Environment
Agriculture
AB 701 Guarantees Workers Restroom Breaks . . . and Lawsuits
When states claim to be first at something, it’s usually cause for pride. But in California, it’s often a signal to head for the hills – or rather, to other states. In another first in the nation, the California Legislature passed a bill last week that would require warehouses to ...
Rowena Itchon
September 16, 2021
Blog
Banning Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers Could Have Unintended Consequences in Next Power Outage
Californians who have been seen power supplies become more unreliable in recent years have increasingly turned to gas-powered electric generators to keep the lights on during “public safety power shutoffs.” According to the industry trade group, there are 1.5 million portable generators in use in California today. The average gas-powered ...
Tim Anaya
September 15, 2021
Blog
How CEQA II Could Be a Hollywood Sequel That Everyone Likes
When then-Gov. Ronald Reagan signed CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act, into law in 1970, it’s unlikely anyone thought it would eventually be equipped with a warhead and then used to harm business rivals, block development for political rather than environmental reasons, and leverage better labor deals for unions. Yet ...
Kerry Jackson
September 14, 2021
Blog
The CDC’s Legally Questionable Extension of the Rent Moratorium
Toddlers are funny little creatures – simultaneously overly dependent and highly independent. With the newfound discovery of willpower, the tiny humans constantly experiment in testing boundaries. My toddler is characteristically sweet and obedient. But there is one rule she delights in breaking: dumping out the dog’s water bowl. Testing limits, ...
McKenzie Richards
September 9, 2021
California
Fact-Checked: Gavin Newsom Shouldn’t Have Dared Us
By Kerry Jackson and Wayne Winegarden In an interview performance that has been described as “unhinged,” “odd,” “testy,” and “angry,” Gov. Gavin Newsom claimed Texas middle-class families “pay more taxes than middle-class families in California.” “Look that up,” he said in a virtual meeting with editorial and opinion writers from ...
Pacific Research Institute
September 2, 2021
California
Would You Buy a Used Electric Car from This Man?
In his last year occupying the governor’s office, Jerry Brown issued an executive order that he said would put 5 million zero-emissions cars on California roads by 2030. Not to be out-virtue-signaled, Gov. Gavin Newsom last year dropped an order on the state that outlaws the sale of new gasoline- ...
Kerry Jackson
September 2, 2021
Blog
The California War On Gas Stations
Just a few months back, Petaluma in Sonoma County outlawed the construction of new gas stations, the first city in the nation to do so. Anyone who thought such an extreme measure would end there was being naive. Rather than a one-off event, the Petaluma City Council’s unanimous vote to ...
Kerry Jackson
September 2, 2021
Business & Economics
Wayne Winegarden – Electricity, Environment, and the Economy
Next Round’s guest is economist Wayne Winegarden, PRI senior fellow in Business and Economics. Dr. Winegarden discusses some of the key issues being debated in Washington and Sacramento, from the infrastructure bill to the $3.5 trillion budget resolution package to California and the nation’s climate change policies. As director of ...
Pacific Research Institute
August 30, 2021
Blog
Fuel Breaks Help Stop Wildfires – or Do They?
Fuel breaks are the latest battle ground between the state, environmental advocates who argue for “hardening homes for wildfire,” and state wildfire officials as California experiences another dangerous season of wildfires. If you are not familiar with the term, a fuel break is a strip of land on which the ...
Evan Harris
August 26, 2021
Agriculture
Biden’s American Families Plan Poised to Harm Families through the Death Tax
President Biden’s American Families Plan promises expansive benefits to families such as free universal preschool, two years of free community college, child tax credits, and a paid family leave program amongst many other attractive (but expensive) initiatives. Unlike the recently passed and controversial $1 trillion infrastructure bill, the new benefits ...
McKenzie Richards
August 25, 2021
AB 701 Guarantees Workers Restroom Breaks . . . and Lawsuits
When states claim to be first at something, it’s usually cause for pride. But in California, it’s often a signal to head for the hills – or rather, to other states. In another first in the nation, the California Legislature passed a bill last week that would require warehouses to ...
Banning Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers Could Have Unintended Consequences in Next Power Outage
Californians who have been seen power supplies become more unreliable in recent years have increasingly turned to gas-powered electric generators to keep the lights on during “public safety power shutoffs.” According to the industry trade group, there are 1.5 million portable generators in use in California today. The average gas-powered ...
How CEQA II Could Be a Hollywood Sequel That Everyone Likes
When then-Gov. Ronald Reagan signed CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act, into law in 1970, it’s unlikely anyone thought it would eventually be equipped with a warhead and then used to harm business rivals, block development for political rather than environmental reasons, and leverage better labor deals for unions. Yet ...
The CDC’s Legally Questionable Extension of the Rent Moratorium
Toddlers are funny little creatures – simultaneously overly dependent and highly independent. With the newfound discovery of willpower, the tiny humans constantly experiment in testing boundaries. My toddler is characteristically sweet and obedient. But there is one rule she delights in breaking: dumping out the dog’s water bowl. Testing limits, ...
Fact-Checked: Gavin Newsom Shouldn’t Have Dared Us
By Kerry Jackson and Wayne Winegarden In an interview performance that has been described as “unhinged,” “odd,” “testy,” and “angry,” Gov. Gavin Newsom claimed Texas middle-class families “pay more taxes than middle-class families in California.” “Look that up,” he said in a virtual meeting with editorial and opinion writers from ...
Would You Buy a Used Electric Car from This Man?
In his last year occupying the governor’s office, Jerry Brown issued an executive order that he said would put 5 million zero-emissions cars on California roads by 2030. Not to be out-virtue-signaled, Gov. Gavin Newsom last year dropped an order on the state that outlaws the sale of new gasoline- ...
The California War On Gas Stations
Just a few months back, Petaluma in Sonoma County outlawed the construction of new gas stations, the first city in the nation to do so. Anyone who thought such an extreme measure would end there was being naive. Rather than a one-off event, the Petaluma City Council’s unanimous vote to ...
Wayne Winegarden – Electricity, Environment, and the Economy
Next Round’s guest is economist Wayne Winegarden, PRI senior fellow in Business and Economics. Dr. Winegarden discusses some of the key issues being debated in Washington and Sacramento, from the infrastructure bill to the $3.5 trillion budget resolution package to California and the nation’s climate change policies. As director of ...
Fuel Breaks Help Stop Wildfires – or Do They?
Fuel breaks are the latest battle ground between the state, environmental advocates who argue for “hardening homes for wildfire,” and state wildfire officials as California experiences another dangerous season of wildfires. If you are not familiar with the term, a fuel break is a strip of land on which the ...
Biden’s American Families Plan Poised to Harm Families through the Death Tax
President Biden’s American Families Plan promises expansive benefits to families such as free universal preschool, two years of free community college, child tax credits, and a paid family leave program amongst many other attractive (but expensive) initiatives. Unlike the recently passed and controversial $1 trillion infrastructure bill, the new benefits ...