Posts Tagged: transition

News

From diesel big rigs to electricity: The costly transition begins

A pair of all-electric big-rig trucks, built by Tesla, are ready for the road. (Photo: Steve Jurvetson, via Wikipedia)

Never mind there are few on the market, or that keeping them moving requires a nonexistent network of chargers, California wants truckers to hurry up and replace diesel big rigs with versions that run on batteries or hydrogen. Regulations to achieve the transitions are not yet complete. The California Air Resources Board is gathering public opinion on the latest iteration and a subsequent draft is anticipated in the spring.

Opinion

Who stands to lose in California’s gas price debate?

People protesting the high cost of gasoline at a Los Angeles site during June 2022. (Photo: Ringo Chiu, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: In the past six months, the volatility of fuel prices has been a major concern for Californians as well as a contentious issue between politicians and oil refiners. Even with gas prices decreasing upwards of $0.70 a gallon, the average price per gallon now is significantly more than it was this time last year.

News

Ban on building gas stations is emerging as new policy goal

An old gas station along Route 66 with a 1957 Corvette parked in front. (Photo: Andrey Bayda, via Shutterstock)

In March 2021, Petaluma became the first community in America to permanently ban the construction of new gas stations. For a nation that has been ruled by automobiles for the last century, banning gas stations seems a bold, if self-destructive, move on the surface.

Opinion

Offshore wind energy critical to reach clean power goals

An array of offshore wind turbines at sunset. (Photo: TebNad, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: Offshore wind energy in California would create quality jobs. Legislators should put the state on a path to development. In California, we know that building a clean energy economy means high-quality blue-collar jobs.

Opinion

To block blackouts, CA should delay local power plant closures

The power plant in El Segundo, Calif. (Photo: Don Solomon, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: As temperatures soared and wildfires burned across the Southland, California electricity customers recently experienced rolling blackouts for the first time since 2001. Although investigations continue, it appears that there just weren’t enough energy resources available to meet customer demand.

News

Coronavirus and authors: Book promotions in CA take a hit

The setting for a book-signing event at a Calabasas bookstore, just before the pandemic hit. (Photo: Jesse Watrous, via Shutterstock)

On Tuesday March 17, the nation’s first effective coronavirus shelter-in-place order took effect in California. At midnight, non-essential businesses in six San Francisco Bay Area counties – from salons to bookstores – closed. As Pete Mulvihill, co-owner of Green Apple Books, told KQED about the order, “We haven’t closed since the 1989 earthquake and that was only one day.”

News

Education vs. COVID-19: The shift to online learning

A student works from home via a computer and online instruction. (Photo: Motortion Films, via Shutterstock)

Schools, parents and children in California are facing a steep learning curve as they switch to remote learning in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools shut down abruptly in mid-March, forcing teachers to scramble to come up with online or distance learning materials. Meanwhile, parents had to figure out how to set up home schools while balancing jobs.

Opinion

Keeping our water on when the power goes off

A view of homes and stores along Bridgeway Street, Sausalito.(Photo: Boris Vetshev, viua Shutterstock)

OPINION: During last month’s PG&E Public Safety Power Shutoffs, like so many across California, my family lost electricity for four days. We couldn’t turn on the lights, access the internet or charge our phones. But we didn’t lose water for a moment, thanks to the steps our water provider had taken to prepare for this kind of emergency.

Opinion

Building sector must transition to clean energy

View of Los Angeles with solar panels in the foreground. (Photo: Zhu Difeng, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: When snowboarders Chloe Kim and Shaun White return home to California after dazzling on the halfpipe to win gold at the Olympic Winter Games, there won’t be much snow to greet them. The snowpack in the Sierra Mountains is 80% below normal, an ominous harbinger of more drought for a state already reeling from record wildfires, and a stark reminder that the most important challenge of all – the race against climate change – remains to be won.

Podcast

CA120: Politics in the digital age

An illustration using hard-drawn images on green data paper. (Maksim Kabakou, via Shutterstock)

This past election cycle rewrote the rules for digital campaigning. Most media coverage, especially after the election, has focused on how a brand of digital terrorism – viral campaigns based on fake news stories, fueled by fake social media accounts and hacked computers – put before voters a mix of negative messages and falsehoods that had a huge impact on the U.S. presidential campaign.

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