Posts Tagged: environmental

Opinion

Clean energy deserves strong backing from business

An electrical engineer at a solar power plant in California. (Photo: BikerideLondon, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: A package of bills has been proposed that would require the state to generate half of its electricity from renewables such as solar and wind, cut petroleum use by 50% and double the energy efficiency of existing buildings, all by 2030. The measures have drawn the predictable support of environmental groups concerned about climate change. They deserve the strong – and enthusiastic – backing of business, too.

News

Water rights’ cost draws scrutiny

The Mokulumne River. Photo: Mountain Counties Water Resources Association)

A provision in California’s landmark 2014 Water Bond Act, Proposition 1, might lead California into overspending on water, something that has drawn concerns from the Legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal adviser.

News

To have and have not: The California debate intensifies

A homeless man in a wheelchair wiping his eyes at a pier in Oceanside, Calif. (Photo: David Little via Shutterstock)

We are moving into the post-industrial age, an era of mechanized production, where machines can increasingly do jobs that used to pay real people livable wages. In California, we have strong environmental and labor regulations that did not exist at the birth of the industrial age. These rules have improved and saved lives of workers and the communities where manufacturing plants are based. But they have also driven costs of manufacturing higher.

Opinion

Enviros note: Coalitions aren’t conspiracies

OPINION: I find it fascinating that a handful of gullible news reporters have been convinced this was a “leaked” document that reveals WSPA’s secret formula for world domination. The truth is, the presentation in question was given to a public gathering and provided to individuals who requested it – a regular transparent practice we employ at WSPA.

News

A glimpse into Brown’s 4th term

California Gov. Jerry Brown at a public event. His wife, Anne Gust Brown, is in the background. (Photo: Randy Miramontez)

A little-known panel of Gov. Brown’s top administration officials is poised to play a critical role in his fourth and final term as governor. The newly funded Strategic Growth Council, or SGC, is a cabinet-level body with a portfolio that cuts across virtually all aspects of California government.

News

DWR: Progress on delta tunnels

Islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, an aerial view. The Delta is home to about half of California's drinking water. (Photo: Worldislandinfo.com

California’s top water official told a key gathering of south state water interests that “hard-earned progress” is being made on the Brown administration’s controversial plan to build twin tunnels through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The comments by Mark Cowin, director of the state Department of Water Resources, were aimed in part at dispelling rumors that the project had run aground, perhaps permanently.

Opinion

January countdown: Fuel policy good for health — and wallet

Smoggy air envelops downtown Los Angeles. (Photo: Shutterstock).

OPINION: Despite strong efforts to ratchet down on smog and soot pollution, California still has some of the worst air quality in the nation and most urban areas in California continue to struggle with polluted air.

News

Brown makes urgent plea for delta tunnels

Gov. Jerry Brown at a Capitol briefing last year on his revised state budget. Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/AP

Gov. Jerry Brown delivered an impassioned defense of his ambitious plan to drill huge tunnels through the delta east of San Francisco to move more northern water south, saying California’s economic well-being depended on it.

News

Field Poll: Californians split on drought measures

Millerton Lake in Fresno County formed by the Friant Dam. Photo: K.J. Kolb

Nearly all California voters (88%) believe the state is undergoing a serious water shortage. However, there is no clear consensus about whether the situation is due more to a lack of water storage and supply facilities in the state, or users not using existing supplies efficiently enough. Statewide, 27% cite the former, 37% the latter and another 24% say both are equally responsible.

News

Pressures mount on California ports

Giant crane handles a ship's cargo at the Port of Long Beach. (Photo:

From Humboldt Bay in the north to San Diego in the south, California’s 11 ports generate more than $40 billion in annual economic activity. The Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles provide most of it — together, they represent the nation’s largest cargo container port and the world’s sixth busiest harbor. But new pressures, including a revamped Panama Canal, are clouding California’s picture. (Photo: Port of Long Beach)

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