Oil pumpjacks near Fellows, California, in Kern County. Image by GaryKavanagh. OPINION – Once one of America’s top three oil producers along with Texas and Alaska, California now must rely on imports for 70 percent of our oil. SB 1137, an oil setback law more restrictive than any similar rule in the country, is further restricting local energy production.
Image by Jacob Wackerhausen.OPINION – As California and the nation debate the future of health care coverage, Medi-Cal funding, and access to preventive services, these individual stories are often lost in policy language and budget spreadsheets. But the reality is simple: when preventive care is weakened, costs don’t disappear. They shift onto emergency rooms, local governments, employers, taxpayers, and patients.
Image by Kirk Fisher.OPINION – California policymakers are obsessed with boosting “affordable housing,” which makes sense when housing in the state is out of reach to a large portion of its residents. They’re trying to solve the problem from the wrong end, though. The supply of affordable housing is best expanded not by focusing on building homes with artificially cheap price tags but by increasing the construction pace of all homes.
Image by geckophotosOPINION – Walk into a Latino-owned restaurant in California, and you will see more than a business. You will see families working side by side. Right now, many of those restaurant owners feel like they are under threat from every direction.
Image by Wachirapong Sukkasemsakorn. OPINION – For California’s 1.1 million multilingual learners (MLLs), equity does not happen automatically but requires intentional action. While the Governor’s proposed budget appropriately elevates education as a statewide priority through broad investments and initiatives, those efforts alone cannot guarantee equitable outcomes.
Image by BrianAJackson.OPINION – CalRecycle is anticipated to finalize regulations any day aimed at implementing Senate Bill 54—the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act. But disappointingly, economic benefits owed to Californians through implementation of the state’s landmark plastic pollution prevention law won’t be realized if pending regulations are adopted as is.
Image by 29mokara. OPINION – California’s transportation system connects our communities, supports our economy and protects public safety. Modernizing how we fund it is about aligning policy with reality and ensuring funding remains fair, accountable and sustainable.
Image by Creative BirdOPINION- California is already working to encourage heat pump adoption through its 2025 Energy Code, but our policymakers should be doing more. Homeowners need to be able to install equipment in a timely, predictable, and affordable way, especially during critical emergency replacements in Sacramento’s sweltering summers.
Black Mountain wild horses. Photo courtesy of Wild Horse Education. OPINION – California calls itself a leader on climate and conservation, but its treatment of wild horses tells a different story: when it comes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) — a bedrock environmental safeguard — the state is letting these herds wither away.
Image by ndrii Yalanskyi. OPINION – Healthcare costs are straining families across California. The cause of this affordability crisis isn’t a mystery – it’s a problem hiding in plain sight, rooted in unchecked corporate hospital systems that put profits over patients.