A water pathway in California's Central Valley. (Photo: Straight 8 Photography) OPINION: Many Californians know of the lead poisoning in the public water system in Detroit. Very few know of the contaminated water crisis impacting more than 1 million Californians. After years of trying to resolve the failure of the State of California to address this public health challenge, advocates have reached a historic negotiated agreement.
Demonstrators protesting U.S. immigration policy at a Los Angeles rally. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)OPINION: Our nation has procrastinated far too long on fixing our broken immigration system. What is needed is a solution that has support from the large and diverse political middle of America, represented by most members of the congress.
A mid-1930s truck on a Kern County highway. (Photo: Joseph Sohm, Shutterstock)OPINION: They blew it. Fifteen months ago, Governor Brown called the Legislature into special session to find new ways to pay for the state’s aging transportation system.
Recent warnings about the dangers of overreliance on petroleum have come from an unlikely cast of characters, including former presidential candidate Ron Paul, business magnate T. Boone Pickensand even a Saudi prince (who warned against his nation’s over dependence on oil exports). If Californians want to disentangle our economy from oil and from the world events that can impact oil prices while cutting our greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020—a goal given the force of law by AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act—we need to consider the surprising connections that drive our state’s dependence on petroleum.
Many large employers in California were scheduled for massive greenhouse gas (GHG) “cap-and-trade” cost increases starting in 2015. Now state regulators propose to delay any increase until 2018 at the earliest. This is good news for manufacturers and thousands of California workers with high wage manufacturing jobs. Food processors, consumer products firms, aerospace, chemical and