California urges Trump to drop plan for weaker fuel standard

California officials demanded Monday that the Trump administration back off a plan to weaken national fuel economy standards aimed at reducing car emissions and saving people money at the pump, saying the proposed rollback would damage people's health and exacerbate climate change. Looming over the administration's proposal is the possibility that the state, which has become a key leader on climate change as Trump has moved to dismantle Obama-era environmental rules, could set its own separate fuel standard that could roil the auto industry.

Auto trade group says new fuel standards won’t work

A large auto industry trade group isn't stating explicitly that it favors freezing federal gas mileage requirements at the 2021 level, but it's says the current plan won't work. In testimony prepared for a public hearing Monday in Fresno, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers said customers aren't buying more efficient vehicles.

Brett Kavanaugh: A timeline of allegations against the Supreme Court nominee

Two women have come forward to accuse Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, throwing his nomination to the Supreme Court into jeopardy. At a White House ceremony revealing his choice, Trump describes Kavanaugh as a man of "impeccable credentials" and a "true thought-leader among his peers."

Woman comes forward to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct

In this Sept. 6, 2018, file photo, after more than an hour of delay over procedural questions, President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh waits to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee for the third day of his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Al Gore ties hurricanes, California wildfires to climate change in San Francisco summit appearance

As Hurricane Florence pounded Carolina beaches and parts of California continue to burn, former Vice President Al Gore on Friday said that many of the natural disasters affecting the world this year have been made worse by climate change, but it isn't too late to limit its effects. "Every night on the television news is like a nature hike through the Book of Revelation," Gore said at the Global Climate Action Summit, an international meeting of 4,500 scientists, political leaders, activists and business executives at the Moscone Center.

Global summit rebukes Trump, cheers on work to aid climate Source: AP

Thousands of mayors, climate activists and business leaders from around the world descended Thursday on San Francisco to cheer on efforts to reduce global warming, even after U.S. President Donald J. Trump signaled his disdain for the issue. The Global Climate Action Summit, organized by California Gov. Jerry Brown, included a report that 27 major cities around the world have seen emissions decrease over a five-year period and are now at least 10 percent lower than their peak.

Sexual Misconduct Allegations Against Brett Kavanaugh Sent to Federal Investigators: Report

Sen. Dianne Feinstein has sent a letter regarding sexual misconduct allegations against Brett Kavanaugh - President Trump 's contentious Supreme Court nominee - to federal investigators, according to a report from the New York Times . Feinstein, who is the senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee - which is responsible for upholding or rejecting Kavanaugh's nomination - sent the letter on Thursday, after informing her fellow Democrats on the Judiciary Committee about its contents the previous day, the newspaper reported.

Prisoners Fighting Fires Are Being Denied Justice

Evidence of global climate disruption blankets the Earth, pummeling communities with the full arsenal of nature's fury, from hurricanes, tornadoes, relentless rainstorms and thousand-year floods, to historic droughts and searing heat waves. In California, wildfires have raged in record numbers and intensity, pushing the state's firefighting crews to the limit and busting the state's firefighting budget.

CALmatters Commentary: Feinstein, Harris pursue agendas in Kavanaugh hearings

As fate would decree, both of California's U.S. senators, Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, both played starring roles in last week's confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and both had personal political agendas. Feinstein is running this year for re-election and needed to be critical enough of President Donald Trump and Kavanaugh to avoid alienating fervently anti-Trump Democratic voters, while maintaining an air of senatorial decorum.

Obama Campaigns for California Dems, Including Bi Woman Katie Hill

Barack Obama came to Southern California Saturday to campaign for Democratic congressional candidates, including Katie Hill, the bisexual woman challenging homophobic incumbent Steve Knight, and Harley Rouda, a former Republican taking on another deeply anti-LGBTQ incumbent, Dana Rohrabacher. Obama spoke at a rally in Anaheim, in the traditionally conservative stronghold of Orange County.

The Latest: Pence disappointed Obama back on trail

Former President Barack Obama is blasting Republicans, saying "the politics of division and resentment and paranoia has unfortunately found a home in the Republican Party." Vice President Mike Pence says it's disappointing that former President Barack Obama is back on the campaign trail criticizing President Donald Trump.

Barack Obama in campaign-mode for Democratic congressional candidates in California

ANAHEIM, Calif.>> Barack Obama is jumping back into campaign-mode with a visit to a once-solid Republican stronghold in California, promoting Democratic congressional candidates and reminding voters of the stakes in the November elections. Former President Barack Obama talks with Caffe Paradiso owner Young Jeon during a surprise campaign stop with Illinois Democratic gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker and his running mate, state Rep. Juliana Stratton, after speaking on the University of Illinois campus in Urbana, Ill.

Many women’s toiletries do cost more than men’s – and their mortgages might too, report finds

There is some evidence women pay more than men for mortgages, cars and auto repairs and have less access to small-business credit, a federal report has found. The "pink tax" is real: Many products aimed at women cost more than the versions men are supposed to buy - and women might also be paying more for gender-neutral things such as mortgages, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office.