The rev of combustion engines will be around for a while if patents are any indication of staying power. Automakers were granted more protection last year on innovations to the 140-year-old technology than for electric cars, according to analytics platform Cipher. While the gap is narrowing, closing it will take another decade. . . . […]
In Enlightenment Now, Pinker makes a crucial counterpoint—the distinction between relative and absolute prosperity: “Total wealth today is vastly greater than it was in 1910, so if the poorer half own the same proportion, they are far richer, not ‘as poor’.” Put simply, people can be much richer in absolute terms despite a relatively smaller […]
The Trump administration is seeking to reopen some of the most sensitive and sought-after public lands in the state not just for timber production, but also for potential solar, wind, broadband infrastructure, mining, off-road vehicle and grazing uses. When it comes to timber, the justification is fire prevention. Environmental groups have long argued that the […]
Most liberal pundits argue that poverty is still a huge problem and that current programs are insufficient. Their conclusion: We shouldn’t change our welfare programs, except possibly to expand them. Those on the right, meanwhile, have argued that the U.S. has spent trillions to no effect. In fact, poverty has declined significantly over the past […]
California officials said Tuesday that they will grant more than $170 million in cap-and-trade funds to local governments and organizations to prevent fires and improve the health of forests. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection announced the grants as the Mendocino Complex fire near Clear Lake, now the largest in state history, continued […]
Another challenge is state politicians who’d rather spend money on green pork. This year the Democratic legislature appropriated a mere $30 million of cap-and-trade revenues for fuel reductions on 60,000 acres of forest land. They allocated $335 million for electric vehicle subsidies. Democrats have also spent billions on high-speed rail, but only this year did […]
San Francisco’s narrowing middle class, already squeezed by the high cost of living could take another hit if a new business tax is approved in the November election, according to the city’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development. The measure, approved for November’s ballot last month, would levy an average of about 0.5 percent gross […]
Businesses that rely on the “gig economy” have been urging state lawmakers to overturn a California Supreme Court ruling that limits them from classifying workers as independent contractors. But legislative leaders declared that effort dead on Wednesday. In April, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a package and document delivery company called Dynamex had incorrectly […]
Leading gig-economy companies including Uber and Lyft are quietly lobbying California’s top Democrats to override or undermine a court ruling that could turn many of their contract workers into employees. In April, the California Supreme Court issued a far-reaching ruling that could make it much harder for companies to claim their workforces of independent contractors […]
Arrangements like Stanfield’s are looking more uncertain after a California Supreme Court ruling on independent contractors in April. That unanimous decision, adopting a new “ABC test” for defining employees, threw nearly three decades of legal precedent up in the air. It could take years, and plenty more litigation, to sort through all of the implications […]
A Sacramento pool hall that hosted billiards players from around the world for 50 years closed last Wednesday after its owner said he faced litigation from a serial filer of disability access lawsuits. In May, Jointed Cue Billiards was sued by Scott Johnson, a quadriplegic attorney from Carmichael who has filed lawsuits against thousands of […]
The law requiring these plans, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), already is having a big effect on prices for agricultural land, particularly in the areas from Madera County down to Kern county, where some of the most severe over drafting in the state commonly occurs. “In anticipation of the SIGMA rules, prices are already […]
A California program to fight climate change may now add more to the cost of gasoline than the state gas-tax increase that many voters want to repeal. The Low Carbon Fuel Standard, designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions from fuel, now adds 12 to 14 cents per gallon to the cost of gasoline sold in […]
As crews across California battle more than a dozen wildfires—including the largest in state history—the blazes are spewing enough carbon into the air to undo some of the good done by the state’s climate policies. What’s even worse: Climate-warming compounds that will be released by the charred forests long after the fires are extinguished may […]
A humming U.S. economy is pushing inflation up to levels that the central bank considers healthy. But there’s a downside: Americans’ paychecks are barely keeping up. Consumer prices rose 2.9% over the past year, a rate last exceeded in late 2011, the Labor Department said Friday. Core prices—those outside of volatile food and energy-related expenses—climbed […]