Environment
Commentary
Why can’t California be more like Europe – and Puerto Rico?
While rational energy policies are being followed elsewhere, even in regions that had loudly and proudly gone “green,” California can’t kick its net-zero obsession. Or maybe the right word is “won’t,” because the state refuses to deviate from its reckless plans. Read the op-ed here:
Blog
Read the latest on California's post-wildfire response
Newsom Right to Waive CEQA for Wildfire Rebuilding, But Lawmakers Should Also Act
The broken clock that has been state government’s response to the Southern California wildfires was right once on Sunday when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order waving numerous environmental requirements that threatened to add unnecessary delay and expense to the rebuilding process. Under the Newsom executive order, California Environmental ...
Agriculture
Read a Christmas wish for California's farmers
A farmer’s ag policy Christmas wish
Early this year, the 2022 Census of Agriculture was released by the USDA. The data was alarming. California lost 7,387 farms in five years. That works out to be 1,477 farms and ranches a year; 28 a week; four a day. More staggering was the land in farms lost. Between ...
Blog
Read the latest on Gov. Newsom's green mandates
Biden Greenlights California’s Unworkable Green Car Mandates on Way Out the Door
As expected, the Environmental Protection Agency granted on Dec. 17 permission for California to go outside of federal law. California and other states need exemptions from the EPA to enact stricter air quality standards than those set by the 1970 Clean Air Act. And the Biden White House is clearly ...
Blog
Read about wind energy's latest challenges
Should California Go Full Steam Ahead on Offshore Wind Farms? Latest Evidence Says No
One, the concept is untried on an industrial scale. Floating offshore wind turbines, which California believes will provide a full quarter of the state’s electric power by 2045, “is largely underdeveloped in the United States,” host Kevin Sliman says in an interview with two Penn State University Institute of Energy and ...
Blog
California’s Next Crime Wave – Fuel Theft
Here are a few examples: On September 27, an Inland Empire resident drove away from her job at an area hospital when her pickup truck puttered to a stop. An investigation showed her tank had been drilled and emptied. A Valero Station in Fremont lost tens of thousands of gallons ...
Commentary
Learn more about California's water wars
Trump Victory Will Lead to New Battles in California’s ‘Water Wars’
California has been lately in the business of blowing up dams. So a decision to actually raise one is big news. In a deal approved by eight water agencies as well as the federal government, the San Luis Reservoir between Gilroy and Los Banos, the fifth-largest reservoir in the state, will ...
Blog
When Ambition And Ideology Outpace Reality And Prudent Policymaking
Turns out the electric trucks aren’t selling well, so manufacturers will be able to build more diesel trucks than regulations were allowing them to. Yet again, the state tacitly acknowledges that its net-zero ambitions are unrealistic. It was a lesson learned late, though. Several states that followed the California model ...
Blog
Desert Push for New Solar Farm Threatens Worker Health, Local Water Supply
In California’s never-ending effort to retain its self-awarded climate MVP trophy, thousands of acres near Desert Center, east of Palm Springs in Riverside County, will be “cultivated” to accommodate a solar farm. The Intersect Power project, centered on a 390-megawatt solar array with an adjacent battery storage site, was unanimously ...
Commentary
Learn more about rebates
Are rebates the best use of tax dollars?
Californians who meet specific income thresholds may be eligible to receive rebates of $4,000 and up to $8,000 if they buy electric heat pumps for their homes. But the Pacific Research Institute, a Pasadena think tank that espouses free-market solutions to policy matters, questions whether the rebate program is a good ...
Why can’t California be more like Europe – and Puerto Rico?
While rational energy policies are being followed elsewhere, even in regions that had loudly and proudly gone “green,” California can’t kick its net-zero obsession. Or maybe the right word is “won’t,” because the state refuses to deviate from its reckless plans. Read the op-ed here:
Read the latest on California's post-wildfire response
Newsom Right to Waive CEQA for Wildfire Rebuilding, But Lawmakers Should Also Act
The broken clock that has been state government’s response to the Southern California wildfires was right once on Sunday when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order waving numerous environmental requirements that threatened to add unnecessary delay and expense to the rebuilding process. Under the Newsom executive order, California Environmental ...
Read a Christmas wish for California's farmers
A farmer’s ag policy Christmas wish
Early this year, the 2022 Census of Agriculture was released by the USDA. The data was alarming. California lost 7,387 farms in five years. That works out to be 1,477 farms and ranches a year; 28 a week; four a day. More staggering was the land in farms lost. Between ...
Read the latest on Gov. Newsom's green mandates
Biden Greenlights California’s Unworkable Green Car Mandates on Way Out the Door
As expected, the Environmental Protection Agency granted on Dec. 17 permission for California to go outside of federal law. California and other states need exemptions from the EPA to enact stricter air quality standards than those set by the 1970 Clean Air Act. And the Biden White House is clearly ...
Read about wind energy's latest challenges
Should California Go Full Steam Ahead on Offshore Wind Farms? Latest Evidence Says No
One, the concept is untried on an industrial scale. Floating offshore wind turbines, which California believes will provide a full quarter of the state’s electric power by 2045, “is largely underdeveloped in the United States,” host Kevin Sliman says in an interview with two Penn State University Institute of Energy and ...
California’s Next Crime Wave – Fuel Theft
Here are a few examples: On September 27, an Inland Empire resident drove away from her job at an area hospital when her pickup truck puttered to a stop. An investigation showed her tank had been drilled and emptied. A Valero Station in Fremont lost tens of thousands of gallons ...
Learn more about California's water wars
Trump Victory Will Lead to New Battles in California’s ‘Water Wars’
California has been lately in the business of blowing up dams. So a decision to actually raise one is big news. In a deal approved by eight water agencies as well as the federal government, the San Luis Reservoir between Gilroy and Los Banos, the fifth-largest reservoir in the state, will ...
When Ambition And Ideology Outpace Reality And Prudent Policymaking
Turns out the electric trucks aren’t selling well, so manufacturers will be able to build more diesel trucks than regulations were allowing them to. Yet again, the state tacitly acknowledges that its net-zero ambitions are unrealistic. It was a lesson learned late, though. Several states that followed the California model ...
Desert Push for New Solar Farm Threatens Worker Health, Local Water Supply
In California’s never-ending effort to retain its self-awarded climate MVP trophy, thousands of acres near Desert Center, east of Palm Springs in Riverside County, will be “cultivated” to accommodate a solar farm. The Intersect Power project, centered on a 390-megawatt solar array with an adjacent battery storage site, was unanimously ...
Learn more about rebates
Are rebates the best use of tax dollars?
Californians who meet specific income thresholds may be eligible to receive rebates of $4,000 and up to $8,000 if they buy electric heat pumps for their homes. But the Pacific Research Institute, a Pasadena think tank that espouses free-market solutions to policy matters, questions whether the rebate program is a good ...
