Water
Business & Economics
On Standing Rock, Politics Trumped Facts And Law
Last month, the Army Corps of Engineers, pursuant to political pressure, reversed its prior decision and denied the final permit needed to complete construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The pretext: that the pipeline company, after years of planning and reliance on the U.S. government’s decisions and representations to the ...
Health Care
Post-Election Top Policy Changes To Watch In 2017
While every new year brings change, with Donald Trump elected to become the next president and the U.S. House and Senate both having Republican majorities, managed healthcare executives will see more changes than usual in 2017—beginning with repealing and replacing most of the provisions in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). ...
California
Trump Election Inspires New “Calexit” Movement
Forgive the understatement, but Donald Trump’s election didn’t go so well in some quarters. We’ve seen inconsolable weeping, bitter protests, riots that appear to be professionally orchestrated, and a flood of Internet assassination threats. It is discouraging that a democratic election produced such a spiteful reaction. Regrettably, California, where 62 ...
California
CAPITAL IDEAS: Reforming California’s Environmental Policies
The roots of California’s environmental regulations can be traced back to 1884. That’s the year a federal judge ordered miners to stop using water cannons to batter the Sierra hillsides to separate gold from the soil and rock, but also left behind a broken and ugly landscape.
California
Where’s the Passion for CEQA Reform?
The roots of California’s environmental regulations can be traced back to 1884. That’s the year a federal judge ordered miners to stop using water cannons to batter the Sierra hillsides to separate gold from the soil and rock, but also left behind a broken and ugly landscape. The process, called ...
California
Putting the Legislature on (72-Hour) Notice
In California, a bill can start in the Legislature with a title like “The Prosperity For All Act,” yet end up being a law regulating the manufacture, sale and use of dog leashes or floor tiles. Or a law that adds another tax. Or a law that does whatever lawmakers ...
Commentary
Learning from past mistakes in the fight against Zika
It would seem that being an environmentalist these days increasingly means raising alarms about theoretical dangers at the cost of ignoring a clear and present peril. Look no further than democratic opposition in the Congress – and a veto threat by the president — to legislation that would address the ...
Agriculture
Water Markets May Help California Better Manage Its Water
California’s famous moniker – the Golden State – is becoming all too accurate as the state enters the fifth year of drought and the summer heat begins to dry out its rolling hillsides. A lackluster El Niño failed to deliver a promised deluge of rain and ultimately brought only an ...
Agriculture
Readings from the PRI Water Conference
On June 22 in the California State Capital, PRI gathered experts from the Water Foundation, the Public Policy Institute of California, the Association of California Water Agencies, the Environmental Defense Fund, and other organizations to discuss the benefits of a California water market and to highlight the legislative solutions needed ...
Agriculture
Gov. Brown exceeds his authority on greenhouse gas limits
When Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order last year mandating reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, he said he did it for California’s future. But his motives were irrelevant. He broke the law, says the state’s legislative counsel. “We think the determination ...
On Standing Rock, Politics Trumped Facts And Law
Last month, the Army Corps of Engineers, pursuant to political pressure, reversed its prior decision and denied the final permit needed to complete construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The pretext: that the pipeline company, after years of planning and reliance on the U.S. government’s decisions and representations to the ...
Post-Election Top Policy Changes To Watch In 2017
While every new year brings change, with Donald Trump elected to become the next president and the U.S. House and Senate both having Republican majorities, managed healthcare executives will see more changes than usual in 2017—beginning with repealing and replacing most of the provisions in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). ...
Trump Election Inspires New “Calexit” Movement
Forgive the understatement, but Donald Trump’s election didn’t go so well in some quarters. We’ve seen inconsolable weeping, bitter protests, riots that appear to be professionally orchestrated, and a flood of Internet assassination threats. It is discouraging that a democratic election produced such a spiteful reaction. Regrettably, California, where 62 ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: Reforming California’s Environmental Policies
The roots of California’s environmental regulations can be traced back to 1884. That’s the year a federal judge ordered miners to stop using water cannons to batter the Sierra hillsides to separate gold from the soil and rock, but also left behind a broken and ugly landscape.
Where’s the Passion for CEQA Reform?
The roots of California’s environmental regulations can be traced back to 1884. That’s the year a federal judge ordered miners to stop using water cannons to batter the Sierra hillsides to separate gold from the soil and rock, but also left behind a broken and ugly landscape. The process, called ...
Putting the Legislature on (72-Hour) Notice
In California, a bill can start in the Legislature with a title like “The Prosperity For All Act,” yet end up being a law regulating the manufacture, sale and use of dog leashes or floor tiles. Or a law that adds another tax. Or a law that does whatever lawmakers ...
Learning from past mistakes in the fight against Zika
It would seem that being an environmentalist these days increasingly means raising alarms about theoretical dangers at the cost of ignoring a clear and present peril. Look no further than democratic opposition in the Congress – and a veto threat by the president — to legislation that would address the ...
Water Markets May Help California Better Manage Its Water
California’s famous moniker – the Golden State – is becoming all too accurate as the state enters the fifth year of drought and the summer heat begins to dry out its rolling hillsides. A lackluster El Niño failed to deliver a promised deluge of rain and ultimately brought only an ...
Readings from the PRI Water Conference
On June 22 in the California State Capital, PRI gathered experts from the Water Foundation, the Public Policy Institute of California, the Association of California Water Agencies, the Environmental Defense Fund, and other organizations to discuss the benefits of a California water market and to highlight the legislative solutions needed ...
Gov. Brown exceeds his authority on greenhouse gas limits
When Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order last year mandating reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, he said he did it for California’s future. But his motives were irrelevant. He broke the law, says the state’s legislative counsel. “We think the determination ...
