[Source: The Orange County Register] We’re not sure why people were shocked by the predictable outcome of Long Beach’s decision to dramatically boost the hourly pay of grocery workers during the pandemic. After the vote, Kroger announced the shuttering of “long-struggling” Ralphs and Food 4 Less locations. That mandate ends up hurting hourly workers and Read More…
Newsroom
Joe Biden wants 100% clean energy. Will California show that it’s possible?
[Source: Los Angeles Times] The undersea power line would run south from San Luis Obispo County, hugging the California coast for 200 miles before making landfall in or near Los Angeles. It would be able to carry electricity from a fleet of offshore wind turbines, providing Southern California with clean power after sundown and helping Read More…
As state attorney general job morphs post-Trump, who will be Newsom’s pick?
[Source: POLITICO] The last time a California governor chose a new attorney general, Donald Trump had just been elected president. As Democrats geared up to make California the “Resistance State,” newly appointed state attorney general Xavier Becerra quickly went to work suing the Trump administration. He kept it up at a mind-boggling clip, filing 110 lawsuits over Read More…
Fossil fuels aren’t going anywhere
[Source: OilPrice.com] “There is no scenario where hydrocarbons disappear,” the chief executive of Baker Hughes, Lorenzo Simonelli, said during his keynote speech at this year’s annual meeting in the company. Like other executives from the industry, Simonelli acknowledged and welcomed the energy transition, but he noted that a 100-percent renewable energy scenario was simply not Read More…
California Supreme Court rejects challenge to Proposition 22
[Source: CalChamber] California voters passed Proposition 22 in November by a 59% majority. The ballot measure classified app-based drivers for companies such as Uber, Lyft, Postmates, and DoorDash as independent contractors and mandated that those companies provide certain benefits including guaranteeing at least 120% minimum wage during engaged time, payment per mile, health care coverage Read More…
Legislature and governor must act to prevent California employers from paying for EDD’s mistakes
[Source: CalChamber] Whenever something goes wrong – whenever something is lost or damaged – the question is always the same: who gets stuck holding the bag? And we all know the answer should be simple: the person who made the mistake should bear the costs of that mistake. But with California’s UI Fund, it appears Read More…
California bill would require corporations to report and cut down carbon emissions
[Source: The Sacramento Bee] Large California corporations would be required to publicly disclose their carbon footprint and take active steps to reduce emissions, under a proposed law announced Wednesday morning. The bill, Senate Bill 260, would apply to any business that reports more than $1 billion in gross annual revenue. It would give the California Read More…
Covid-19 took a bite from U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2020
[Source: The New York Times] America’s greenhouse gas emissions from energy and industry plummeted more than 10 percent in 2020, reaching their lowest levels in at least three decades as the coronavirus pandemic slammed the brakes on the nation’s economy, according to an estimate published Tuesday (Preliminary US Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimates for 2020 | Read More…
Cutting concrete’s carbon footprint
[Source: GTM GreenTech Media] After years of slow headway, building design and industry professionals say sharp reductions in the climate impact of concrete are possible now. That is significant because cement, the critical glue that holds concrete together, is so carbon-intensive that if it were a country, it would rank fourth in the world as Read More…