Image credit: Good Critical mass began in San Francisco in 1992 as a means of increasing awareness of cyclists rights. Since then, the movement has spread across the country and the world. Now, the city that gave birth to critical mass is thinking about shutting it down....Read the full story on TreeHugger

Image credit: Coulomb Technologies From San Francisco's plans to be the EV charging capitol of the US to serious efforts to build a national electric vehicle charging network, Coulomb Technologies' ChargePoint concept seems to be making waves. But how can EV owners easily access this ne...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Photo via San Francisco Ocean Film Festival Isla Holbox is a small island off the coast of Mexico that boasts an unusually large whale shark population. The nutrient-rich waters are a perfect feeding ground for the largest fish in the ocean. Whale sharks congregate here by the hundreds, but that means tourists are now flocking here by the thousands. It's a wonderful possibility for habitat and species conservation since the whale sharks are worth more alive than dead. But what does all that eco-tourism do to the local area? Is it ...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Image from film "Sea Horse Sleuths," by Joan Johnson It's back! The San Francisco Ocean Film Fest is back for its seventh year. If you're in or anywhere near San Francisco this Wednesday through Sunday, you'll want to stop by Pier 39. I attended the event last year and was stunned by the quality and quantity of independent documentaries and short films exploring our oceans and the results - both good and bad - of human interaction with them. Check out some of the line up at this year's event, and learn how you can catch the films if you can't attend. ...Read the full story on TreeHugger

I grew up in California, so my family is familiar with earthquakes. However, I grew up in a coastal area that, while we felt the rattle when quakes hit north and south of us, we rarely experienced disastrous results. Even with that familiarity -- or perhaps because of it -- after I moved to San Francisco my family gave me a very large, very full backpack of emergency supplies. And after Haiti, I've also started questioning my disaster preparedness and wondered about the contents of this bag. I pulled it out of the closet today to take a closer look. T...Read the full story on TreeHugger