California Voices

Adam Freed and Panama Bartholomy: Approximately 20% of the U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are associated with the electricity and fuels used in our commercial and residential buildings. Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg is offering solutions.

Two recent critiques of the state's efforts to raise academic achievement by disadvantaged students indicate that reality is beginning to rear its ugly head.

Re “Gov. Newsom: California must get past differences on water. Voluntary agreements are the path forward” Feb. 4, 2020. We applaud Gov. Gavin Newsom for his effort. While many details remain to be worked out, the governor hits at the heart of the matter and the reason the voluntary agreements are so worth the effort: […]

Gov. Gavin Newsom is threatening a stake seizure of Pacific Gas & Electric if it doesn't meet his demands for change. Is it real or just a bluff.

Gov. Gavin Newsom: Inaction, recalcitrance, and adherence to the status-quo puts our water future at risk. The alternative to the voluntary agreements is a contentious regulatory process that will take many years and require adjudicating a thicket of litigation in every direction before restoring river flows.

Marten Roorda, ACT: Test equity and fair access to higher education must be meaningfully evaluated and addressed on an ongoing basis. But attempting to fix the problem by reducing or eliminating standardized testing such as the SAT or ACT will create several unintended consequences that need to be fully considered.

Susanna Cooper and Michal Kurlaender, UC Davis: Allowing high school students to take college-level courses while they are still in high school is good for students, good for high schools, and good for community colleges, which are the primary vehicle for dual enrollment. Asian American students are more than twice as likely to enroll in college-level courses as African American students. And there are 1,260 high schools in California in which zero students are dual enrolled.

Bill Magavern, Coalition for Clean Air: California’s vehicles are responsible for the vast majority of its emissions of toxic diesel particulate matter and smog-forming NOx and are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. We must do much better, and quickly.

A Senate bill to make housing more affordable by overcoming local resistance to high-density construction, dies, a victim of NIMBYism.

Chuck Ingoglia, National Council for Behavioral Health: California is leading the nation in creating a health care model that recognizes mental wellness cannot be separated from physical health, a model every state in the nation must adopt. Integrating trauma-informed care into primary care will require a fundamental change in the established health care model.