News

A push to expand rent control in California is sending a chill through the state’s apartment industry, prompting more investors to sell properties or hold off on buying.

Firefighters doused the blazing Tesla Inc. Model X’s battery pack, and then company engineers removed about one-quarter of its power cells before the vehicle was deemed safe to tow off of a California freeway. That didn’t prevent the powerful and highly flammable lithium-ion battery cells from reigniting. The car caught fire twice more within 24 […]

What I found is that widespread adoption of electric vehicles nationwide will likely increase air pollution compared with new internal combustion vehicles. You read that right: more electric cars and trucks will mean more pollution. That might sound counterintuitive: After all, won’t replacing a 30-year old, smoke-belching Oldsmobile with a new electric vehicle reduce air […]

In recent years, policymakers have increasingly aligned with advocacy groups pushing for one-track solutions to climate change, like 100 percent renewable electricity or all-electric buildings. Two weeks ago, Assembly Bill 3232 – legislation that aims to electrify homes and businesses in the state – passed through the Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee with little fanfare. […]

San Francisco hands out millions of syringes a year to drug users but has little control over how they are discarded and that’s contributing to thousands of complaints. The city distributes an estimated 400,000 syringes each month through various programs aimed at reducing HIV and other health risks for drug users. About 246,000 syringes are […]

Last year California’s homeless population jumped 13.7%, compared with 3.6% in New York and 1% nationwide, according to an annual survey by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Most homeless people around the country live in emergency shelters or public transitional housing. But in California they camp outside in public spaces. People who once […]

The U.S. recycling industry is breaking down. Prices for scrap paper and plastic have collapsed, leading local officials across the country to charge residents more to collect recyclables and send some to landfills. Used newspapers, cardboard boxes and plastic bottles are piling up at plants that can’t make a profit processing them for export or […]

California probably won’t get a windfall in tax revenue from its newly legal marijuana market this year. The state collected $34 million in cannabis taxes between January and March, according to an update released by the Legislative Analyst’s Office on Tuesday. That’s behind the pace Gov. Jerry Brown projected in his January budget proposal. At […]

California remains home to several of the world’s electric vehicle capitals. The San Jose, San Francisco, and Los Angeles metropolitan area markets have some of the highest electric vehicle sales and market shares in the world. These three markets together, through 2017, already had more than a quarter-million electric vehicles on their roads. Within these […]

California continues to lead the nation in electric car sales. But it must drive a long, hard road before it can achieve its goal of getting 5 million emissions-free cars on the road 12 years from now. That’s the message of a new report, which found that while sales of battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles […]

A subsequent article will then make the case that the current norm of promoting a chosen technology class as the dominant solution actually extends the reign of fossil fuels. If we want to move past the current wasteful and unhealthy fossil fueled consumerist mindset, technology neutrality is the best way to get there, while technology-forcing […]

The managers of California’s electrical grid warned Wednesday that the state is facing tight power supplies this summer, due in part to a drier winter that is reducing available hydro power. Some Californians could be forced to turn down their air conditioners, hold off on doing their laundry or make other sacrifices in the name […]

Gov. Jerry Brown delivers the keynote address at a economic forum today in Beverly Hills focused on business between California and China. The all-day summit features state lawmakers and business officials from China. The broad focus is on economic policy, clean energy, global trade, development of transportation and infrastructure projects in China and artificial intelligence. […]

After decades of improvement, reductions in smog-forming emissions have slowed dramatically, according to new nationwide study based on satellite measurements. The findings could explain why progress cleaning air pollution in California and other parts of the country is faltering at a time when official estimates show pollution should be steadily declining. Emissions of smog-forming nitrogen […]

Slightly higher pump prices aren’t leading consumers to more efficient cars, however, and lower interest in cars such as the Ford Fusion or Nissan Altima is pulling down the broader market. Sales of the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord tumbled 5% and 19%, respectively, in April. Both models were redesigned recently. Sales of SUVs and […]