California Voices

The California Supreme Court has ducked a fundamental issue in state's pension crisis, leaving "California rule" up in the air.

Californians want to make an investment in renewable energy and encourage electricity usage during times when it is being sourced from non-renewable sources. But upcoming changes to Southern California Edison’s “time-of-use” rate plans would  discourage solar adoption in pursuit of short-term profits when we should be ensuring that renewable energy is embraced by as many as possible.

Renewable natural gas is produced from the largest waste streams in society today—landfills, diverted food waste, wastewater plants and livestock operations. These waste sources emit methane—a highly potent greenhouse gas—into the atmosphere.   RNG projects prevent this from happening, by capturing the methane and converting it into an ultra-low-carbon renewable fuel or electricity.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is taking a carrot-and-stick approach to California's housing shortage, but it may have a fatal flaw.

Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disability in America and worldwide. Public health experts understand that it’s a short step from vaping to smoking. That’s why we must act before e-cigarettes hook the next generation to nicotine.

The state's Fair Political Practices Commission wants the authority to prosecute local government officials who misuse public funds for campaigns.

California’s publicly owned, not-for-profit electric utilities are providing safe, continuous and sustainable power to about one in every four Californians, with rates about 17 percent lower on average than those of investor-owned utilities.

All children have a right to a good education, no matter what neighborhood they live in or how much money their parents make. We must move beyond the debate about charter schools and focus on what all parents want: more great schools to help our children thrive and lead choice-filled lives.

A collection of commentaries by Dan Walters over the past week.

Libraries are concluding fines for overdue material do more harm than good. Overdue fines accumulate and block access for low-income residents, the people who need libraries the most. And fines don’t work that well to prod people to return books. Better ways exist that don’t block access for people who need it.