Gov. Gavin Newsom shown at an earlier Capitol briefing. (Photo: AP/Rich Pedroncelli)Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled an unprecedented $100 billion economic recovery package for California that taps state and federal money, while providing a new round of $600 stimulus checks to most Californians and covering missed payments for millions of renters.
Demonstrators outside the state Capitol in Sacramento at the 2018 women's march.(Photo: Lorraine_M, via Shutterstock)Last January, about 36,000 people gathered in Sacramento to march in support of the #MeToo movement. Many women and their allies who marched included those that spoke out and signed an open letter denouncing sexual harassment within the Capitol community. Supporters hope they will have a similar turnout Saturday.
California Gov. Jerry Brown addresses a December 2015 conference on climate change in France at Le Bourget, near Paris. (Photo: Frederic Legrand, COMEO)In recent years, Gov. Jerry Brown has signed groundbreaking legislation establishing the most ambitious greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in North America, and he has been praised globally for his environmentalism and his efforts to curb global warming. But at home – and elsewhere — he faces opposition to some of his environmental policies.
CalPERS headquarters, downtown Sacramento. (Photo: CalPERS)CalPERS is a leader in forming a first-ever global alliance of large investors that would use its combined shareholder clout to engage companies with the most carbon emissions, believed by scientists to contribute to climate change. The CalPERS board was told last week that its staff is working with others to complete the plan in time for an introduction at a United Nations investor meeting next month in Berlin, followed by a public launch in November at a UN climate change meeting in Bonn.
CalPERS' governing board during a 2013 meeting. (Photo: CalPERS board)Calpensions: A key committee yesterday approved a drop in the often-criticized CalPERS investment earnings forecast, gradually raising record rates already being paid by state and local governments, if approved as expected by the full board today.
A street scene in crowded, affluent San Francisco. (Photo: ChameleonsEye, via Shutterstock)“These are the progressive policies that have made California the sixth largest economy on planet Earth,” De León said. We won’t wade into the debate over whether progressive or other policies have positioned the state’s economy on such a high perch. But we will examine the provocative “sixth largest economy on planet Earth” claim by itself.
A powerplant at sunset. (Photo: David Crockett)OPINION: As Hollywood brings a new crop of super-hero movies to our theaters, state policymakers are considering action against a group of particularly nefarious villains known as “super-pollutants.” These contaminants, including black carbon and methane, are both rapidly warming our planet and also damaging human health.
Photo: Monticello, via ShutterstockThe California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has issued shocking assertions about the dangers of Bisphenol-A (BPA). In one sense they are right, their research findings are shocking – but only because they contradict the published scientific literature on BPA safety as well as the opinions of credible global health experts, including our own United State Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
A traffic jam in downtown Los Angeles. (Photo: Prayitno, Wikimedia)Weeks after returning from the Paris summit on climate change where he was hailed as a leader in the movement to limit greenhouse gases, Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed a new transportation budget that celebrates the car. In 2016-17, Brown wants to spend $16 billion on transportation, and most of that would go toward making it easier for people to drive. The Democratic governor wants to build new roads and highways and repave old ones, and use more technology to speed traffic.
An electrical engineer at a solar power plant in California. (Photo: BikerideLondon, via Shutterstock)OPINION: When it comes to climate change, France leads by example. It is the least carbon-intensive major economy in the world. No developed nation emits less carbon per dollar of goods and services produced. But what might surprise many, around the world and here at home, is that the world’s second-least-carbon-intensive economy is here in the United States. Worldwide, when it comes to carbon intensity—to producing more while polluting less—California is second only to France.