Posts Tagged: Los Angeles

News

Facing drought, climate change recycled water is key to survival

Scant water at Granite Island and River Valley along the North Fork of the American River east of Sacramento. (Photo: Lisa Parsons, via Shutterstock)

In 2019, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti unveiled what the city calls “The Green New Deal.” This ambitious sustainability plan stipulates many policy and infrastructural changes to prepare the four-million-person city for climate change. To name a few, the Deal includes: transitioning the power grid to 100% renewable energy by 2045; modifying 100% of buildings to be net zero carbon by 2050; increasing zero emission vehicles, and electrifying all Metro and LADOT buses, to reach zero carbon transportation by 2050.

News

Electric vehicles, fine, but hydrogen fuel cell cars are even better

A hydrogen fuel cell vehicle fills up with H2 at one of the scarce fueling stations. (Photo: ezps, via Shutterstock)

Driving a fuel-cell car means hunting for stations, dealing with shortages and managing an unfamiliar nozzle that sometimes freezes to the car — but Sen. Josh Newman loves it. 
“I’m the self-appointed chair of the ‘Hydrogen Car Caucus,’” said the senator from Orange County, whose personal car is a 2021 Toyota Mirai. Sen. Dave Min, D-Irvine and Asssemblymember Bill Quirk, D-Hayward also drive, and advocate for, hydrogen vehicles.

Opinion

Want good infrastructure? A strong CEQA is the key

Construction on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which was rebuilt following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. (Photo: Karin Hildebrand Lau, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: Thoughtful planning and robust public participation are essential to successful infrastructure development. Our state is lucky to have the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to help us get it right. CEQA may be our most misunderstood statute.

Recent News

Amid pandemic, California murder rate shows shocking rise

Police at a Vallejo crime scene, where three people were shot during an armed robbery. (Photo: Francis Arrostuto, via Shutterstck)

Preliminary numbers from California’s biggest cities suggest that 2020’s stunning 30-percent increase in the statewide murder rate – the largest since 1960 – has continued to rise this year, and crime experts have as many questions as answers. “We’re seeing a continued trend” in rising murder rates throughout 2021, said Mangus Lofstrom, a policy director and senior fellow at the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.

News

Karen Bass brings star power to crowded L.A. mayoral race

Rep. Karen Bass at a Culver City political rally in September. (Photo: Max Elram, via Shutterstock)

Former California Assembly Speaker and current U.S. Rep. Karen Bass wasn’t the first person to get into the L.A. mayoral race, nor the last. But with approximately seven months still to go before the June 7 primary, her candidacy has put a charge into the crowded competition to lead the nation’s second largest city.  

Opinion

State should do more to unclog port congestion

The tugboat Sandra Hugh pushes a cargo ship into the crowded Port of Oakland. (Photo: Sheila Fitzgerald, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: If the Grinch is attempting to steal this Christmas, he is doing so under the guise of supply chain disruptions and congested ports. The attention-grabbing headlines asking, “Who Can Save Christmas,” usually top stories about children finding the right toy under the tree Christmas morning.

Opinion

More than ever, we need parks for healing, bonding with family

The San Gabriel Mountains northeast of Los Angeles in L.A. and San Bernardino counties. (Photo: Noah Sauve, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: My childhood memories are colored by the grey concrete that was everywhere in my community. Growing up east of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley, we didn’t have many parks or green spaces nearby. But there was one exception – the San Gabriel Mountains.

News

Newsom seeks major funding for low-income mothers, their babies

Illustration of a pregnant woman. (Image: Tanya Antusenok,via Shutterstock)

Amid a pandemic that has pushed millions of mothers out of the workplace, caused fertility rates to plunge and heightened the risk of death for pregnant women, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic lawmakers are seeking a slate of health proposals for low-income families and children. Newsom, a self-described feminist and the father of four young children, has long advocated family-friendly health and economic policies.

News

Governor appoints Alex Padilla to U.S. Senate

Secretary of State Alex Padilla at a 2019 news conference in the state Capitol. (Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/AP)

Alex Padilla, California’s chief elections officer and a former state legislator, was appointed Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom to fill the U.S. Senate seat of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. The appointment is historic: Padilla, 47, becomes California’s first Latino U.S. senator, representing a state in which about 38 percent of the population is Latino.

Analysis

Survey: Voters divided on ‘split roll,’ affirmative action

An illustration of the electorate. (Image: M-SUR, via Shutterstock)

With Election Day less than two weeks away, Californians remain divided on a ballot measure that would change how commercial property is taxed. On another closely watched ballot measure, reinstating affirmative action in the public sector has gained slightly since September, but still has less than majority support.

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