Environment
Agriculture
Pam Lewison – How This Year’s Record Rains are Impacting California Farmers
PRI fellow in agriculture policy Pam Lewison joins us for a discussion of how this year’s record rainfall has been both a blessing and a major challenge for California’s farmers. She also discusses federal and state policy debates and pending legal rulings that could significantly impact state water policy and ...
Blog
CAPITAL IDEAS: California Diesel Ban: Another Uneconomical Mandate
The California ban-it-all machine, ever in perpetual motion, is abolishing diesel big rigs. On the last Friday in April, the state Air Resources Board voted unanimously to outlaw sales of new diesel trucks by 2036. CARB’s decision also requires large trucking companies to fully transition their fleets to all zero ...
Commentary
CA banking on offshore wind for energy goals
Gavin Newsom’s Carbon-Neutral Grid Plan Looks To Be Going The Way Of The Bullet Train To Nowhere
California’s planned transition to a carbon-neutral electricity grid by 2045 relies heavily on offshore wind power. It might take a miracle to get there. The growth of offshore wind will have to accelerate faster than a Tesla Model S, which goes from zero to 60 in less than two seconds. ...
Blog
How Are We Going to Build New Transmission Lines for Renewable Energy Transition?
The California Independent System Operator recently released its 2022-23 transmission plan, in which it outlines “new transmission infrastructure needed to reliably and efficiently meet California’s clean-energy objectives over the next decade.” It “identifies additional transmission and resource capacity” and “recommends 46 transmission projects costing an estimated $9.3 billion.” “But getting ...
Commentary
Latest Anti-Nuclear Lawsuit Threatens Progress on California’s Clean Energy Goals
An agreement to pull the plug on the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in San Luis Obispo County was settled in 2016. But plans to close it in 2025 were delayed last year when California was hit in the mouth with an extreme heat wave that threatened the power grid. The ...
Blog
Read about latest Sacramento overspending
State Budget Update: Lawmakers Propose ‘Old Fashioned Tax and Spend Budget’
With the turning of the page on the calendar to May comes the anticipated arrival of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “May Revise” budget plan, which should be released around May 10. The May Revise is the governor’s updated budget plan taking into account the state’s latest economic forecasts and cash receipts. ...
Agriculture
Read the latest on animal rights extremism
Animal rights activism is not about the animals
The activists claimed the chickens were suffering from neglect and in need of “rescue.” However, they did not call animal control authorities or anyone else, they simply plucked the chickens off the farm and left. Quite simply they stole the chickens. Livestock – even those raised on a farm paid ...
Blog
U.S. Progressives Would Be Wise to Learn from Europe’s Shift Away from Socialism
The political progressives in the U.S. look to Europe for much if not most of their policy ideas. Be more like the Europeans, they say, adopt their welfare state models and their green energy programs, push the masses into cramped housing and set taxes and regulation so that they consume ...
Agriculture
Read blog on California's water challenges
Water, water everywhere …
California is enduring the embodiment of “it never rains but it pours.” After more than two years of drought, the state is being deluged with more water than can be collected. Long, severe droughts have four distinct stages that affect everything from soil moisture to the socioeconomic structure of society. ...
Commentary
CA wants to assess residential utility bills by household income.
From Each According to His Means
Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric, and San Diego Gas & Electric have asked the California Public Utilities Commission for approval to charge customers a flat rate based on household income. The flat fees would be in addition to charges based on consumption, which, for San Diego Gas & ...
Pam Lewison – How This Year’s Record Rains are Impacting California Farmers
PRI fellow in agriculture policy Pam Lewison joins us for a discussion of how this year’s record rainfall has been both a blessing and a major challenge for California’s farmers. She also discusses federal and state policy debates and pending legal rulings that could significantly impact state water policy and ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: California Diesel Ban: Another Uneconomical Mandate
The California ban-it-all machine, ever in perpetual motion, is abolishing diesel big rigs. On the last Friday in April, the state Air Resources Board voted unanimously to outlaw sales of new diesel trucks by 2036. CARB’s decision also requires large trucking companies to fully transition their fleets to all zero ...
CA banking on offshore wind for energy goals
Gavin Newsom’s Carbon-Neutral Grid Plan Looks To Be Going The Way Of The Bullet Train To Nowhere
California’s planned transition to a carbon-neutral electricity grid by 2045 relies heavily on offshore wind power. It might take a miracle to get there. The growth of offshore wind will have to accelerate faster than a Tesla Model S, which goes from zero to 60 in less than two seconds. ...
How Are We Going to Build New Transmission Lines for Renewable Energy Transition?
The California Independent System Operator recently released its 2022-23 transmission plan, in which it outlines “new transmission infrastructure needed to reliably and efficiently meet California’s clean-energy objectives over the next decade.” It “identifies additional transmission and resource capacity” and “recommends 46 transmission projects costing an estimated $9.3 billion.” “But getting ...
Latest Anti-Nuclear Lawsuit Threatens Progress on California’s Clean Energy Goals
An agreement to pull the plug on the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in San Luis Obispo County was settled in 2016. But plans to close it in 2025 were delayed last year when California was hit in the mouth with an extreme heat wave that threatened the power grid. The ...
Read about latest Sacramento overspending
State Budget Update: Lawmakers Propose ‘Old Fashioned Tax and Spend Budget’
With the turning of the page on the calendar to May comes the anticipated arrival of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “May Revise” budget plan, which should be released around May 10. The May Revise is the governor’s updated budget plan taking into account the state’s latest economic forecasts and cash receipts. ...
Read the latest on animal rights extremism
Animal rights activism is not about the animals
The activists claimed the chickens were suffering from neglect and in need of “rescue.” However, they did not call animal control authorities or anyone else, they simply plucked the chickens off the farm and left. Quite simply they stole the chickens. Livestock – even those raised on a farm paid ...
U.S. Progressives Would Be Wise to Learn from Europe’s Shift Away from Socialism
The political progressives in the U.S. look to Europe for much if not most of their policy ideas. Be more like the Europeans, they say, adopt their welfare state models and their green energy programs, push the masses into cramped housing and set taxes and regulation so that they consume ...
Read blog on California's water challenges
Water, water everywhere …
California is enduring the embodiment of “it never rains but it pours.” After more than two years of drought, the state is being deluged with more water than can be collected. Long, severe droughts have four distinct stages that affect everything from soil moisture to the socioeconomic structure of society. ...
CA wants to assess residential utility bills by household income.
From Each According to His Means
Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric, and San Diego Gas & Electric have asked the California Public Utilities Commission for approval to charge customers a flat rate based on household income. The flat fees would be in addition to charges based on consumption, which, for San Diego Gas & ...
