Newly released federal estimates show California’s poverty rate remained the highest in the nation, despite a modest fall, and the state’s falling uninsured rate slowed for the first time since before Medicaid expansion. According to the Census Bureau, the share of Californians in poverty fell to 19 percent — a 1.4 percent decrease from last […]
“California is committed to doing whatever is necessary to meet the existential threat of climate change,” the Governor declared. “California has been doing stuff that the rest of the world is hoping to get to one day.” That “stuff” is costing Californians dearly. See the nearby chart tracking residential electricity rates since 2011. Plunging natural […]
Had California and Germany invested $680 billion into new nuclear power plants instead of renewables like solar and wind farms, the two would already be generating 100% or more of their electricity from clean (low-emissions) energy sources, according to a new analysis by Environmental Progress. The analysis comes the day before California plays host to […]
Ahead of a summit this week meant to galvanize regional action on climate change, Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday signed legislation that would put California on the path to eliminating fossil fuels from its energy sector. Senate Bill 100 speeds up the state’s timeline for moving to renewable energy sources like solar and wind, and […]
California’s role as a global climate leader will take center stage during the international climate conference hosted by Governor Jerry Brown in San Francisco this week. The world also needs to know that California is our nation’s housing crisis, homelessness, and poverty leader. We have highest percentage and highest number of homeless and poor people […]
A group of bills now on the governor’s desk could help change Californians’ relationship with plastic. If they become law, the five bills are designed to interrupt the lifecycle of plastic in the environment. Under one bill, people will have to ask for straws at full-service restaurants. There will also be a funding increase for […]
The state accounts for less than 1% of global emissions, so its climate heroism can have no serious effect on climate change, which the state’s politicians blame for wildfires and rising sea levels. Plus its cuts are partly illusory since they drive manufacturing jobs to other states, which then produce greenhouse emissions on California’s behalf. […]
California looks a lot different than it did a generation ago. Its residents are far more diverse, and they live in a far more expensive state. There’s way more renters and proportionately way fewer Republicans. Yet today’s Californians have at least one thing in common with their late 1970s forebears: They still really like Proposition […]
An effort to impose a “voluntary” water tax on residents to pay for safe drinking water projects died in the Legislature on Friday. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said “a piecemeal funding approach” to the problem “won’t work.” . . . State lawmakers are hesitant to support any new tax increase after Republicans successfully recalled Sen. […]
A new surcharge on landlines, cellphones and data plans meant to bolster 911 operations sputtered in the Legislature on Friday, even as lawmakers cited the need for an improved system in the wake of the state’s deadly wildfires. “The current system is based on technology from the 1980s,” said state Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles), […]
Trying to help 24 million people by imperiling 78 million people’s lives is a very poor policy. We’ve heard similar stories before: In a few short decades, climate policy has often created more damage than the benefits it attempts to deliver. Ten years ago, a biofuels craze swept rich countries with the full-throated support of […]
RT ridership peaked more than a decade ago, before the recession, at more than 30 million boardings annually. That dropped to 24 million by 2016, when the agency increased fares. Ridership this year declined to 21 million. RT officials attributed much of the initial ridership decline to several years of dramatic service cuts during the […]
Recently, California homebuilders delivered to the state Legislature a healthy dose of reality. At a special hearing of the Assembly’s Select Committee on Housing Affordability (the Committee), representatives of the California Building Industry Association (CBIA) illustrated why housing in the state is so expensive. In fact, CBIA may have made a case at the mid-August […]
SB100 requires utilities to receive 50 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by the end of 2026. By Dec. 31, 2030, utilities would need to up that target to 60 percent. The bill passed the Senate 25-13 on Wednesday and the Assembly 44 to 33 on Tuesday. Achieving the bill’s goals, however, won’t be […]
San Francisco has 900 housing units stuck in the approval pipeline, and Mayor London Breed plans to do something about that Thursday. Breed is set to hand down an executive order to dramatically accelerate the city’s process for assessing and approving accessory dwelling units — starting with clearing the big backlog mired in various stages […]