An illustration of the unknown road ahead. (Image: Pro-Studio, via Shutterstock)California faces many challenges now. One is the climate emergency. Another is economic recovery. Add COVID-19 positivity. That is a partial list. You get the picture. Why imagine scenarios for the Golden State over the next decade or century? We turn to Marina Gorbis.
A young inmate is escorted through a detention facility. (Photo: Thomas Andre Fure, via Shuterstock)California sought to reform its juvenile justice system by housing young people closer to their communities in facilities that are intended to replace the youth prisons run by the Department of Juvenile Justice. If Los Angeles County’s experience is any indication, making that shift is more difficult than expected.
An all-electric Nissan Leaf is seen on a freeway in Mountain View. (Photo: Sundry Photography, via Shutterstock)OPINION: A transition to electric vehicles is a bold and necessary vision. Transportation is responsible for almost half of the state’s emissions and the reason why so many of our communities breathe unhealthy air. Reducing emissions is key to mitigating the impacts of climate change and improving air quality.
Students in a classroom receiving instruction, pre-pandemic. (Photo: Monkey Business Images, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Over the past year, the need for equity has risen to the forefront of public discourse. As calls for racial equity and health equity have rightfully become more prominent, unfortunately education equity has shifted in the wrong direction. One of the most egregious acts of education inequity is seen in the fine print of AB 1316.
A landscape shot of grazing range in Central California near the foothills. (Photo: David A. Litman, via Shutterstock)OPINION: California can take significant climate actions not just in such obvious areas as energy and transportation policy, but also in policy areas that some might find unlikely. It can start with land management – an area in which past shortcomings have contributed to creating our new era of megafires.
Automobiles in a wrecking yard awaiting dismantling. (Photo: 1Roman Makedonsky, via Shutterrstock)OPINION: Imagine a business that is unregulated and not held accountable for the improper handling of hazardous materials and fluids that make their way into our drinking water and the waterways that support our wildlife. Then consider that these cash-only businesses fail to provide their employees with a safe working environment or fair wages, accept stolen goods and do not pay taxes.
A group of children with their instructor. (Photo: Robert Kneschke, via Shutterstock)As rents and inequality have soared, many workers haven’t had much to celebrate with a Labor Day picnic. The working moms and dads whose children I care for rarely get a holiday off — and that means neither do I. Long hours and irregular schedules are common for parents working nonstop to lift their
A firefighting helicopter takes water from a golf course pond in Stevenson Ranch near Santa Clarita. (Photo: Krista Kennell, 2007)On Aug. 6, President Donald Trump made his first Twitter statement on California’s summer fire season, which started on June 1. Unlike his statement on last year’s Wine Country fires, when the president tweeted condolences to victims of the fires and support for the firefighters, Trump used these latest natural disasters to troll California with nonsense.
The deeply forested landscape in Humboldt County, where environmental protection is a critical issue. (Photo: Ethan Daniels)OPINION: The resignation of Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt was met with a collective sigh of relief across the nation. Pruitt, one of President Donald Trump’s most loyal foot soldiers in the Trump Administration’s ongoing war on environmental quality, environmental justice, and environmental health, had overseen some of the most egregious rollbacks of environmental protections in history during his brief and troubled tenure in office.
View towards Guadalupe Freeway from Communications Hill, San Jose. (Photo: Sundry Photography, via Shutterstock)OPINION: They say the real estate agent’s mantra is “location, location, location.” And when it comes to crafting smart housing policy, location is key, as well. As California legislators consider more than 130 bills designed to tackle the state’s housing crisis, they should consider ways to encourage infill housing — compact housing in already urbanized land near transit, jobs, and services.