
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- First, what watershed do you live in? Check out this map to find out. You can also see a map of all projects being funded through Measure W, or the Safe Clean Water Program here.
- Reach out to your local watershed council coordinator. You can find a list of the Safe Clean Water Program’s coordinators here.
- Reach out to your local city council member or neighborhood council representative.
- If you’re in the city of L.A., call 311 to alert LA Sanitation of flooding and potholes in your area or email publicworks.publicaffairs@lacity.org.
- First, what watershed do you live in? Check out this
Climate Emergency QuestionsFires. Mudslides. Heat waves. What questions do you need answered as you prepare for the effects of the climate emergency?
- A Seoul-ful dance party and more(Jim Bennett/Getty Images)
This week:
A Seoul-ful dance party at the Hammer, a celebration of women winemakers in West L.A., hip-hop royalty comes to Hollywood Park, and more.
Our picks:
- Seoul2LA; Westwood - The Hammer courtyard will turn into a festival of music, art, and culture, featuring DJs Mindspray, Zo, Dwoo and more.
- Festa Della Donna; West L.A. - In the spirit of International Women’s Day, celebrate women winemakers of Italy at the Wine House in West L.A.
- Rolling Loud; Inglewood - The biggest hip-hop festival in the world kicks off its tenth SoCal edition. Headlines include Nicki Minaj, Post Malone, and Future.
Kick off your week with a free comedy night, move on to a dance party with DJs from Seoul, catch a new play from Gloria Calderón Kellett at Pasadena Playhouse, and don’t forget to eat, especially if it’s dinner at Post & Beam’s Black Pot Supper Club.
LAist.com has even more things to explore, including a
superbloom forecast(thank you, rain!) and an outdoor workout event in Santa Monica on Wednesday morning. Events
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Monday, March 11, 2024 at 8:00 PM(@realestateband/
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Tuesday, March 12, 2024 from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM
Are You Still Listening?
- Dynasty Typewriter
2511 Wilshire Blvd., Westlake

More Info(Tim Mossholder on Unsplash/
Every month, Netflix gifts Angelenos with a free comedy show. Just RSVP and show up on the early side. Doors are at 6:30 p.m. The shows feature up-and-coming comics, so find the next stars here before their specials hit the streamer. This month, catch Mohamed Kheir, Nacya Marreiro, Rachel Scanlon, Ryan Goodcase, Sam Morrison and host Gianmarco Soresi on stage.
- Dynasty Typewriter
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March 13, 2024 through April 7, 2024(Courtesy Pasadena Playhouse/
Writer Gloria Calderón Kellett’s (Netflix’s One Day at a Time) new play, One of the Good Ones, begins previews this week. The much-anticipated comedy was commissioned by Pasadena Playhouse and focuses on a young Latina woman bringing her new boyfriend home to meet her family. The cast includes Lana Parrilla (Once Upon a Time) and Carlos Gomez (In the Heights).
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Wednesday, March 13, 2024 at 7:30 PM(Courtesy of Hammer Museum/
The Hammer courtyard will turn into a festival of music, art, and culture this week with Seoul2LA. Featuring DJs Mindspray, Zo, Dwoo and more, the museum is connecting “two epicenters of art and creativity” with talent from South Korea featuring alongside local artists.
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March 14, 2024 through March 17, 2024 Rapper, singer and songwriter Post Malone performs live on stage during BottleRock at Napa Valley Expo on May 26, 2023 in Napa, California.(Jim Bennett/Getty Images)
The biggest hip-hop festival in the world kicks off its tenth SoCal edition Thursday night with an opening special performance from Ye and Ty Dolla Sign. The weekend only gets bigger from there, with headliners including Nicki Minaj, Post Malone, and Future – and acts from Big Sean to Lil Tecca to Chief Keef rounding out the weekend. Get in the mood to party on your drive over with the official Rolling Loud
playlist.
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Thursday, March 14, 2024 from 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM(Sarah Brown/Unsplash)
Women’s History Month art events are on tap all month long at Create Studio in Venice. This week, check out a Paint ’n Sip event with artist
Ali Futrell, whose bright, floral motifs are a great way to get in the spring spirit. Tickets include wine and all art supplies.
Outdoor Pick
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Thursday, March 14, 2024 at 6:00 PM A view of the Hollywood hiking trails and Hollywood as the sun sets as seen from Griffith Observatory on February 08, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.(Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
Outdoor educator
Jason Wise hosts a two-mile sunset hike in Griffith Park, guiding a group through our local ecosystems using queer ecology to inform and delight. The hike promises to “observe, share, and learn about nature in ways that reflect our own diversity, and then connect to it on a whole new beautiful level.”
