A windmill farm in the California desert. (Photo: saraporn, via Shutterstock)OPINION: In much of the country a powerful energy boom is providing a serious stimulus to economic growth. But in California, where fossil fuels are considered about as toxic as tobacco, we are lurching toward an anticipated energy shortage that will further exacerbate the state’s already deep geographic and class divisions.
Renewable energy: Windmills line a ridge near Palm Springs at sunset. (Photo: Joe Belanger, via Shutterstock)The California Public Utilities Commission is poised to decide the formula that determines how much consumers are charged by the big investor-owned utility companies, or IOUs—such as Pacific Gas & Electric or Edison, for example—when the customers switch to local community energy programs. It’s a complex issue, but one with major implications for consumers’ pocketbooks.
An electric vehicle gets a battery recharge at the L.A. Auto Show. Photo: Juan Camilo Bernal) By the time today’s infants are in their early 30s, gasoline-powered cars that aren’t electric hybrids could be a rarity in California. That’s the goal of California policy makers who are doing their best to phase those cars out by 2050 and replace them with zero-emissions vehicles like electric cars, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
An oil refinery at twilight as the lights come on. (Photo: Phonix_a Pk.sarote, via Shutterstock)OPINION: California’s cap-and-trade program is working. Since it was launched in 2013, the system has helped drive down greenhouse gas emissions, while the state’s economy has flourished. The billions of dollars the program generates have funded “climate credit” payments to electric utility customers, low-carbon transit projects, and home weatherization improvements in low-income communities.
Ed’s Note: Here is the full text of the response from the California stem cell agency to a query about the five most important things that it thinks Californians should know about the $3 billion effort.
As rush hour approaches, traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. (Photo: Frontpage)OPINION: The oil company partisans and their legislative allies apparently failed to read past the first five pages of the bill. Buried in the back pages of SB 350 is a full codification of the 2030 and 2050 climate targets that the industry thought it defeated, along with a powerful new set of directives to state energy agencies to meet those targets.
Internet gambling, an illustration. (Photo: Pedro Sala)Legalizing internet poker in California – a fruitless effort that has spanned seven years, a dozen major bills and hundreds of hours of tense talks – was headed for defeat in the Capitol, following opposition from a key Senate committee leader. Casino-owning tribes, card clubs and the horse racing industry were unable to agree on a formula that would allow them to share in the online gaming market, potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars.