Monterey County Explainer Articles

California is full of places and communities, but most are not cities. Here's what it takes for a community to become a city, the benefits of being one—and why the state has a 'de facto moratorium' on new cities.

Billionaires now own Twitter, Facebook and numerous other online and offline media outlets. But there are other information sources not run by the super-rich. We've found a few and listed them here.

California has some of the worst economic inequality in the United States. Is the housing crisis a cause?

Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel, yet it is the source of 40 percent of the world's energy. California remains an exception to coal industry dominance, using and producing less coal that almost any other state.

Founded in 1920, the year that suffragettes triumphed, the League of Women Voters now protects the entire electorate’s rights.

Oil aka petroleum holds a tighter grip on California than any other energy source. Here's how Big Oil came to dominate the state and world economy, and some hints at how oil's grip may finally loosen.

California’s estimated 75,000 undocumented students don’t qualify for federal work-study or most job opportunities. A new state service program launched last week, College Corps, will give hundreds of them as much as $10,000 per year to perform community service.

Natural gas is sometimes called a 'clean' fossil fuel, but it comes with considerable risks to the environment in both its use and how it is extracted. Here's how natural gas is a major cause of climate change.

How does extracting and burning fossil fuels cause the planet to heat up, leading to catastrophic climate change? Here's a brief explanation.

Solar power, and a network of giant battery storage facilities, are playing an essential role in moving California toward its goal of exclusive reliance on renewable energy sources.

A bill in the State Legislature to fund journalism, SB 911, is officially dead. But the funding approved for it will still help fund journalism in California.

California’s goal of zero traffic fatalities remains distant. Here are some common causes of deaths on the road that can be fixed, but haven’t been.

For half a century, this group has reduced waste, reimagined local transportation and redesigned buildings. It’s all part of Ecology Action’s quest for sustainability.

Critics of Joe Biden's student debt relief plan say that it causes inflation and is unfair to blue-collar workers. Do they have a point? Here's what the facts say about it.

President Joe Biden announced a plan to forgive up to $20,000 in student debt for each borrower. Here are the details on who is eligible and how the plan works.

Fires, floods, earthquakes—California’s got it all. And CERT volunteers are ready to step in.

Hydroelectric is widely thought of as renewable energy that can help California achieve its climate goals. But the state doesn't even count large hydro plants toward its goal of 100 percent renewable electricity sources.

Wind power is essential to meeting California's goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2045. Moving wind farms offshore is the next step. Sites off of Morro Bay and Eureka will soon be leased by the federal government.

Marin County created the state's first Community Choice Aggregator to deliver energy in 2010. Now, CCA's cover almost the entire California coast, with more than 200 communities choosing to take part in this new way of powering homes and businesses.

How a recent policy with bureaucratic-sounding name ‘Consumer Choice Aggregation’ delivers clean energy from renewable sources more efficiently to California consumers, potentially helping to roll back climate change.