Surviving millions of cars amid the spaghetti tangle of Southern California’s freeways is just one peril that mountain lions and other wild animals encounter in our ever-growing state. Combine this threat with other risks, such as more frequent and intense wildfires, pollution, habitat loss and fragmentation, and you get a true appreciation for why thousands of California voters in 1990 invested permanently in habitat conservation by supporting Proposition 117.

Californians have long supported the idea of eliminating single-use plastic bags from grocery store checkouts. In fact, nearly a decade ago, both the state’s voters and the California Legislature approved a proposition to do just that.

The news organization Cal Matters investigated the effectiveness of California’s gun safety laws in domestic violence cases a few years ago, and it found that many domestic abusers never turn in proof that they had relinquished their firearms as required by law.

There it was — the headline flashing across phones and computer screens — the San Clemente hillside below Casa Romantica was giving way, and the rail tracks below were in danger. Train operations ceased “for the foreseeable future.”