Environment
Blog
Green Vs. Green
Some might recall the “Redwood Summer” of 1990, when “thousands of environmentalists” gathered on California’s North Coast to protest a timber harvest. “They blocked roads, sat in trees and chained themselves to logging equipment to halt old-growth cutting,” recalls High Country News. There were also “shoving matches, screaming confrontations and ...
Blog
Read about Sacramento's latest push to ban plastic bags
Latest Effort to Ban Plastic Bags Also Doomed to Fail
California’s long statewide nightmare might soon be over. The current generation of plastic bags are in line to be banned just as their predecessors were. Ten years after Sacramento outlawed single-use plastic bags (with the help of a majority of voters two years later in a referendum), legislators have approved ...
Blog
Read latest about push for electric vehicles
California’s No-Car Salesman
Recently, Politico saucily reported that “Gavin Newsom is coming for your car, and he wants you to know it.” And below the headline: “The talked-about presidential contender is carving out an underutilized lane: climate crusader.” It’s hardly an empty lane. In fact, politicians are constantly crashing into each other just ...
Blog
Spending Watch: More Debt Is More Taxes
As a recent Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) poll confirms, this approach is out of step with “most Californians (56%) [who] would prefer to pay lower taxes and have a state government that provides fewer services”. With respect to solving the current budget crisis, the poll found that “fewer ...
Commentary
Read the latest on energy reliability
Energy Transition Or Not, Permitting Reform Is Essential
A reliable energy infrastructure that embraces innovation is essential. Without it, U.S. consumers may lose the capacity to cool our homes when needed, run our appliances on demand, and even earn a living. Ensuring continued energy reliability requires reforms that lessen the burdens associated with federal energy, environmental, and permitting ...
Commentary
Electric vehicle mandate isn’t proving to be practical
When Gov. Gavin Newsom issued his electric vehicle mandate, the deadline was almost 15 years away. It’s now a little more than 11 years down the road. Is there enough time to hit the target? Let’s look at the facts. Newsom’s executive order, which requires “all new cars and passenger ...
Blog
Read latest on state budget debate and climate funding
Would the Sky Fall if Newsom’s Environmental Budget Cuts Are Enacted? Reality Says No.
CalMatters reports that “an array of key climate programs – including efforts to combat rising seas and help low-income Californians buy electric cars – face significant cuts and delays as California seeks to close a $56 billion deficit over the next two fiscal years.” Newsom’s latest proposal is “a 17% ...
Agriculture
Sonoma County Measure Would Put Animal Lives at Risk
There are nearly three times as many laying hens in Sonoma County as there are people. In a testament to the care area poultry farmers give to their livestock, many of the farms are multi-generational members of the county community. Yet, a ballot measure largely funded by animal activist group ...
Climate Change
Fossil Fuel Lawsuits Are A Tax On Consumers
Announcing the state’s lawsuit against energy producers, California AG Rob Bonta claimed it is time to make energy companies pay for “the harm they have caused.” It is one of more than thirty such lawsuits around the country. As I have argued here, here, and here, these lawsuits are not heroic efforts to safeguard the ...
Blog
See how California's policy agenda is affecting other states
The Commerce Clause Vs. The California Progressive Agenda
Isn’t it written somewhere that one state can’t enact policies that interfere with commerce between other states? Maybe in the Constitution? Maybe in Article I, Section 8, Clause 3? This passage, known as the Commerce Clause, says that Congress shall have the power “to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and ...
Green Vs. Green
Some might recall the “Redwood Summer” of 1990, when “thousands of environmentalists” gathered on California’s North Coast to protest a timber harvest. “They blocked roads, sat in trees and chained themselves to logging equipment to halt old-growth cutting,” recalls High Country News. There were also “shoving matches, screaming confrontations and ...
Read about Sacramento's latest push to ban plastic bags
Latest Effort to Ban Plastic Bags Also Doomed to Fail
California’s long statewide nightmare might soon be over. The current generation of plastic bags are in line to be banned just as their predecessors were. Ten years after Sacramento outlawed single-use plastic bags (with the help of a majority of voters two years later in a referendum), legislators have approved ...
Read latest about push for electric vehicles
California’s No-Car Salesman
Recently, Politico saucily reported that “Gavin Newsom is coming for your car, and he wants you to know it.” And below the headline: “The talked-about presidential contender is carving out an underutilized lane: climate crusader.” It’s hardly an empty lane. In fact, politicians are constantly crashing into each other just ...
Spending Watch: More Debt Is More Taxes
As a recent Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) poll confirms, this approach is out of step with “most Californians (56%) [who] would prefer to pay lower taxes and have a state government that provides fewer services”. With respect to solving the current budget crisis, the poll found that “fewer ...
Read the latest on energy reliability
Energy Transition Or Not, Permitting Reform Is Essential
A reliable energy infrastructure that embraces innovation is essential. Without it, U.S. consumers may lose the capacity to cool our homes when needed, run our appliances on demand, and even earn a living. Ensuring continued energy reliability requires reforms that lessen the burdens associated with federal energy, environmental, and permitting ...
Electric vehicle mandate isn’t proving to be practical
When Gov. Gavin Newsom issued his electric vehicle mandate, the deadline was almost 15 years away. It’s now a little more than 11 years down the road. Is there enough time to hit the target? Let’s look at the facts. Newsom’s executive order, which requires “all new cars and passenger ...
Read latest on state budget debate and climate funding
Would the Sky Fall if Newsom’s Environmental Budget Cuts Are Enacted? Reality Says No.
CalMatters reports that “an array of key climate programs – including efforts to combat rising seas and help low-income Californians buy electric cars – face significant cuts and delays as California seeks to close a $56 billion deficit over the next two fiscal years.” Newsom’s latest proposal is “a 17% ...
Sonoma County Measure Would Put Animal Lives at Risk
There are nearly three times as many laying hens in Sonoma County as there are people. In a testament to the care area poultry farmers give to their livestock, many of the farms are multi-generational members of the county community. Yet, a ballot measure largely funded by animal activist group ...
Fossil Fuel Lawsuits Are A Tax On Consumers
Announcing the state’s lawsuit against energy producers, California AG Rob Bonta claimed it is time to make energy companies pay for “the harm they have caused.” It is one of more than thirty such lawsuits around the country. As I have argued here, here, and here, these lawsuits are not heroic efforts to safeguard the ...
See how California's policy agenda is affecting other states
The Commerce Clause Vs. The California Progressive Agenda
Isn’t it written somewhere that one state can’t enact policies that interfere with commerce between other states? Maybe in the Constitution? Maybe in Article I, Section 8, Clause 3? This passage, known as the Commerce Clause, says that Congress shall have the power “to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and ...