Viewing Pick
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March 11, 2024 through March 14, 2024
Glitter & Doom
- Landmark Theatres Sunset
8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood

More Info(Courtesy Frameline/
If you were inspired by Barbie to dig deeper into The Indigo Girls’ classic albums, the groundbreaking duo lend their iconic songs to this indie musical about a summer romance. Catch the film on its short run at the Landmark.
- Landmark Theatres Sunset
Dine & Drink Deals
Here are a few dining and drink options to indulge in this week.
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Tuesday, March 12, 2024 at 6:00 PM
Black Pot Supper Club Tasting
- Post & Beam
3767 Santa Rosalia Dr., Baldwin Hills

More Info(Courtesy of Black Pot Supper Club/blackpotsupperclub.com)
If you’ve watched Netflix’s High on the Hog, you are probably already clicking off of here and booking a table to enjoy Chef Martin Draluck’s Women’s History Month menu, “highlighting the stories and influences of some of America's greatest Black women in culinary history.” Post & Beam’s Black Pot Supper Club is always special. This month sounds particularly meaningful and delicious.
- Post & Beam
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Wednesday, March 13, 2024 at 7:00 PM(Scott Warman/Unsplash)
In the spirit of International Women’s Day, celebrate women winemakers of Italy at the Wine House in West L.A. They are hosting Alice Bonaccorsi, owner and winemaker at Val Cerasa, Mariarita Grasso, owner and winemaker at Filippo Grasso, and Shelley Lindgren, the award-winning sommelier and restaurateur, co-owner of Tansy Wines, and author of Italian Wine: The History, Regions and Grapes of an Iconic Wine Country. Twelve wines will be on offer and guests will also get an autographed copy of the book.
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What questions do you have about Southern California?
- Here's how Hollywood's biggest night ended(L-R) Nicolas Cage, Matthew McConaughey, Brendan Fraser, Ben Kingsley, and Forest Whitaker speak onstage during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 10, 2024, in Hollywood.(Kevin Winter/Getty Images North America)
Topline:
The 96th Academy Awards aired Sunday night. Below is the full list of 2024 Academy Award nominees, with winners marked in bold.
The winners: As predicted, Oppenheimer and Poor Things were the big winner of the night.
Read on... for the rest of the winning movies this year.
Best picture
WINNER: Oppenheimer, Emma Thomas, Charles Roven and Christopher Nolan, ProducersAmerican Fiction, Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Cord Jefferson and Jermaine Johnson, Producers
Anatomy of a Fall, Marie-Ange Luciani and David Thion, Producers
Barbie, David Heyman, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner, Producers
The Holdovers, Mark Johnson, Producer
Killers of the Flower Moon, Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas, Martin Scorsese and Daniel Lupi, Producers
Maestro, Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg, Fred Berner, Amy Durning and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers
Past Lives, David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler, Producers
Poor Things, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone, Producers
The Zone of Interest, James Wilson, Producer
Actress in a leading role
WINNER: Emma Stone, Poor Things
Annette Bening, NyadLily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower MoonSandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall
Carey Mulligan, MaestroWhat questions do you have about Southern California?
