Posts Tagged: future

Opinion

Eliminating natural gas for electricity carries risks

A pipeline carrying natural gas near San Jose. (Photo: Sundry Photography, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: Climate change is one of the most important challenges of our time.  And in California, we have felt the brunt of both the economic impacts of climate-driven disasters, as well as aggressive technology innovation that is trying to address it.

News

PPIC: A look at California’s ‘exclusive electorate’

Voters head into their precinct to cast their ballots. (Photo: Shutterstock)

The people who go to the polls in California are very different from those who don’t—a gap that has far-reaching implications for our democracy and political future. The fact that a relatively small, unrepresentative group of Californians elect officials and make policies is an urgent challenge for the state, especially as the population continues to

Opinion

More work needed on state’s drinking water crisis

A sign urging protections for drinking water in Yosemite National Park. (Photo: Earl D. Walker, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: California has a drinking water crisis. More than 1 million people in California lack access to safe, clean, and affordable drinking water. 400 schools in our state have lead contamination in their drinking water. About 300 public water systems in our state are not in compliance with drinking water standards. This is a public health and environmental crisis.

Opinion

California can design the future of work

Workers on the job at a construction site. (Photo: fuyu liu, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: As Californians, we should write the history we want – by strategically and pragmatically addressing the present economic challenges in a way that enables the next generation of Californians to thrive. Gov. Newsom this month announced the creation of the Commission on the Future of Work, and this is a powerful opportunity to align new policies and new politics.

News

Gov. Brown, departing, eyes future

California Gov. Jerry Brown takes questions from reporters and others at a meeting of the Sacramento Press Club. (Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press)

California’s longest-serving governor will turn things over to incoming Gavin Newsom on Jan. 7, but during a recent public appearance Jerry Brown bathed in the upside of politics. “I like sparring with the press, I like raising money, I like attacking my opponents, I like being attacked by my opponents.”

News

PPIC: Universal health care, free community college tops wish list

The state Capitol in Sacramento. (Photo: SchnepfDesign, via Shutterstock)

As Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom prepares to begin his first term, most Californians say universal health coverage and tuition-free community college should be high priorities for new state funding. This is among the key findings of a new statewide survey released today by the Public Policy Institute of California.

News

Cash-strapped stem cell agency reaching out

An illustration of stem cells in mitosis. (Image via Shutterstock)

Stem cell researchers rarely have a chance to talk directly about their work to thousands of people at a time, including those in the farthest reaches of the globe. But Jeanne Loring at the Scripps Research Institute did it last week. The California stem cell agency did it last month with Stanford researcher Gary Steinberg.  And it could well be that the technique that they used will emerge as a critical tool in the effort to stave off the death of the $3 billion, stem cell program.

Opinion

Clean electricity demands true collaboration

High-voltage power lines at sunset. (Photo: Ron Kacmarcik, via Shutterstocfk)

OPINION: California is on the verge of joining Hawaii in setting the bold but achievable goal of getting to 100 percent clean electricity in just one generation. Other neighboring states are also developing very ambitious goals to double or even triple the amount of renewable energy they will generate over the next decade.

News

Death penalty: Ron Briggs’ odyssey

The execution chamber at San Quentin Prison

Ron Briggs was always an ardent supporter of the death penalty. His father John Briggs, former state assemblyman and senator, was a driving force behind a 1978 initiative that expanded the list of special circumstances required for a death sentence. But today, Ron Briggs is one the biggest opponents of capital punishment. He campaigned for Proposition 62, which would have ended the state’s death penalty and was rejected by voters this month.

Podcast

Capitol Weekly Podcast: Mike Madrid

Political strategist Mike Madrid at his Sacramento office. (Photo: Tim Foster)

Capitol Weekly chats with veteran GOP strategist Mike Madrid, who offers his thoughts on the impact of the Latino vote in the 2016 election — and how and why the ‘sleeping giant’ failed to deliver for Hillary Clinton. While the numbers this cycle were good nationally for Donald Trump, and for Democrats in California, Madrid has cautionary words for both parties moving forward.

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