California’s most-recent drought is over. Reservoirs are full. Ski season lasted until July.

But despite the wet winter, an effort is gaining momentum in the state capitol to add manicured green grass to the list of business trappings — like fax machines, pagers and typewriters — that have become obsolete in a changing world.

Even if California is out of its drought, brown might still be the new green. 

A proposed state bill, AB-1572, would try to conserve water by banning companies and industrial areas from watering decorative lawns around their properties with potable water.

(The Center Square) – A California bill that has passed the State Assembly and now faces the Senate Appropriations Committee would codify an executive order requiring California Department of Transportation projects to aim to reduce vehicle miles traveled, or at least not contribute significantly to VMT growth.

(CN) — Laura Friedman has spent a lot of time in pool halls. The Los Angeles County assemblywoman was semi-pro while in college, and later while working in the film industry. She’s familiar with professional pool and poker circles. Both games teach a person how to negotiate and be professional, she said.

It’s those skills, learned in a non-traditional setting, that Friedman said she’s taken into the political world. If she wins the Democratic primary for California’s 30th congressional district, she’ll likely take those skills to Washington, D.C. 

This has been inescapably the summer of the Eras Tour. This is Taylor Swift’s world and we’re all just living in it. But does anyone remember trying to buy those tickets? The price was enough to make a girl cry but, for the throngs of fans across the nation, it was Taylor Swift and they were willing to spend the money.

California Assemblymember Laura Friedman authored a bill signed into law in 2022 that will prohibit the entire class of PFAS, a.k.a. “forever chemicals,” from cosmetic products sold in the state of CA. We will discuss the expected ramifications of that legislation, as well as the public policy she champions to combat climate change. As Chair for the Assembly Committee on Transportation and the bicameral Environmental Caucus, Assemblywoman Friedman has her finger on the pulse of the most pressing environmental issues facing the Golden State.

This has been inescapably the summer of the Eras Tour. This is Taylor Swift’s world and we’re all just living in it. But does anyone remember trying to buy those tickets? The price was enough to make a girl cry but, for the throngs of fans across the nation, it was Taylor Swift and they were willing to spend the money.

If drivers seem more aggressive today than just a few years ago, well, they are. Pedestrian deaths are at their highest level in 41 years. Our streets are getting more dangerous, and lower-income neighborhoods and communities of color are disproportionately impacted.

REBRAND FOR WESTLANDS — For 22 years, Tom Birmingham served as general manager of the Westlands Water District, aggressively lobbying for farmers' water access and making enemies of environmental groups along the way.

He fought for controversial proposals like expanding Shasta Dam, saw longtime lobbyist David Bernhardt appointed as Interior Department secretary under Trump, and earned the sobriquet the "Darth Vader of California water."

Let's begin with something everyone seems to agree upon: Far too many pedestrians are dying on California's streets.

Pedestrian deaths have been rising nationwide over the last decade, and last year they reached their highest level in 41 years. In California, an estimated 1,100 pedestrians were killed in 2022, making the fatality rate in the state 25 percent higher than the national average.