A pair of pumpjacks at work in Kern County. (Photo: Christopher Halloran, via Shutterstock)OPINION: As Gov. Newsom addressed California residents in the annual State of the State, he seemed to skirt some big issues plaguing the state, but he didn’t miss the opportunity to double down on his recent and harmful energy policies restricting California energy production.
The Third Street Promenade, an open-air mall in Santa Monica, is completely deserted during the shutdown. (Photo: MSPhotographic, via Shutterstock)Last month, facing the prospect of overwhelmed hospitals and unchecked spread of the novel coronavirus, seven Bay Area county and city health departments joined forces to become the first region in the nation to pass sweeping regulations ordering millions of people indoors and shuttering the local economy.
Capturing energy from the air in the Tehachapi Pass, California. (Photo: Patrick Poendl)We are cutting per-capita carbon pollution dramatically while growing our state’s economy. Now, for every dollar of goods and services we produce, we emit less carbon pollution than any other major economy except for nuclear-powered France. Contrary to fear-mongering by some politicians, California has cut emissions by 25 percent while growing our economy by 37 percent over two decades.
Banana trees in the forest at Agua Azul waterfall, Chiapas, Mexico. (Photo: Elisa Loco)OPINION: When it comes to reducing California’s climate emissions, should we allow companies to pollute our local communities, while paying our neighbors in Mexico to clean up the carbon? Should we gamble our climate policies on saving trees in other countries that can easily be destroyed by forest fires, just so that we can indulge in our own emissions instead of reducing them responsibly?