California’s energy transition is failing the middle class — and we need to admit it

California has led the nation on clean air and environmental standards, and that leadership has delivered real results. There was a time when smog routinely blanketed the San Fernando Valley; today, on a sunny day, the air is clear. That progress matters, and it should not be taken for granted.

But leadership also requires honesty. And right now, California’s energy transition is failing the very people it’s supposed to help — working- and middle-class families — because it is being driven more by mandates and hope than by realism...