Artificial Intelligence Is Bringing Nuclear Power Back From the Dead — Maybe Even in California

CalMatters: Artificial intelligence uses so much energy that its rapid spread could endanger California’s goal of eliminating all carbon emissions by 2045 — even as AI companies may be flooding the state treasury with tax revenue. The conundrum has legislators considering what was once unthinkable: Bringing back nuclear power as a driver of innovation and economic growth, sort of like it was the 1960s all over again.

Jan 31, 2025 Alex Shultz, CalMatters

Why California Keeps Putting Homes Where Fires Burn

CalMatters: To many ecologists, economists and other experts on California wildfire risk, the vow to rebuild is part of a familiar California cycle as predictable as the Santa Anas: We keep putting homes in the path of the flames.

Jan 17, 2025 Ben Christopher, CalMatters

‘No Way, Not Possible’

California has a plan for new water rules. Will it save salmon from extinction?

CalMatters: The Newsom administration is refining a contentious set of proposed rules, years in the making, that would reshape how farms and cities draw water from the Central Valley’s Delta and its rivers. Backed by more than $1 billion in state funds, the rules, if adopted, would require water users to help restore rivers and rebuild depleted Chinook salmon runs.  

Dec 20, 2024 Alastair Bland, CalMatters