Michael Smolens

4 days ago | miamiherald.com | Michael Smolens

The price of gasoline in California is regularly the highest in the nation, as it was last week. That makes pain at the pump a ready-made, high-profile election issue, though sometimes more so than others. The 2026 election may be one of those times. It's rare that an election hinges solely on the cost of gas, but the issue is more politically potent if it becomes shorthand for a troubled economy.

5 days ago | dailygazette.com | Michael Smolens

The price of gasoline in California is regularly the highest in the nation, as it was last week. That makes pain at the pump a ready-made, high-profile election issue, though sometimes more so than others. The 2026 election may be one of those times. kAmxE’D C2C6 E92E 2? 6=64E:@? 9:?86D D@=6=J @? E96 4@DE @7 82D[ 3FE E96 :DDF6 :D >@C6 A@=:E:42==J A@E6?E :7 :E 364@>6D D9@CE92?5 7@C 2 EC@F3=65 64@?@>J]k^AmkAmw:89 82D AC:46D E6?5 E@ AFE AC6DDFC6 @? E96 :?4F>36?E A2CEJ[ H9:49 :?

6 days ago | sandiegouniontribune.com | Michael Smolens

The price of gasoline in California is regularly the highest in the nation, as it was last week. That makes pain at the pump a ready-made, high-profile election issue, though sometimes more so than others. The 2026 election may be one of those times. It’s rare that an election hinges solely on the cost of gas, but the issue is more politically potent if it becomes shorthand for a troubled economy.

1 week ago | sandiegouniontribune.com | Michael Smolens

Disturbing developments that indicate climate change is getting worse keep surfacing, even as the consequences for planet Earth seem to fall farther off the public radar. That much seems clear, but here’s what isn’t any longer: the political divide over the future of renewable energy. Republican U.S. senators increasingly are trying to put the brakes on President Donald Trump’s efforts to upend the renewable energy industry.

1 week ago | sandiegouniontribune.com | Michael Smolens

San Diego has experienced a welcome trifecta: More housing, better rents and a lower homeless count. It would be nice if it was simply that the first two resulted in the third, but the recent positive trend in the unhoused tally isn’t so easily explained. As when homelessness is on the rise, many factors are cited, and none provide definitive answers. Nevertheless, affordable housing or the lack of it is always central to the discussion.