Posts Tagged: landscape

Opinion

Exempt health care professionals from AB 5

A perfusionist operating a heart-lung machine in a surgical setting. (Photo: Dmitry Kalinovsky, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: In an attempt to address some problematic side-effects of a recent California Supreme Court case focusing on the employment of independent contractors, lawmakers have crafted a proposal that would take away our ability to decide how and when we work.

Opinion

Lawmakers: Look closely at our energy landscape

An aerial and solar energy installation in the southern California desert. (Photo: Veeterzy, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: The clean energy revolution is here, now, and California is a trailblazer of its success. Solar and wind power, electric vehicle use, rooftop photovoltaics, and community choice aggregation are all on the rise in California. The traditional centralized, fossil-fuel power plants are now competing with renewable and distributed energy sources, forcing the industry and regulators to adapt, and upending close to one hundred years of power generation and distribution. 

News

Amid rains, drought fears loom

A rain storm floats over California. (Photo: Serkan Senturk, via Shutterstock)

After a historically wet season last year, relatively little precipitation has fallen this year in California during two of the three historically wettest months. Officials are urging stricter water conservation and caution drier months ahead. After last week’s rains, the Sierra snowpack — a critical factor in water availability — climbed to just 39 percent of normal. More rain is coming, but the question remains: Will it be enough to block the impacts of a resumption of the drought?

Opinion

The regulatory landscape facing ride-share drivers

A woman hails a ride-share driver. (Photo: Maridav, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: Technology has given us more freedom to choose the way we work, live, travel, and shop. But many Americans are hitting bureaucratic roadblocks on their way find full- and part-time work with peer-to-peer services like Lyft, Postmates, and Handy.

Recent News

Stem cell agency okays $150 million ‘powerhouse’

Examining a liquid nitrogen bank containing suspended stem cells. (Photo: Elena Pavolvich)

Directors of California’s stem cell agency this morning approved financing terms for a proposed, $150 million, public-private company that the agency hopes will accelerate the creation of long-sought stem cell therapies. The plan to create a stem cell “powerhouse” is likely to be one of the landmark legacies of the state’s $3 billion research effort — for better or worse.

News

Cable merger could have big impact on California

A sports complex with the Time Warner Cable logo. (Photo: Katherine Welles, Shutterstock)

Change may be coming to millions of California cable TV and broadband users. A looming $78.7 billion merger between Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications would have a major impact on California’s cable TV and broadband markets, with the new entity, called New Charter, serving nearly four of every 10 customers in the state.

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