Environmental Justice

Idle and orphaned oil wells pose not just a public health risk but could cost an estimated $21.5 billion to clean up. California lawmakers can take several steps to ensure taxpayers are not forced to cover the tab.

When a bill dies in the Legislature, a hail Mary move is to try to get lawmakers to put it before voters and enshrine it in the state constitution. It’s a tall order that requires a two-thirds vote in both houses — but it’s not impossible. It’s the route Assembly Republicans will take when they […]

Despite reversing course last week, the February decision by Gov. Gavin Newsom and state water officials to bypass environmental rules for water storage allowed greater harm to salmon populations already besieged by drought. Native American tribal members argue that such environmental harm amounts to a civil rights violation.

California sends toxic soil to landfills in Utah and Arizona, including sites near Native American reservations. Will lawmakers step in to keep the waste in state?

Officials from California's largest tribe are concerned about the lack of engagement so far by offshore wind companies, reviving worries over the historic extraction of resources without their involvement.

The principles under which California water rights were assigned during the 20th century simply don’t hold up in the 21st century. The Legislature must change the laws so that sinister legal decisions don’t burden California’s most vulnerable communities and native species with trying to survive with extremely limited water.

It’s climate crunch time in California. Starting today and lasting through Thursday, generators and transmission-line operators should delay any scheduled maintenance to avoid possible power outages as Californians crank up their air conditioners to deal with an expected onslaught of 100-plus degree heat, the state’s electric grid operator said Friday. The California Independent System Operator’s […]

As heat waves become longer and hotter, vulnerable people need cooling immediately. Longer-term interventions must focus on adding shade and changing how buildings are built and land is used. California needs to coordinate these efforts.

Proposition 30, the "Clean Air Initiative" on the November ballot, is aimed at restoring California’s clean air. 

A bill negotiated by environmentalists, the plastics industry and lawmakers is keeping a California recycling measure off the ballot. The bill sailed through the Assembly on Wednesday night and the state Senate on Thursday morning, and the proponents withdrew the initiative just before the deadline.