High school students taking a test. (Photo: LStockStudio, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Twenty-four states will use the SAT and/or ACT this school year for state assessments and accountability. California students deserve the same opportunity to take these assessments for free at their schools and reap the benefit of increased access to higher education.
Pump jacks at sunset, extracting up to 40 liters of oil and water emulsion with each stroke. (Photo: Ronnie Chua, via Shutterstock)California has long been a top producer of oil. But that may change. Some hope that change will accelerate under Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has called for a decrease in the demand and supply of fossil fuels. A recent massive spill in Chevron’s Cymric oilfield in Kern County, about 35 miles west of Bakersfield, could bolster that view.
Wind-whipped flames on San Miguel Mountain east of San Diego. (Photo: Kevin Key)OPINION: The destruction in Florida, the cataclysmic floods in Houston, the massive erosion of the Oroville Dam and the ravaging wildfires up and down the Golden State are all real-time reminders of how vulnerable each one of us is to disaster, no matter who we are or where we live. It’s too easy to embrace the fallacy that these terrible things only happen to others. Instead of hoping for the best, we should plan and prepare for the worst. The safety of our families depends on it.