Image by GorodenkoffOPINION – Manufacturing in California is an often invisible, but critical part of our daily lives. Whether you’re rolling off your mattress in the morning, taking a slice of bread for your sandwich at lunch or closing your blinds at the end of the day, you’ve in some way benefited from the invisible hand of our state’s manufacturers.
EV charging network, image by rawf8OPINION – California is the “lab” for so many programs designed to fight climate change with other states and countries eagerly watching, ready to replicate our work. This is why the state needs to hit the reset button and ensure our EV charging networks are serving both our climate goals and the expectations of California drivers.
A photo illustration of a quantity of antibiotics. (Photo: ESB Professional, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Although the COVID-19 pandemic was, for many, a wake-up call about the spread of infectious disease and the threat of related bacterial infections, California’s infectious disease doctors, scientists, and other health care professionals were all too aware of the potentially fatal consequences. Unfortunately, even as we navigate out of COVID, an under-the-radar but urgent threat looms: the declining efficacy of the antibiotics we use to treat a broad range of infections.
A dog eyes a trove of dumped plastic containers in Moorpark, Calif. (Photo: Alexandra Bilham, via Shutterstock)Approximately 85% of single-use plastics in California never get recycled. By standardizing and clarifying the labeling of recyclable waste, California’s new law aims to align manufacturing standards with state regulations in order to increase the amount of plastic material that actually gets recycled.
Drugs arranged on shelves at a pharmacy. (Photo: SEE_JAY, via Shutterstock)OPINION: California can once again be a national leader in pushing for cost-savings reforms in the healthcare field by being the first in the nation to address the practice of rebate policies that can bring balance and competition back to the pharmaceutical marketplace, which will help drive down drug costs and improve patient care. This policy challenge is called a rebate wall.
An electric big-rig tractor-trailer truck. (Photo: Union of Concerned Scientists)OPINION: Polluters never miss an opportunity to exploit a crisis for financial gain — and the coronavirus crisis is no exception. As millions of Americans hunker down in their homes, sacrificing their incomes to save lives, truck manufacturers are endangering people in my community by lobbying for delays to the nation’s first electric truck standard, which would slash toxic air pollution from trucks.
A pharmacy worker on the the job. (Photo: wavebreakmedia, via Shutterstock)OPINION: In 2018, legislators took positive initial steps to regulate some of the egregious business practices of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) – little-known middlemen in the health care system who have contributed to rising costs. However, more must be done to ensure that Californians are able to access affordable treatment options such as receiving cost savings at point of sale at the pharmacy counter, for example.
Transmission tower with power lines surrounded by trees. <(Photo: Pictures_n_Photos, via Shutterstock)OPINION: The devastation of fire season in wine country and southern California has only been compounded by never-ending public safety power shutoffs across the state. While the purpose of power shutoffs by utility companies, like PG&E, is to prevent their uninspected equipment from catching fire during hot, windy weather, the constant lack of power is an unacceptable solution for California homeowners and business owners and their operations.
Testing cosmetics on a laboratory rabbit. (Photo: Artfully Photographer, via Shutterstock)Animal-rights activists are heralding 2020 as a groundbreaking year because of a new, unprecedented state law that cracks down on cosmetics testing on animals. It takes effect Jan. 1, and will outlaw the importation for profit or sale most of the cosmetics tested on animals in California.
An aerial view of housing density in a Los Angeles suburb. (Photo: trekandshoot, via Shutterstock)ANALYSIS: A new presidential panel aimed at easing the affordable housing crisis is top heavy with business and developer interests, and does little to get at the roots of the problem. President Trump’s executive order created the “White House Council on Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing” in June.