California will fail to meet its ambitious mandates for combating climate change unless the state almost triples its rate of reducing greenhouse gases through 2030, according to a new analysis released last week. After dropping during the pandemic, California’s emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other climate-warming gases increased 3.4 percent in 2021, when the […]
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Legislators Unveil Measure to Ask Voters for $1 Billion Offshore Wind Bond
In a step toward building the first massive wind farms off California’s coast, three Assemblymembers on Feb. 8 proposed a $1 billion bond act to help pay for the expansion of ports. The bill, if approved, would place a bond before voters aimed at helping ports build capacity to assemble, construct and transport wind turbines […]
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Saving Salmon: Newsom Unveils Blueprint for Ending Decades-long Decline
With salmon populations throughout California declining for decades and facing the threat of extinction, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday unveiled a state strategy aimed at protecting and restoring the iconic species “amidst hotter and drier weather exacerbated by climate change.” The blueprint calls for tearing down dams and improving passages for migrating salmon, restoring flows […]
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Can this Plan Fix California’s Insurance Crisis? What You Need to Know
A week after negotiations to rescue California’s floundering home insurance market stalled out in the Legislature, the state’s top insurance regulator put out his own rescue plan that effectively amounts to a trade for the state’s major insurers. Under proposed regulations Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced Thursday, major insurers will be required to cover a […]
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CA Lawmakers Want to Tax Guns and Ammo
With adjournment edging ever closer next Thursday, legislators are continuing to push through bills to beat the deadline. On Thursday: Gun tax: After years of failed efforts, the Legislature sent Gov. Gavin Newsom a measure to tax firearms and ammunition to fund gun violence prevention in California, CalMatters’ Alexei Koseff reports. Assembly Bill 28 by […]
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CA Officials Respond to Tropical Storm Hilary, Ojai quake and Wildfires with the Possibility of More Lightning in the Forecast
California received a one-two punch from Mother Nature as Tropical Storm Hilary unleashed torrential record rains and flooding across Southern California, and an earthquake struck near Ojai — all during what has historically been the state’s wildfire season. The wild weekend prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to head south, declaring a storm state of emergency even […]
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Don’t Call it ‘Toilet to Tap’ — California Plans to Turn Sewage into Drinking Water
Californians could drink highly purified sewage water that is piped directly into drinking water supplies for the first time under proposed rules unveiled by state water officials. The drought-prone state has turned to recycled water for more than 60 years to bolster its scarce supplies, but the current regulations require it to first make a […]
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California Forbids Plans to Unmask Workers at In-N-Out — and Most Other Workplaces
For at least another year and a half, California employers won’t be able to follow In-N-Out’s lead in banning workers from wearing masks on the job. The state’s COVID-19 workplace rules protecting workers’ rights to decide for themselves whether to wear face coverings are locked in at least until February 2025 and could be extended. […]
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CA Legislature Mulls Expanding Paid Sick Leave
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020, California’s three days of paid sick leave for full-time workers was not enough to cover quarantines or vaccine side effects. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law requiring companies to offer as much as 80 hours of supplemental sick leave for employees. The temporary measure was restored in early […]
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Four Things California Can Do as Home Insurers Retreat
After State Farm declared in late May that it wouldn’t sell any new home insurance policies in California, people shopping around for new insurance had one fewer option. When days later it was revealed that Allstate had quietly made the same decision last year, Californians are now left wondering: How bad is this? And how […]
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Mangoes and Agave in the Central Valley? California Farmers Try New Crops to Cope with Climate Change
In a world of worsening heatwaves, flooding, drought, glacial melting, megafires and other calamities of a changing climate, Gary Gragg is an optimist. As California warms, Gragg — a nurseryman, micro-scale farmer and tropical fruit enthusiast — looks forward to the day that he can grow and sell mangoes in Northern California. “I’ve been banking […]
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California’s Next Housing Crackdown Could Force Cities to Plan More Homeless Shelters
All over California, cities are falling far short when it comes to providing enough shelter for their homeless communities. More than 69,000 homeless residents live in Los Angeles County, for instance, but that county has just over 21,000 beds in shelters and temporary housing programs. It’s a similar story in Sacramento County, which counted nearly […]