Directing
WINNER: Oppenheimer, Christopher NolanAnatomy of a Fall, Justine Triet
Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese
Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos
The Zone of Interest, Jonathan Glazer
Actor in a leading role
WINNER: Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Bradley Cooper, MaestroColman Domingo, RustinPaul Giamatti, The HoldoversJeffrey Wright, American Fiction
Music (original song)
WINNER: "What Was I Made For?" from Barbie; Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell
"The Fire Inside" from Flamin' Hot; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
"I'm Just Ken" from Barbie; Music and Lyric by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt
"It Never Went Away" from American Symphony; Music and Lyric by Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson
"Wahzhazhe" from Killers of the Flower Moon; Music and Lyric by Scott George
Music (original score)
WINNER: Oppenheimer, Ludwig Göransson
American Fiction, Laura Karpman
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, John Williams
Killers of the Flower Moon, Robbie Robertson
Poor Things, Jerskin Fendrix
Sound
WINNER: The Zone of Interest; Tarn Willers and Johnnie BurnThe Creator; Ian Voigt, Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic
Maestro; Steven A. Morrow, Richard King, Jason Ruder, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One; Chris Munro, James H. Mather, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor
Oppenheimer; Willie Burton, Richard King, Gary A. Rizzo and Kevin O'Connell
Live action short film
WINNER: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, Wes Anderson and Steven RalesThe After, Misan Harriman and Nicky Bentham
Invincible, Vincent René-Lortie and Samuel Caron
Knight of Fortune, Lasse Lyskjær Noer and Christian Norlyk
Red, White and Blue, Nazrin Choudhury and Sara McFarlane
Cinematography
WINNER: Oppenheimer, Hoyte van Hoytema
El Conde, Edward Lachman
Killers of the Flower Moon, Rodrigo Prieto
Maestro, Matthew Libatique
Poor Things, Robbie Ryan
Documentary feature film
WINNER: 20 Days in Mariupol; Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner and Raney Aronson-RathBobi Wine: The People's President; Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp and John Battsek
The Eternal Memory; Maite Alberdi
Four Daughters; Kaouther Ben Hania and Nadim Cheikhrouha
To Kill a Tiger; Nisha Pahuja, Cornelia Principe and David Oppenheim
Documentary short film
WINNER: The Last Repair Shop, Ben Proudfoot and Kris BowersThe ABCS of Book Banning, Sheila Nevins and Trish Adlesic
The Barber of Little Rock, John Hoffman and Christine Turner
Island in Between, S. Leo Chiang and Jean Tsien
Nai Nai & Wài Pó, Sean Wang and Sam Davis
Film editing
WINNER: Oppenheimer, Jennifer Lame
Anatomy of a Fall, Laurent Sénéchal
The Holdovers, Kevin Tent
Killers of the Flower Moon, Thelma Schoonmaker
Poor Things, Yorgos Mavropsaridis
Visual effects
WINNER: Godzilla Minus One; Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima
The Creator; Jay Cooper, Ian Comley, Andrew Roberts and Neil Corbould
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3; Stephane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams and Theo Bialek
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One; Alex Wuttke, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland and Neil Corbould
Napoleon; Charley Henley, Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet, Simone Coco and Neil Corbould
Actor in a supporting role
WINNER: Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction
Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things
International feature film
WINNER: The Zone of Interest, United KingdomIo Capitano, Italy
Perfect Days, Japan
Society of the Snow, Spain
The Teachers' Lounge, Germany
Costume design
WINNER: Poor Things, Holly Waddington
Barbie, Jacqueline Durran
Killers of the Flower Moon, Jacqueline West
Napoleon, Janty Yates and Dave Crossman
Oppenheimer, Ellen Mirojnick
Production design
WINNER: Poor Things, Production Design: James Price and Shona Heath; Set Decoration: Zsuzsa MihalekBarbie, Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
Killers of the Flower Moon, Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Adam Willis
Napoleon, Production Design: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Elli Griff
Oppenheimer, Production Design: Ruth De Jong; Set Decoration: Claire Kaufman
Makeup and hairstyling
WINNER: Poor Things; Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston
Golda; Karen Hartley Thomas, Suzi Battersby and Ashra Kelly-Blue
Maestro; Kazu Hiro, Kay Georgiou and Lori McCoy-Bell
Oppenheimer; Luisa Abel
Society of the Snow; Ana López-Puigcerver, David Martí and Montse Ribé
Writing (adapted screenplay)
WINNER: American Fiction; Written for the screen by Cord Jefferson
Barbie; Written by Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach
Oppenheimer; Written for the screen by Christopher Nolan
Poor Things; Screenplay by Tony McNamara
The Zone of Interest; Written by Jonathan Glazer
Writing (original screenplay)
WINNER: Anatomy of a Fall; Screenplay - Justine Triet and Arthur Harari
The Holdovers; Written by David Hemingson
Maestro; Written by Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer
May December; Screenplay by Samy Burch, story by Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik
Past Lives; Written by Celine Song
Animated feature film
WINNER: The Boy and the Heron; Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki
Elemental; Peter Sohn and Denise Ream
Nimona; Nick Bruno, Troy Quane, Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary
Robot Dreams; Pablo Berger, Ibon Cormenzana, Ignasi Estapé and Sandra Tapia Díaz
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse; Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Amy Pascal
Animated short film
WINNER: War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko, Dave Mullins and Brad BookerLetter to a Pig, Tal Kantor and Amit R. Gicelter
Ninety-Five Senses, Jerusha Hess and Jared Hess
Our Uniform, Yegane Moghaddam
Pachyderme, Stéphanie Clément and Marc Rius
Actress in a supporting role
WINNER: Da'Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
America Ferrera, Barbie
Jodie Foster, Nyad

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