Environment
Blog
Read about debate over SB 9 and 10
Misguided fear and loathing over relaxed zoning rules
SB 9 essentially eliminated single-family-only zoning by allowing property owners – on a “by right” basis that avoids subjective local reviews – to subdivide their single-family properties and build additional units on the land provided it meets all the pre-existing local setback and land-use conditions. It would allow up to ...
Commentary
Don’t Want An Electric Car? Gavin Newsom Is Making Sure You Won’t Have A Choice
It’s become routine. A problem, either real or imagined, arises, and California policymakers rush in to fix it with their legislative repair kit. Yet their solutions make the problem worse, create new issues, or both. That California has painfully high retail gasoline prices is not in dispute. They are in ...
Agriculture
Read about effort to stop new green mandate
Congress votes to stay WOTUS rules until the SCOTUS rules
The broadening and narrowing of the scope of WOTUS and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ability to use its authority against farmers and other private landowners based on the political leanings of the White House has been an on-going challenge. The current administration was hasty in its decision to issue ...
Blog
Read about new plan to raise gas prices
Californians – Not Big Oil – Lose Under Newsom Excess Profits Tax
Thanks to the Governor’s actions, Californians lost good paying jobs. Facing the risk that they may have to pay an excess profits tax (whatever excess profits are), the energy industry now has even fewer reasons to invest in the state and even more reasons to relocate its current activities away ...
Agriculture
Urban Ag Promotes Healthy Food, Thriving Gardens
Urban Ag Promotes Healthy Food, Thriving Gardens MARCH 27, 2023 Watch as Steven Greenhut of the Free Cities Center tours City Slicker Farms in Oakland, an urban agriculture program that promotes access to healthy food, thriving gardens and urban green spaces.
Blog
Previewing Gov. Newsom’s Political Roadshow State of the State
The Associated Press reports that “Newsom plans to fulfill his constitutional requirement by sending a letter to the State Legislature” instead of delivering the usual speech at the State Capitol. Part of me felt a little nostalgic by the news. I’ve had the chance to work on both sides of ...
Agriculture
Water fines for farmers will not keep the wells from running dry
When a profoundly important resource like water is no longer abundant, prioritizing where water goes becomes challenging. The California Assembly is considering legislation that would punish people for over-using water during droughts. The bill, however, does not differentiate between water “needs” and water “wants.” Specifically, food producers and municipalities would ...
Commentary
California’s high gas prices go on trial
The California Senate’s first hearing on gasoline prices was held Wednesday and his plan “was met with a dose of skepticism” according to Politico. Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee chairman Sen. Steve Bradford told the committee that “we must ensure our actions that we take first (do) no harm to consumers.” ...
Commentary
Blame California Environmental Polices for the Spike in Natural Gas Prices
A governor who has come to be perpetually angry about something or the other is demanding a federal probe into natural gas prices in California and other Western states. Gov. Gavin Newsom just has to know why prices “have risen to alarming levels.” If he’d shuffle some of the papers ...
Agriculture
California farmers can reduce emissions and feed the world with regenerative farming
A handful of California farmers, ranging from wine growers in Sonoma to chicken raisers in San Diego, are embracing “regenerative” methods to boost the health of their flocks and crops. But many Golden State farmers are still skeptical, largely because regenerative farming is stereotypically viewed as a new-age, hippie practice, courtesy of its emphasis on reducing ...
Read about debate over SB 9 and 10
Misguided fear and loathing over relaxed zoning rules
SB 9 essentially eliminated single-family-only zoning by allowing property owners – on a “by right” basis that avoids subjective local reviews – to subdivide their single-family properties and build additional units on the land provided it meets all the pre-existing local setback and land-use conditions. It would allow up to ...
Don’t Want An Electric Car? Gavin Newsom Is Making Sure You Won’t Have A Choice
It’s become routine. A problem, either real or imagined, arises, and California policymakers rush in to fix it with their legislative repair kit. Yet their solutions make the problem worse, create new issues, or both. That California has painfully high retail gasoline prices is not in dispute. They are in ...
Read about effort to stop new green mandate
Congress votes to stay WOTUS rules until the SCOTUS rules
The broadening and narrowing of the scope of WOTUS and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ability to use its authority against farmers and other private landowners based on the political leanings of the White House has been an on-going challenge. The current administration was hasty in its decision to issue ...
Read about new plan to raise gas prices
Californians – Not Big Oil – Lose Under Newsom Excess Profits Tax
Thanks to the Governor’s actions, Californians lost good paying jobs. Facing the risk that they may have to pay an excess profits tax (whatever excess profits are), the energy industry now has even fewer reasons to invest in the state and even more reasons to relocate its current activities away ...
Urban Ag Promotes Healthy Food, Thriving Gardens
Urban Ag Promotes Healthy Food, Thriving Gardens MARCH 27, 2023 Watch as Steven Greenhut of the Free Cities Center tours City Slicker Farms in Oakland, an urban agriculture program that promotes access to healthy food, thriving gardens and urban green spaces.
Previewing Gov. Newsom’s Political Roadshow State of the State
The Associated Press reports that “Newsom plans to fulfill his constitutional requirement by sending a letter to the State Legislature” instead of delivering the usual speech at the State Capitol. Part of me felt a little nostalgic by the news. I’ve had the chance to work on both sides of ...
Water fines for farmers will not keep the wells from running dry
When a profoundly important resource like water is no longer abundant, prioritizing where water goes becomes challenging. The California Assembly is considering legislation that would punish people for over-using water during droughts. The bill, however, does not differentiate between water “needs” and water “wants.” Specifically, food producers and municipalities would ...
California’s high gas prices go on trial
The California Senate’s first hearing on gasoline prices was held Wednesday and his plan “was met with a dose of skepticism” according to Politico. Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee chairman Sen. Steve Bradford told the committee that “we must ensure our actions that we take first (do) no harm to consumers.” ...
Blame California Environmental Polices for the Spike in Natural Gas Prices
A governor who has come to be perpetually angry about something or the other is demanding a federal probe into natural gas prices in California and other Western states. Gov. Gavin Newsom just has to know why prices “have risen to alarming levels.” If he’d shuffle some of the papers ...
California farmers can reduce emissions and feed the world with regenerative farming
A handful of California farmers, ranging from wine growers in Sonoma to chicken raisers in San Diego, are embracing “regenerative” methods to boost the health of their flocks and crops. But many Golden State farmers are still skeptical, largely because regenerative farming is stereotypically viewed as a new-age, hippie practice, courtesy of its emphasis on reducing ...
