Industrial polluters, image by TR STOKOPINION – It has long been an open secret that Cap-and-Trade, California’s so-called “landmark climate policy,” is failing to drive significant pollution reductions more than a decade after it was launched. Under the current framework, industrial polluters in our state have grown accustomed to getting special treatment and emissions in some sectors are up.
CA Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, photo from his candidate websiteThe California insurance market is in flux. We asked our Experts to rate, on a scale of one to 10, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara’s handling of this situation so far.
Image by monticello via shutterstockWhen it comes to supporting the circular economy, improving plastic recycling, and reducing waste, do we want to help the environment or regulate more?
Protecting the technology industry is vital for the state’s economy as it contributes significantly to job creation, tax revenue, and economic growth.
Via ShutterstockTo counter industry propaganda and build support for the urgent action required, California must launch a creative, coordinated, aggressive, well-funded media advocacy campaign that connects the dots between the fossil fuel industry and its catastrophic impacts on our health and our climate.
Via ShutterstockNew tools urgently needed to protect Californians from mosquito-transmitted diseases
Liane Randolph of CARB. Liane Randolph helms the state’s lead agency for climate change programs, putting her center stage on one of the hottest issues of the day. It puts her in a delicate position. “With climate change, you want to move fast,” she said. “But if you want to do it in a way where people have a say and where it is affordable, you need to be more patient and deliberative.”
A pair of all-electric big-rig trucks, built by Tesla, are ready for the road. (Photo: Steve Jurvetson, via Wikipedia)Never mind there are few on the market, or that keeping them moving requires a nonexistent network of chargers, California wants truckers to hurry up and replace diesel big rigs with versions that run on batteries or hydrogen. Regulations to achieve the transitions are not yet complete. The California Air Resources Board is gathering public opinion on the latest iteration and a subsequent draft is anticipated in the spring.
A harvester in a drought-stricken field of northern California. (Photo: TFoxFoto, via Shutterstock)Planted in spring, farmers drain their fields in August, and they drive big, loud harvesters into them in September, gently separating the rice stalks from the grain, and blowing the harvest into bankout wagons that they tow beside them. On average, each acre produces 8,000 pounds of rice, which is a greater yield than most of the world’s rice growing regions. But this September, 300,000 of California’s 550,000 acres of rice lay barren—over half the state’s rice crop.
The Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park, a 932-acre park in the Sierra Pelona Mountains in northern L.A. County.(Photo: Patricia Elaine Thomas, via Shutterstock)From my home in Ventura County, I can see the rugged hills and green oak trees of the Los Padres National Forest. I grew up in this area and have spent countless days exploring my wild backyard.
As a kid, these lands were a constant in my life and I thought they would always remain