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Oh Canada! Oh California! – Climate Change and the Wildfire Season

I’ve just returned from a train vacation through the Canadian Rockies. They were truly majestic – I felt a little closer to heaven. Thanks to an unusually cold spring, the Rockies were still snow-capped and glistening.  It was also that time of the year when the wildlife was out and ...
Blackouts

California, Sunny With A Near-100% Chance Of Blackouts

In Gov. Gavin Newsom’s revised budget released last week, he asked for $5 billion to shore up the state’s electrical grid, calling energy reliability “an endless struggle” in California. And endless will it ever be as long as policymakers continue to pursue, with zero flexibility, an all-green energy portfolio by ...
Blog

Biden’s Non-Plan for Fighting Inflation

In a recent survey, Americans ranked inflation as the most urgent issue facing the country.  So, our ears perked up when Pres. Biden began laying out his plan to bring down inflation in his State of the Union address.  After listening to his speech, you can’t help but think that ...
California

CEQA: The high cost of good intentions

By Chris Carr and Ken Broad California is in a quagmire due in no small part to the weaponization of CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act. We are not providing the physical infrastructure befitting the world’s 5th-largest economy and leading crucible of innovation. Too often, critical projects don’t get built, ...
California

The nuclear option can keep the lights on in California

A funny thing has happened on the way to California closing all of its nuclear power plants. Biden administration official Jennifer Granholm says the state should rethink its commitment to scrapping atomic energy. In an interview that will be released at an energy conference this week, the U.S. energy secretary ...
Blog

Gas-Powered Lawn Equipment Ban Another Major Burden on Minority Entrepreneurs

Not surprisingly, Gov. Newsom signed controversial legislation (Assembly Bill 1346) to ban the sale of gas-powered lawn equipment. The new law will be another costly burden on the estimated nearly 8,300 landscaping businesses in the state, many of whom are minority entrepreneurs.  It’s the latest in a series of taxes, ...
Blog

Biden’s Electric Vehicle Push Shows He Hasn’t Learned from California’s Mistakes

President Biden announced new federal action on Thursday designed to increase the role of government officials as car salesmen.  Politico reports that Biden signed an executive order “setting a target that half of all new vehicle sales by 2030 will be zero-emissions vehicles, primarily electric cars and trucks.” The administration ...
Blog

What Americans can Learn from Argentina’s Infrastructure Spending

We were sixth in line when the banker came outside to address the long line which stretched down the street for half a mile. He spoke in Spanish, “we are all out of money, come back next week!” I shook my head in frustration, wondering how we would buy food ...
Blackouts

NorCal Record Covers Launch of Electricity Reliability Report

As electricity demands increase this summer, The Pacific Research Institute (PRI) has launched a new website to encourage energy competition that leads to more affordability, innovation and climate change solutions. The initiative is prompted by issues facing the nation overall, but California exemplifies the issues, Dr. Wayne Winegarden, PRI senior fellow in ...
Blackouts

Competitive Energy Markets, Not Monopoly, Delivers Affordable, Reliable, And Low-Emission Energy

Texas’ energy debacle during this past winter has led to a great deal of introspection regarding which energy market structure is the most appropriate. Most analysts would agree that energy market regulations should facilitate access to affordable and reliable electricity, while generating the lowest feasible emissions. The controversy arises with ...
Blog

Oh Canada! Oh California! – Climate Change and the Wildfire Season

I’ve just returned from a train vacation through the Canadian Rockies. They were truly majestic – I felt a little closer to heaven. Thanks to an unusually cold spring, the Rockies were still snow-capped and glistening.  It was also that time of the year when the wildlife was out and ...
Blackouts

California, Sunny With A Near-100% Chance Of Blackouts

In Gov. Gavin Newsom’s revised budget released last week, he asked for $5 billion to shore up the state’s electrical grid, calling energy reliability “an endless struggle” in California. And endless will it ever be as long as policymakers continue to pursue, with zero flexibility, an all-green energy portfolio by ...
Blog

Biden’s Non-Plan for Fighting Inflation

In a recent survey, Americans ranked inflation as the most urgent issue facing the country.  So, our ears perked up when Pres. Biden began laying out his plan to bring down inflation in his State of the Union address.  After listening to his speech, you can’t help but think that ...
California

CEQA: The high cost of good intentions

By Chris Carr and Ken Broad California is in a quagmire due in no small part to the weaponization of CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act. We are not providing the physical infrastructure befitting the world’s 5th-largest economy and leading crucible of innovation. Too often, critical projects don’t get built, ...
California

The nuclear option can keep the lights on in California

A funny thing has happened on the way to California closing all of its nuclear power plants. Biden administration official Jennifer Granholm says the state should rethink its commitment to scrapping atomic energy. In an interview that will be released at an energy conference this week, the U.S. energy secretary ...
Blog

Gas-Powered Lawn Equipment Ban Another Major Burden on Minority Entrepreneurs

Not surprisingly, Gov. Newsom signed controversial legislation (Assembly Bill 1346) to ban the sale of gas-powered lawn equipment. The new law will be another costly burden on the estimated nearly 8,300 landscaping businesses in the state, many of whom are minority entrepreneurs.  It’s the latest in a series of taxes, ...
Blog

Biden’s Electric Vehicle Push Shows He Hasn’t Learned from California’s Mistakes

President Biden announced new federal action on Thursday designed to increase the role of government officials as car salesmen.  Politico reports that Biden signed an executive order “setting a target that half of all new vehicle sales by 2030 will be zero-emissions vehicles, primarily electric cars and trucks.” The administration ...
Blog

What Americans can Learn from Argentina’s Infrastructure Spending

We were sixth in line when the banker came outside to address the long line which stretched down the street for half a mile. He spoke in Spanish, “we are all out of money, come back next week!” I shook my head in frustration, wondering how we would buy food ...
Blackouts

NorCal Record Covers Launch of Electricity Reliability Report

As electricity demands increase this summer, The Pacific Research Institute (PRI) has launched a new website to encourage energy competition that leads to more affordability, innovation and climate change solutions. The initiative is prompted by issues facing the nation overall, but California exemplifies the issues, Dr. Wayne Winegarden, PRI senior fellow in ...
Blackouts

Competitive Energy Markets, Not Monopoly, Delivers Affordable, Reliable, And Low-Emission Energy

Texas’ energy debacle during this past winter has led to a great deal of introspection regarding which energy market structure is the most appropriate. Most analysts would agree that energy market regulations should facilitate access to affordable and reliable electricity, while generating the lowest feasible emissions. The controversy arises with ...
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