Image by CozineOPINION – California’s State Water Board is wrestling with what terms to set for water conservation regulation for urban areas. This regulation implements state policy designed to Make Conservation a California Way of Life. But the only way to make that vision equitable is to ensure the needs of low-income communities are taken into account.
An illustration of training options. (Image: Alexander Supertramp, Shutterstock)OPINION:Hidden behind the headline are some facts suggesting the state is headed toward a recession-like slowdown in the economy and job market. First, job growth was not evenly distributed across the state — roughly 74% of the June job growth was in the Bay Area and Los Angeles unemployment increased by 7,000 claims.
Roof top solar panels on rooftops in a Southern California neighborhood. (Photo: Simone Hogan, via Shutterstock)Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger championed an effort to install a million solar energy systems throughout the state. Fifteen years later, lured by incentives, there are more than 1.3 million solar rooftops that produce enough electricity for millions of homes across California. But a sharp debate is brewing among energy experts, the utilities, consumers and labor interests about fairness of the original program, called “net metering.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom shown at an earlier Capitol briefing. (Photo: AP/Rich Pedroncelli)Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled an unprecedented $100 billion economic recovery package for California that taps state and federal money, while providing a new round of $600 stimulus checks to most Californians and covering missed payments for millions of renters.
A resident watches smoke billowing from the Woolsey Fire, November, 2018, in Southern California. (Photo: BrittanyNY, via Shutterstock)OPINION: California is facing a wildfire crisis of epic proportions, and with the 2019 fire season already upon us, the immediate threat of yet another highly destructive and costly wildfire looms over communities all across the state. Everyone agrees that something must be done to address this crisis, and yet legislators still have not taken definitive action.
Solar panels arrayed in the Mojave Desert. (Photo: Andrei Orlov, via Shutterstock)OPINION: As firefighters from across the West come together to battle wildfires, and legislators meet for their last week of this year’s legislative session, our state’s leadership has before them a real opportunity to take decisive action to help mitigate the climate trends that are weighing on our state today.
A black-and-white view of smoggy Century City, Beverly Hills and West Los Angeles. (Photo: trekandshoot)OPINION: Squinting into the smog, our state’s utilities have seen the future — and it’s not fossil fuels. Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric revealed plans to invest $1 billion to build a comprehensive electric transportation infrastructure.
Illustration by Kheng Guan Toh, via ShutterstockOPINION: The California Public Utilities Commission is about to make a landmark decision about the merger of Charter Communications, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks that will have a generational effect on closing—or possibly making permanent—the Digital Divide.
Everyone knows about the pharmaceutical companies, defense contractors and other financial interests that dominate political spending in Washington, D.C. Because federal spending provides a big share of those businesses’ revenues, it’s not surprising they spend heavily for a Congress sympathetic to their interests. But fewer know about the financial interests that dominate political spending in Sacramento.
Boats cluster together at drought-ravaged Shasta Lake. (Photo: David Greitzer). People across California pay dramatically different amounts for the same amount of water, with price tags set by individual agencies from Crescent City to El Centro. North or south, inland or coastal, what Californians pay for their water is locally driven. Ultimately, retail water’s value is determined in a way similar to real estate – location, location, location.