In the beginning, there was state government. Before there was a federal government, a collection of states organized under the Articles of Confederation in 1781. But the 13 separate entities with different interests soon realized they needed an overarching body to enforce laws, regulate commerce and wage war. So the U.S....
Bomb Cyclone Set to Unleash on California Today
The massive, bomb-cyclone-fueled storm set to unleash on California on Wednesday — dumping more rain and snow across much of the already-soaked state while whipping it with winds as high as 70 mph — illuminates some of the underlying climate and environmental issues confronting state lawmakers, who return to Sacramento...
California Politicians Stash $35 Million in Leftover Campaign Cash
Lea este artículo en español. It has been nearly eight years since Bill Lockyer held elected office in California. For more than four decades, he climbed the ranks of state politics — Assembly member, Senate leader, attorney general, treasurer — before ending a campaign for controller amid turmoil in his marriage and retiring...
CA’s Promise of a Human Right to Water Is Still Broken
Ten years ago, Californians impacted by unsafe and unaffordable water secured legal recognition of the human right to water. Since then, activists have leveraged California’s vital water law to promote safe, affordable, and accessible water for all. But we are still far from achieving its intended purpose. More than 1 million Californians...
Latest Nanny State Idea Would Treat Scrap Metal as Hazardous Waste
California’s environmental regulatory agencies are among the world’s best. But occasionally the state’s environmental goals and policies are incompatible and leaders must consider the real-world impacts of their decisions. Some industries regulated by our environmental agencies are themselves critical to achieving our environmental goals. Take, for example, the metal-recycling industry. California...
Are CA’s New Rooftop Solar Rules a ‘Complete Retreat’ for Clean Energy?
If there’s one thing Thursday made clear, it’s that climate policy and controversy go hand in hand in California. Depending on whom you ask, the two major actions state regulators took Thursday are either indicative of California “leading the world’s most significant economic transformation since the Industrial Revolution” (as Gov....
Is California’s Drought Over? Despite Storms, Water Shortages Expected
December has delivered a powerful punch of storms to California. But the wet weather comes with a dry dose of reality: The state’s largest reservoirs remain badly depleted, projected water deliveries are low, wells are drying up, and the Colorado River’s water, already diminished by a megadrought, is severely overallocated. Throughout California, urban water...
CPUC Must not Push Solar Energy Beyond the Reach of the Poor
In pulpits and pews statewide, a quiet revolution has been rising, steady, and resolute. Black churches are mobilizing around climate and environmental justice issues, vowing to embrace sustainability and deploy renewable energy to help combat climate change. Green the Church is among those organizations leading the way in advancing social and...
Bring Back Phonics and California Students Will Be Better Readers
For most people, reading is second nature – it’s almost muscle memory. As you read the words on this page right now, you likely are not thinking about how you read or the mechanisms our brains use to decipher jumbled letters and words into cohesive concepts and sentences. We learned how to...
Help’s on the Way for California Truckers Grappling With EV Regs
Freight vehicles are one of the largest sources of air pollution in the state, and the East Bay and Central Valley are among the biggest emitters. Thirty percent of the jobs in Alameda County alone are tied to industries that move goods in and out of the Port of Oakland...