FILE - In this Jan. 16, 2015, file photo, pumpjacks are seen operating in Bakersfield, Calif. On Friday, April 23, 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he would halt all new fracking permits in the state by January 2024. He also ordered state regulators to plan for halting all oil extraction in the state by 2045. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Opinion

Comment: If ‘peak oil’ is ahead why is oil industry doubling down?

Fossil fuel use could peak by 2030, but Big Oil may be putting profit ahead of prudent transition.

Opinion

Comment: ‘Legacy forest’ term hides an unproductive intent

Meant to lock up state forest lands, it discourages responsible and valuable timber management.

Opinion

Comment: Effort to lower drug costs could hurt other patients

Those suffering from rare diseases face a longer wait for medications if research is discouraged.

Opinion

Comment: Musk is his CEO’s X-factor (and not in a good way)

Musk is the widely variable variable for the X chief executive who can’t make headway on advertising.

Opinion

Comment: Terms like ‘abortion tourism’ meant to fabricate outrage

Are women crossing state lines to see a Broadway show, eat at Momofuku and grab a relaxing abortion?…

Opinion

Comment: Consumer sentiment may be suffering from ‘long covid’

Even as the economy has improved, public sentiment hasn’t. Is it a lagging reaction to the pandemic?

Opinion

Comment: Whatever UFOs are, NASA says, they’re not E.T.s

What’s needed is better analysis of sightings of UAPs, formerly UFOs, and healthy skepticism of claims.

Opinion

Comment: Biden said right things at U.N.; it won’t be enough

It doesn’t help that America, champion of democracy, is struggling to save its own democracy and civility.

Opinion

Comment: Count on AI changing homework; and instruction

Including AI in education could help put an emphasis on things students can’t cheat on, such as creativity.

Opinion

Comment: Striking UAW can’t go back to 1950s or wish EVs away

Its strike will end, but the union still must confront the auto industry’s transition to electric vehicles.

Opinion

Comment: Majorities support budget deal but shutdown still looms

GOP hardliners in the House don’t have the votes, but they do have the leverage. And they want…

Opinion

Comment: U.S. can provide for poorest kids; when it wants to

During economic crises — like covid — financial and child care aid drove poverty down. Then the pandemic…

Opinion

Comment: Two odes to Musk’s genius deserve grain of salt

A financial report and a new book seem to give more than the benefit of the doubt to…

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. McCarthy says he's directing a House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Opinion

Comment: Founders saw benefit to the process of impeachment

The intention was to investigate and discourage any abuse of power, but it can absolve a president, too.

Opinion

Eco-nomics: What it takes to lower our greenhouse gas emissions

The longer we keep our foot on the gas of carbon emissions, the further our climate ‘stopping distance’…

Opinion

Comment: Herald editorial got facts wrong on dams’ reliability

The editorial board relied on Seattle Times reporting that was incomplete regarding drought and hydropower.

Opinion

Comment: Vital program keeps low-income families online

Congress should renew monthly aid that connects Black, Latino, tribal and other families to the internet.

Opinion

Comment: Republicans eager to turn impeachment into theater

Without evidence of wrongdoing by Biden, impeachment could become useless to hold presidents accountable.

Opinion

Comment: FEMA isn’t ready for severity of climate disasters

The federal agency needs more funding to respond to disasters, but it also needs significant reforms.

Opinion

Comment: Could federal management of wealth slow inequity?

Alaska’s management of an oil fund for public distribution is an example, but what are the outcomes?