Posts Tagged: reducing

Opinion

Legislation to divert funds would hurt CSU

Students at San Diego State walk to classes aon the Campanile Mall. (Pictor Picture, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: The California Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom worked together through the budget process this year to support the CSU on many initiatives to improve student success and increase access to higher education. But now a measure headed to the governor’s desk for his signature would require the CSU to divert funds from student services and graduation initiatives and could lead to tuition increases and academic and faculty layoffs.

Opinion

Cutting down Medi-Cal managed care plans is big mistake

Headquarters of the Department of Health Care Services in Sacramento. (Photo: Matthew Corley, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: Anyone who has tried to access health care has likely run into hurdles. From difficulty getting appointments, to barriers to specialty care, to obtaining authorization for appropriate treatments or medications, it can feel like a Herculean task for many to receive the care they need.

News

Dynamex ruling roils workforce

Adult entertainment clubs a decade ago in San Francisco's North Beach district. (Photo: James Kirkikis, via Shutterstock)

No one at the strip club wanted to talk about Dynamex. Dynamex refers to a landmark decision by the California Supreme Court, officially known as Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles, that set standards to determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor.

Analysis

Californians, economics and environmental protection

View of downtown San Diego and central rail yards. (Photo: welcomia, via Shutterstock)

ANALYSIS: Something that isn’t too surprising for legislators or Gov. Brown as California continues to be on the forefront of environmental policies: A major survey shows strong majority (62 percent) of Californians believe air pollution is a problem in their part of California. Two-thirds (66 percent) believe the effects of global warming have already begun, while 58 percent believe it is a serious threat to California’s economy and quality of life.

Opinion

Extending cap-and-trade is right thing to do

An oil refinery at twilight as the lights come on. (Photo: Phonix_a Pk.sarote, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: California’s cap-and-trade program is working. Since it was launched in 2013, the system has helped drive down greenhouse gas emissions, while the state’s economy has flourished. The billions of dollars the program generates have funded “climate credit” payments to electric utility customers, low-carbon transit projects, and home weatherization improvements in low-income communities.

Opinion

The attack of the super-pollutants

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.

Opinion

Joining hands on climate change: Brazil, California

In the Amazon rain forest of Acre, Brazil. (Photo: Andre Dib, Shutterstock)

OPINION: Protecting our climate is very important to the indigenous people of the Amazon. In the Brazilian state of Acre, where I live, we’re already seeing terrible heat, floods and droughts that we never used to experience. That’s why cooperation with California to protect our forests is important to people here.

News

Jerry Brown’s trifecta: Politics, Catholicism and advocacy

Gov. Jerry Brown, flanked by the head of the Ponitifical Academy of Science, Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, spoke recently at a Vatican conference on Modern Slavery and Climate Change. (AP Photo: Alessandra Tarantino)

When Gov. Jerry Brown traveled to the Vatican to attend Pope Francis’ conference on climate change, the Democratic governor allowed one of his most extended public glimpses into how Catholicism helped shape his career. Brown, who turned 77 in April, is nearly the same age as the Pope who turns 79 in December. Pope Francis is the first Jesuit Pope and Brown was a Jesuit seminarian until he dropped out of the Society of Jesus in 1960 to attend the University of California, Berkeley.

Opinion

Progress made on air quality, but much work remains

California motorists in a traffic jam. (Photo: Shutterstock)

As a physician – especially a physician living in Los Angeles – I am deeply concerned about the effects of air pollution on lung health. Southern California is home to some of the most entrenched air pollution in our nation and it affects the millions of our residents living with asthma, heart and lung disease and other chronic health conditions.

Opinion

Prop. 46 foes finance misleading campaign

OPINION: Health care industry-funded ads sounding the Prop 46 privacy alarm flunk the straight face test. The ads allege Prop 46 sets up a secret medical record database that will be vulnerable to hacking. Not only is this absolutely false, it’s galling when you consider that the hospitals and insurance companies funding the ads have exposed millions of their own patient records through their negligence.

Support for Capitol Weekly is Provided by: