Environment

california legislature, last week of session, alligator imports

Politics

What to watch as CA lawmakers wrap up, from gators to the gig economy

As California lawmakers start the last week of the legislative session, this year's to-do list includes some big issues — the future of work, for instance, and vaccine exemptions — and some arcane but high-stakes lobbying fights.

By

Dan Morain

• September 9, 2019

The Camp Fire smoke covers the Butte Creek on Honey Run Road in Paradise, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018. Photo by Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group

Economy

PG&E offers $18 billion for wildfires — less than half would go directly to victims

PG&E is back where it started — searching for a way forward amid tens of billions of dollars in damages from past wildfires. And its narrowing options are driving the state’s largest utility into the arms of Wall Street investors, including a group led by major Republican donor Paul Singer, the billionaire known for his combative style and portfolio of distressed properties.

By

Judy Lin

• September 6, 2019

The Trump administration calls the agreement with carmakers "inconsistent with federal law.” Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Environment

Trump’s dual threat to California’s car deal

Gov. Gavin Newsom vows that California "will keep fighting" for cleaner cars, despite the Trump administration's efforts to derail the state's pact to cut greenhouses gases from tailpipes.

By

Rachel Becker

• September 6, 2019

Explainers

California’s fight over tailpipe emissions, explained

President Trump has threatened to roll back Obama-era standards, jeopardizing a decades-old exemption that lets California make its own clean air rules.

By

Rachel Becker

• August 31, 2019

Burned homes, trees and vehicles in the Northern California city of Santa Rosa, after a devastating 2017 wildfire. Photo by Anne Belden, istockphotos.com

Environment

What to know as California’s peak fire months loom

The state's forests are clogged with 147 million dead trees — wildfire fuel — and late-winter rains nourished grasses and other highly combustible plants.

By

Julie Cart

• August 29, 2019

Economy

How much could PG&E’s rates rise? What you need to know

In the past decade, PG&E rates have gone up 31% — faster than inflation — though not as much as San Diego Gas & Electric's.

By

Judy Lin

• August 22, 2019

A convertible is driven along the coastline in Big Sur, California. Photo by Pgiam/istockphotos.com

Environment

Can California put cars in the rear-view mirror?

It's as hard for drivers to contemplate life without cars as it is for officials to discuss it.

By

Julie Cart

• August 15, 2019

California recycling crisis: Accumulated plastic bottles at the greenwaste recycling facility on July 29, 2019. Photo by Anne Wernikoff/CalMatters

Environment

A $25 million payment wasn’t enough to keep recycler open

The largest recycler operating from supermarket parking lots in California, rePlanet, closed operations this month, despite receiving $25 million in payments from the state in 2018.

By

Dan Morain

• August 12, 2019

A pile of plastic bags at Greenwaste recycling facility in San Jose on July 29, 2019. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters.

Capitol

Tired of plastic junk? California’s recycling bills propose dramatic new rules

As bills that take aim at plastic waste make their way through California’s legislature, the damage they intend to fix already is rippling through the state’s recycling economy. On Monday, rePlanet, a major collector of beverage bottles and cans, shut its 284 collection centers in California, citing lower subsidies from the state as well as […]

By

Rachel Becker

• August 8, 2019

Two levels of conveyer belts carrying items to be recycled seen from above at greenwaste in San Jose on July 29, ,2019. Photo by Anne Wernikoff/CalMatters

Economy

Seabirds eating plastic. Recyclers struggling. This is what California’s waste crisis looks like

Can Californians continue recycling? It’ll take reviving the market for recycled materials and fewer dirty diapers in the blue bin.

By

Rachel Becker

• August 1, 2019