The cruel and rampant purging of Black officials sends the age-old message to Black people that they are inherently incompetent — that they do not deserve the job and never did, writes Erin Aubry Kaplan. capitalandmain.com/trumps-purgi...

By 2030, the centers could consume the equivalent of adding another city the size of L.A. to the state’s power grid. capitalandmain.com/the-insatiab...

The NLRB is paralyzed in Washington. However, California appears poised to become one of the first states in the nation to take over the job of protecting workers — a role the Trump administration has essentially abdicated. New column by @markkreidler.bsky.social capitalandmain.com/california-j...

The purging of Black people from government jobs is an expression of deep-rooted antiblackness that says Black people are never qualified to hold the jobs they have, whatever their actual qualifications. Column by Erin Aubry Kaplan capitalandmain.com/trumps-purgi...

Over a 32-year span, the San Bernardino City Unified School District went from having no intensely segregated schools to having roughly 70. Every single one of Santa Ana Unified’s 50-plus schools have, since 2018, been categorized as intensely segregated. capitalandmain.com/deep-blue-ca...

My latest: “I’ve never seen it this bad.” The perfect storm of climate change, expanding oil and gas production, and costly homeowners insurance is devastating residents of coastal Louisiana. via @capitalandmain.bsky.social capitalandmain.com/on-louisiana...

Climate change. Expanding oil and gas production. Costly homeowners insurance. This perfect storm of inextricably linked factors is devastating residents of coastal Louisiana. The trend has only accelerated. Story by @marcusbaram.bsky.social capitalandmain.com/on-louisiana...

#50in50Challenge Flight 31 follows the Pecos River from the Sangre de Cristo Mtns through New Mexico’s eastern grasslands. The flight over one of the U.S.’s most endangered rivers, with @capitalandmain and pilot Barry Harper, supports reporting as climate change & development reshape the landscape.

DHS and LAPD escalated suppression of Los Angeles anti-ICE protests, arresting demonstrators and clearing encampments to criminalize dissent. #Trump #LosAngeles #ICE #CivilProtest #Authoritarianism #CapitalAndMain   capitalandmain.com/federal-offi...

Older Americans are having to continue working, often without enough retirement savings to step away. By 2030, more than 1 in 5 U.S. residents will be 65+, underscoring the growing need to advance worker protections and programs for older Americans. @capitalandmain.bsky.social: bit.ly/4gT3RuI

Data Centers & Gas Plants in California: Many of California's data centers are clustered in the Bay Area; however, more than half the gas plants that fuel them are in disadvantaged communities. Explore the interactive map: capitalandmain.com/the-insatiab...

NEW in the DOGE Impact Tracker: In the wake of the Social Security Administration slashing 12% of its workforce, the agency’s field offices have struggled to adjust to their new normal with overburdened workers + frustrated recipients, reports @nytimes capitalandmain.com/doge-impact-...

Capital & Main calls Disney’s $233-million wage theft settlement “a strength in numbers success story.” On the political side, Anaheim’s electorate had also been so allergic to anything tied to unions until passing the wage law central to the case. capitalandmain.com/when-workers...

How do you advance Black reparations when the federal government has fully embraced anti-Blackness and is hellbent on wiping out racial justice and Black history? You just do it — and California is betting on getting it done, writes Erin Aubry Kaplan. capitalandmain.com/repairing-th...

More than 60% of the million-plus Californians exposed to an actively producing oil or gas well live in Los Angeles County. Most of those who live near these wells are Black, Latino or low-income. capitalandmain.com/black-califo...

Data Centers & Gas Plants in California: Many of California's data centers are clustered in the Bay Area; more than half the gas plants that fuel them are in disadvantaged communities. Explore the interactive map: capitalandmain.com/the-insatiab...

If you want to better understand the ACA subsidies Democrats are trying to protect, check out this article I wrote about this exact topic almost a year ago. capitalandmain.com/election-may...

NEW INVESTIGATION California predicts data centers will consume as much power as adding another LA to grid by 2030 A utility anticipates additional emissions equal to 21 gas plants Some environmentalists see reducing gas power as “a lot less likely” due to AI capitalandmain.com/the-insatiab...

Pennsylvania is trying to reclaim its Solar for All funding, but a legislative squabble is adding an extra hurdle. From @capitalandmain.bsky.social:

For a state long considered a progressive political force, California’s record on desegregating its own public schools is worsening — and it’s happening faster than just about anywhere else in the country. Column by @markkreidler.bsky.social capitalandmain.com/deep-blue-ca...

California has nearly 300 data centers running around-the-clock power to run AI models like ChatGPT. But by 2030, data centers in the state could consume the equivalent of adding another city the size of Los Angeles to the grid. Story by @aaroncantu.bsky.social capitalandmain.com/the-insatiab...

It was a Thursday when Pennsylvania energy regulators received a pair of letters. The first let them know that $156 million in solar grant money they’d received in 2024 had been revoked; the second ordered them to stop any work related to that money. From @capitalandmain.bsky.social

Trump's EPA has abruptly frozen or removed billions of dollars that the Biden administration awarded states for solar projects in 2024. That includes funds for solar projects meant to benefit Pennsylvania's low-income residents exposed to pollution. capitalandmain.com/is-the-sun-s...

As the full effects of Trump 2.0 begin to be felt, union workers could be placed under new pressures and left with fewer allies. But union strategies in California may nevertheless point a way for other states to weather the approaching storm. capitalandmain.com/unions-are-s...

