The story goes that Californians love their cars. But much of the time that relationship is dysfunctional, launching drivers into the teeth of traffic jams, fouling the air and spewing gases that undermine state policies to combat climate change. Most personal cars sit quietly at the curb or in a garage for 95% of the […]

California officials have made it no secret that for the state to adequately reduce its greenhouse gases, a wholesale change is needed in how we transport ourselves and the goods we consume. Namely, gas-powered cars, trucks and buses must be swapped for their zero-emission counterparts. The road to California’s coveted electric highway—like traffic in the […]

As California accelerates its efforts to reduce greenhouses gases over the next decade, experts are pointing to vulnerabilities in its celebrated cap-and-trade system, weaknesses that could make the state’s goals difficult—even impossible—to reach. Cap and trade, featuring a market where permission to pollute is bought and sold, is a key mechanism California uses to lower […]

Imagine hosting a large gathering of supremely important people. Protocol is taken seriously. But there are at least two complications with the arrangements: One longtime leader has lost interest in the meetings but cannot be shunned outright. Another guest is increasingly influential but has a barely official invitation to the party in the first place. […]

The full extent of the damage from the northern California wildfires that killed 43 people and destroyed 8,400 homes is still being tallied. The devastation left an obvious scar, but not all the damage is visible. Among the assessments still to be made is what impact millions of gallons of fire retardant—essentially a potent fertilizer—may […]

California car buyers are getting a mixed bag of news this week, some of which could have profound implications for the future of the state’s effort to get 1.5 million drivers out of emission-spewing vehicles and into electric alternatives. The Legislature is poised to send the governor a bill—outlining how to spend $1.5 billion in proceeds from […]

The power of the California Democratic party’s ‘supermajority’ was mightily tested Thursday, with the nail-biting passage of a $52 billion transportation package, that will add 12 cents to the price of gasoline. What does that bode for the other big lift coming up in the legislature, the reauthorization of the the state’s landmark climate change […]

Rows of newly minted model homes unspool across a verdant, rolling landscape in this sprawling master-planned community near Sacramento. Solar panels glint across 1,000 acres of rooftops. On a tidy cul-de-sac, a faux-grass lawn flanks the driveway to the home of the future. The two-story residence brims with state-of-the-art energy-saving technology: highly efficient heating and […]