A California rice field at sunset. (Photo: Sirisak Baokaew, via Shutterstock)This September, 300,000 of California’s 550,000 acres of rice fields lay barren—over half the state’s rice crop. Instead of miles of soft green grasses swaying amid shimmering water, the state’s rice fields were cracked bare dirt, some crowded with weeds. “It is now just a wasteland,” a third-generation rice farmer told the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Thermalito Power Canal in Oroville, Butte County. (Photo: Sundry Photography, via Shutterstock)OPINION: California is flush with cash and staring down a thirsty future. According to the EPA Needs Survey and Assessment, our state needs $50 billion in infrastructure improvements to ensure safe drinking water for everyone. Our unprecedented state budget surplus and drought-induced water use restrictions make it clear: Now is our chance to modernize our water systems, and we must act with urgency.
A building with window air conditioners, which are not as efficient as heat pumps. (Photo: David Crockett, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Unlike states like Texas and Florida, where only 1% of homes lack A.C., roughly a quarter of California homes are not equipped with central cooling. Studies show that the access to cooling in homes is highly correlated with heat-related mortality – and low-income households are less likely to have the cooling they need to stay safe.
A mid-1930s truck on a Kern County highway. (Photo: Joseph Sohm, Shutterstock)California’s already poor roads deteriorated to a whole new level of disrepair this winter. Sinkholes have popped up throughout the state and major roads have closed because of damage. To cite just a few major examples: Portions of Interstate 80 and Highways 50 and 49 were closed due to mudslides. Parts of Highway 1 remain closed because of storm damage. Numerous local roads were battered severely.