Tulare County is the largest dairy producer in California and the US. But as climate change exposes the region’s vulnerability, could the industry collapse under its own weight? For Joseph Goni, a fourth-generation dairy farmer in Tulare County, California, the region’s historic floods were part of family lore. As such, his grandfather, who
Los Angeles implemented a so-called “mansion tax”. At a rate of 4% for real estate purchases between 5 and 10 million dollars and 5.5 percent for properties over ten million dollars. All in all, the tax is expected to bring in about 670 million dollars of revenue. The money is mend to finance
This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. California and Arizona are currently fighting each other over water from the Colorado River. But this isn’t new — it’s actually been going on for over 100 years. At one point, the states literally went to war about it. The problem comes down to
California is no stranger to big swings between wet and dry weather. The “atmospheric river” storms that have battered the state this winter are part of a system that has long interrupted periods of drought with huge bursts of rain — indeed, they provide somewhere between 30 and 50 percent of all precipitation
After industry lobbyists halted the oil and gas well safe-distance law, their well-funded referendum could sway voters with misinformation. Over the last few years, as California has introduced stronger regulations on oil and gas drilling aimed at protecting public health, a pattern of events has started to emerge. Here’s how it typically goes:
Oil companies may end up relying on environmentally questionable crop-based fuels. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call for regulators to “accelerate refinery transitions away from petroleum to the production of clean fuels” was part of a larger effort to reduce climate pollution from California’s transportation sector, the largest source of emissions in the state. Since
Laurie Udesky December 9, 2022 One November afternoon, Chris Espedal asked a group of caregivers — all of whom work with people who have cognitive impairments, behavioral health issues, or complex physical needs — to describe what happens when their work becomes too much to bear. The participants, 13 caregivers from all over
The state’s fossil fuel industry spends millions more backing midterm candidates. Oil and gas companies have poured millions of dollars into political action committees and other groups to back state legislative candidates over the last year, and they are now focused on a last-minute push in several key races — including ad buys
Many countries in the world have baseline privacy laws that set minimum standards for all kinds of data use. The United States does not. Many countries have independent data protection agencies that enforce privacy laws. The United States does not. Despite being the home of Silicon Valley, the U.S. has lagged behind the
A new climate is re-writing the story of America’s drylands. Harsh and unrelenting. But also transformative? The dry conditions blanketing much of the American West are setting records nearly every week. Lakes Mead and Powell, the country’s largest reservoirs by capacity, dropped to new lows this year. The Great Salt Lake did, too.