✊✊✊ Read the latest from @capitalandmain.bsky.social about the campaign that won 50,000 Disneyland employees payouts for years of underpayment while working at the park! capitalandmain.com/when-workers...

Trump has mounted a broad attack on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility initiatives. Now, some early career scientists with disabilities are increasingly uncertain about their place in a field where they have long faced systemic barriers. capitalandmain.com/assault-on-a...

Retirement? In this economy?! A 2022 survey by the Federal Reserve found that 43% of people between 55 and 64 years old lack a retirement savings account, which likely means they would have to rely on Social Security alone. capitalandmain.com/too-old-to-k...

A six-year legal battle between Disney and its workers ends with a massive payout. A California judge's approval of a $233 million settlement marks the final, official repudiation of Disney’s tactics in skirting a 2018 wage law known in Anaheim as Measure L. capitalandmain.com/when-workers...

Very disturbing strategy by DHS to keep people incarcerated and isolated. I don’t recognize my country any longer. capitalandmain.com/ice-is-trans...

Cuts to SNAP and farm-to-school programs under the Trump administration risk worsening childhood disease, nutrition experts warn. capitalandmain.com/maha-promise...

ICE Is Transferring People in Its Custody Away From Family, Lawyers Story by @bgirledukate.bsky.social capitalandmain.com/ice-is-trans...

Across the country, more seniors are staying on the job, often without enough retirement savings to step away. And for aging workers, every shift carries new risks. Story by Lili Euzet with the support of The SCAN Foundation capitalandmain.com/too-old-to-k...

Long-term improvement in statewide school nutrition could be especially important in poorer school districts and lower-income neighborhoods, where ultraprocessed foods are everywhere — and fresh, healthy food is harder to find or more expensive. capitalandmain.com/california-m...

Immigrants in ICE custody are being transferred to facilities further away from family and their lawyers. One group of detainees ended up in Alaska, where prison guards pepper sprayed them after one man asked for a phone call. Story by @bgirledukate.bsky.social capitalandmain.com/ice-is-trans...

Wherein I interview a one-time #Texas oilman and learn about the massive mess left behind when his company collapsed. It's also a glimpse into how oil wells get orphaned and how New Mexico may be on the hook for $1.6 billion in cleanup costs in coming years. capitalandmain.com/new-mexicos-...

New Mexico Governor Puts Finger on Scale in Oilfield Wastewater Vote capitalandmain.com/new-mexico-g...

Essential reading from @jfern.bsky.social & @prokopdani.bsky.social in @sourcenm.com & @capitalandmain.bsky.social. Much detail & money quote from WELC's Tannis Fox: “This is the oddest, most political rulemaking I’ve seen in 25 years.” She served as legal counsel for the WQCC itself for 5 years.

In May, New Mexico’s water quality commission issued a rule that banned fossil fuel wastewater from being used outside oilfield work and testing. Emails now show that Gov. Lujan Grisham may have pushed the commission to overturn the ruling. capitalandmain.com/new-mexico-g...

San Bernardino County — home to more than 2 million residents, the majority of whom are Latino — was ranked the nation’s worst for ozone pollution. Local advocates are now pushing California leaders for action. capitalandmain.com/effort-to-cu...

Allowing roads and logging on millions of acres of national forests would benefit private industry while threatening habitat and public access, opponents say. capitalandmain.com/trumps-plan-...

Working While Brown Is the New Living While Black The Supreme Court’s decision gives federal agents license to treat Latinos like second-class citizens, condoning the same racial profiling Black Americans have long faced from police. capitalandmain.com/hitting-the-...

A recent SCOTUS decision has given federal agents license to treat Latinos like second-class citizens, condoning the same racial profiling Black Americans have long faced from police. In the Trump era, the overt racism of the past is back in full view. capitalandmain.com/hitting-the-...

A bill headed for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk would kick-start a move toward ridding California school cafeterias of the most harmful sorts of ultraprocessed foods. In so doing, California could provide a template for other states to follow. capitalandmain.com/california-m...

The Trump administration plans to end restrictions on road construction, logging and mining on almost 45 million acres of protected public land in an attempt to unburden private industry from environmental regulations. capitalandmain.com/trumps-plan-...

So proud to be a part of the @capitalandmain.bsky.social board. We must support independent journalism now more than ever. A world without investigative journalists is a world where power goes unchecked, and the most vulnerable have no voice. capitalandmain.com/support-real...

When Muhammad Jawaid, a Chicago rideshare driver, was assaulted by two riders this spring, he didn't qualify for workers' compensation despite his injuries. Read more about how we're pushing back against rideshare companies in @capitalandmain.bsky.social. buff.ly/kQEuqSb

Orphan oil and gas wells and their impact on carbon pollution continues to be a scourge. Our friends at @capitalandmain.bsky.social report from New Mexico: prospect.org/environment/...

Here's a great story abt how New Mexico ranchers teamed up w/environmentalists, regulators and even oilfield contractors to attack the estimated $1.6B problem of unplugged oil & gas wells and storage facilities. It all starts w/requiring adequate plugging bonds. capitalandmain.com/new-mexicos-...

For a decade as a legislator, I have stood up to the oil and gas industry. The State Land Office plays a critical role in protecting New Mexicans as a de facto regulator of the industry. As Land Commissioner, I will continue to hold bad actors accountable. capitalandmain.com/new-mexicos-...

Inland Empire communities face dangerous levels of shipping industry pollution — the same emissions warming the planet. After a rule that would have protected residents near rail yards fell apart under Trump's EPA, they're hoping the state takes the lead. capitalandmain.com/effort-to-cu...