California was thought to be an exception, a place where oil field operations and tectonic faults apparently coexisted without much problem. Not any more.
Proposition 22 reverses a 2019 state law.
AP Photo/Richard Vogel
Workers say they love the freedom of platforms like Uber and TaskRabbit but find it hard to earn a livable wage. Cooperatives that give worker-owners a voice in how they are run offer a solution.
Electric utilities will often cut off power to prevent equipment from starting wildfires during hot, windy weather.
(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Jeanie Chin, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
In an era of climate change and extreme weather, a microgrid — a self-sufficient, energy-generating distribution and control system — puts communities on the path to self-reliance.
Debris in Paradise, California, after the Camp Fire, Nov. 17, 2018.
Senior Airman Crystal Housman/U.S. Air National Guard
Relying on incarcerated workers in emergencies such as the wildfires ravaging parts of the US is a cheap alternative for states. But what protections are there for prisoners?
It’s a … fire!
Illustration by Anurag Papolu/The Conversation; photo by milorad kravic/iStock via Getty Images
The US has a long history of forced sterilization campaigns that were driven by the bogus ‘science’ of eugenics, racism and sexism.
The 2018 Camp Fire north of Sacramento burned everything in its path: cars, power lines, and buildings – and contaminated local drinking water.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Buildings aren’t the only things at risk in wildfires. Recent disasters in California have left local water system contaminated with toxic chemicals afterward, slowing return and recovery.
Reliance on public transit and front-line jobs puts low-income Californians at a higher risk of coming in contact with someone infected with the coronavirus.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Statues of the Spanish missionary Junípero Serra have been toppled by protesters in LA, San Francisco and Sacramento. Californians are questioning whether Serra was a saint or a colonizer – or both.
To some Americans, the figures on Mount Rushmore are patriotic leaders; to others, they’re colonizers.
AP Photo/Stephen Groves
For some viewers, President Trump’s July 3 speech at Mount Rushmore represented love of country. Others saw it very differently.
Protesters rally to have Colorado’s then-incoming governor put an up-to-nine-month moratorium on oil and gas development.
Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via Getty Images
Millions of dollars are spent every election by corporations that want to influence state regulations and policies, and that’s likely to continue in the upcoming election.
Many Americans find comfort in familiar fast-food meals, but they undercut local food security.
Getty Images
Fast-food restaurants can be comforting places, but when they saturate communities, they crowd out healthy food sources and leave residents less nourished.
A pump jack in the town of Signal Hill, California, which sits within the Long Beach Oil Field near the Port of Long Beach.
Frederick J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
A new study finds an association between living near active oil and gas wells in California and low birth-weight infants, adding to findings elsewhere on health risks from oil and gas production.
California was one of the first states to enact shelter-in-place orders.
Aydin Palabiyikoglu/Getty Images
Justices have lent weight to state officials who want churches to remain closed until the public health crisis is over. But not every place of worship is following the rules.
Maine’s Penobscot River flows freely where the Veazie Dam once stood. Dam removals have reopened the river to 12 native fish species.
Gregory Rec/Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images
Thousands of dams across the US are aging and overdue for maintenance. Taking them down can revive rivers, restore fish runs and create new opportunities for tourism and outdoor activities.
Wildfire Specialist at the University of California Cooperative Extension; Adjunct Professor Bren School of Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
Distinguished Blue Planet Prize Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Founding Director, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis
Adjunct Assistant Professor and a founder of the Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles