California has endured three severe droughts over the past 15 years. Its five largest wildfires in recorded history have all occurred since 2018. Heat waves with temperatures above 110 degrees are breaking records summer after summer. With that backdrop, along with a state budget that lawmakers have struggled to balance over the past year, California voters will decide the fate of Proposition 4, a bond measure on the November ballot that would authorize $10 billion in spending to address climate change and its impacts. The money would fund a range of programs, from increasing forest thinning to planting more trees in cities to reduce temperatures during heat waves. It also would pay for programs to expand water conservation and recycling, enlarge state parks and create coastal wetlands to buttress rising sea levels.

Other election articles:

• The Mercury News: Santa Clara Valley Water District election: No drought right now, but drama and big decisions take center stage
• CalMatters:Raw sewage and bursting pipes: Why California community colleges are asking voters for repairs
• The Salt Lake Tribune: How candidates for Utah’s 2nd District want to end toxic partisanship in Congress
• The Salt Lake Tribune: Candidate for Utah’s 1st Congressional District talks views on water policy and IVF