As India celebrated 70 years of independence last week, a tragedy in a remote corner of India’s largest state, Uttar Pradesh, highlighted how far the world’s largest democracy still is from being able to provide a healthy life for most of its citizens. For all its talk of smart cities and industrial corridors, this is the government’s greatest failing—and one …

Silicon Valley has a perception problem. Steve Jobs once said, speaking about the irreverent culture he helped create, that “it’s better to be a pirate than join the navy.” This ethos served the community well when its firms existed at “pirate scale.” But now Silicon Valley’s most successful companies have become some of the largest in the world. This culture …

In another sign that the age of fossil fuels is waning, the California State Senate has passed a bill to commit the state to use 100 percent renewable energy for power by 2045. Other states and cities—including Massachusetts, Chicago and Atlanta—intend to make similar switches. Proponents highlight a bevy of ways in which the Age of Renewables will improve our …