Is California’s biofuel program good for the planet?

California is leading the nation into a new era of climate-friendly fuel, or “biofuel,” made out of animal fat, cooking oil and methane from cow manure. These biofuels burn cleaner in engines, but California’s aggressive push for them might fall short as a solution and could be setting off an unwelcome chain reaction around the state and across the country.

March 23, 2022 9:34 AM PT

Jackeline Luna is a former senior producer for video series. Before joining the Los Angeles Times, she interned for Politico, ABC7 and the Mercury News. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a master’s in journalism in May 2018.

Maggie Beidelman

Maggie Beidelman is a former senior video director for the Los Angeles Times. Before joining The Times in 2019, Beidelman helped launch AJ+, the digital media channel of Al Jazeera Media Network, where she produced the award-winning series “Untold America.” Beidelman has her master’s in documentary film from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

Yadira Flores

Yadira Flores is a former video editor for the Los Angeles Times who joined the newsroom through Metpro in November 2017. Flores graduated with a bachelor of science in filmmaking and has edited online content for Amazon, the American Cinema Editors, FilmLight, Emmy Primecuts and Moviola. She hails from El Paso, Texas.