Why Californians Should Love Chevron

Our State Needs the Big Ruthless Oil Company—and Chevron Needs Us

Dear Chevron,

I will not compare thee to a summer’s day. I cannot say you smell like a rose.

But make no mistake: I love you.

You are unaccustomed, I know, to getting letters like this. Love is usually reserved for younger, sexier companies–Google, Apple, or Twitter–across the bay from your San Ramon headquarters. You and other oil companies are villains in today’s California: polluters, price gougers, perpetrators of climate change. In this fall’s gubernatorial debate, Jerry Brown disapprovingly noted your $21 billion in profits last year and blamed you and other oil …

Can a Higher Minimum Wage Lower Your Quality of Life?

Workers Who Get a Boost in Pay Might See a Reduction in Government Assistance

Will you actually be richer when your pay is raised to $15 per hour?

Perhaps the question seems ludicrous. Of course you’re better off making $15 an hour than you were …

My Uncle Dale’s California Dream

In the High Desert, He Lived Like a Cowboy, Hauled Sand and Milk, and Kept Our Family Together

I had to go to a family funeral up in Apple Valley, I explained to friends and colleagues, as I canceled a day’s worth of appointments recently. They offered …

Mr. President, Please Stop Visiting California

You Take Our Money. You Cause Massive Traffic Jams. And You Don’t Pay Attention to Our Biggest Problems.

Bad news: President Obama is coming to California again.

Mr. President, I realize such a statement may seem jarring to you and your strongest supporters. After all, our state (and this …

California Pre-K Is Doomed

The State’s Lack of Ambition Will Kill Universal Preschool Before It Starts

Hard to believe that only a decade ago—back in the fall of 2014—the future of pre-kindergarten looked so promising in California.

State leaders were congratulating themselves on passing a budget …

California’s Three Greatest Mountains

They’re Not the Most Beautiful or Well-Known. But Their Panoramic Views Can Help the State Define Itself.

It’s a hot and angry September, and your boss or your spouse has just told you to take a hike. But where?

Hiking usually means mountains, and California has more than …