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.
The California Air Resource Board expects this move to slash vehicle emissions – the top source of anthropogenic carbon emissions – by 50% in 2040, paving the way for a race to zero emissions by 2050.
In 2019, California legislators passed a first-of-its-kind law requiring that all public high schools begin classes no earlier than 8:30 a.m. and that middle schools start no earlier than 8 a.m. The law officially went into effect on July 1.
California’s single-use plastic law sets a binding target to cut throwaway plastic 25% by 2032, and it puts the bill where it belongs: on the companies making the stuff. A new producer-led organization will run recycling programs and pay $500 million a year into a fund that helps clean up the mess and address its health impacts. That’s a real shift, because for decades the cost of plastic pollution has fallen on cities and taxpayers, not the businesses profiting from it. As the largest U.S. state, California tends to pull markets and other states along with it — making this a hopeful template for tackling plastic pollution far beyond its borders.
Activists have said decisions like these could be important if the government begins seeking personal information in order to charge people who’ve had, sought or facilitated abortions.
The move will make low-income adults eligible for the state’s Medicaid program by 2024, regardless of their immigration status.
H2 Clipper claims it’ll cost a quarter of what today’s air freight services cost per ton-mile, making it an economically disruptive way to move bulk cargo as well as an opportunity to decarbonize trans-continental logistics operations.
At least nine states now allow students to take mental health days. Other states using less expensive solutions like in-class mediation, mindfulness exercises, and social-emotional training.
For the first time in 70 years, Stanford University is opening a new school—The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, a school dedicated solely to studying the climate crisis.
The apparel company best known for its jeans is the latest U.S. company to offer the benefit as various states clamp down on access to abortions.
This new ordinance will also ban the sale of expanded polystyrene foam, more commonly known as Styrofoam, in items like coolers, dining ware, and pool toys.
