California is home to some of the nation’s most ambitious climate, housing, and social policy experiments. This archive tracks the progress stories and milestones emerging from the state — from clean energy breakthroughs to community health wins.
To reach its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030, the tech giant will slash its greenhouse gas pollution by 75 percent and then find ways to draw down the remaining 25 percent of its heat-trapping emissions.
New Levi’s jeans will be partially made from old, recycled jeans. They’re also fully circular: When they eventually wear out, they can be recycled again into new material for new jeans.
Disney was Facebook’s top U.S. advertiser for the first six months of 2020, research firm Pathmatics Inc. estimates. It joins hundreds of other companies that have paused spending, including Unilever, Starbucks, Ford, Verizon, and others.
Fifteen states and Washington, DC have announced that they will follow California’s lead in switching all heavy-duty trucks, vans, and buses over to running on electricity, in what could be one of the most significant efforts to reduce harmful diesel engine pollution in the United States.
It’s the first rule of its kind in the United States, and it follows California’s 2018 decision to mandate that transit agencies purchase all-electric buses starting in 2029, as well as its long-standing Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) program for passenger cars and trucks.
The mayors of Los Angeles, Oakland, Atlanta, Georgia, Tacoma, Newark, Saint Paul, Jackson, Compton, Shreveport, and Stockton have joined Mayors For A Guaranteed Income, a coalition advocating for UBI policies, or the idea of giving out recurring cash payments to all individuals without any strings attached.
Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak has decided to side with California and Tesla, not Donald Trump and certain lagging automakers, on the need for cleaner cars. Governor Sisolak that Nevada will adopt California’s fuel economy regulations.
By working with automakers and rental car companies, as well as the millions of independent contractors who drive for Lyft every day, the ride-hailing company believes it can prevent “tens of millions of metric tons” of pollutants from entering the atmosphere.
The 419 MW Mesquite Star wind farm was just completed in Fisher County, Texas, and is now providing electricity for Ecolab, Lowe’s, Intuit, and Brown University. In the case of Intuit, the company has now reached its 100% renewable electricity goal.
Advocacy groups like the ACLU have long raised significant privacy concerns regarding facial recognition. Researchers like Joy Buolamwini, Timnit Gebru, and Deborah Raji have demonstrated that these technologies can come with built-in racial and gender biases.
