California is a unique place, even within the US. It is home to outstanding natural beauty, with snow-capped mountains, dry deserts, scenic beaches, and unique natural habitats, but also some of the worst environmental problems in the world with wildfires, earthquakes, resource extraction, and urban air pollution. California is also home to several of the biggest companies in the world, if it were a country it would be the sixth-largest national economy, but it is simultaneously the most strictly regulated state in the US. California is especially known for its green regulations, where it has continuously set new standards for vehicles, power generation, and building efficiency in the US. “Other states in the United States contain many attractive natural features as well as abundant natural resources but California is distinctive in one important respect. No other state has enacted so many innovative, comprehensive, and stringent environmental regulations over such a long period of time,” writes UC Berkeley […]