Blog
California’s latest ‘green’ strategy threatens local recycling efforts
California’s latest ‘green’ strategy threatens local recycling efforts By Steven Greenhut | August 7, 2026 California’s state recycling agency, CalRecycle, boasts that “California is building a circular economy that can recycle all waste by reducing how much trash we make [and] creating responsible recycling markets.” There’s nothing wrong with recycling, of ...
Blog
Austin’s housing solutions offer a model for California cities
As LAist’s David Wagner reported, only about 16% of Orange County households earn the $350,400 needed to afford the county’s median home price of $1,442,930, according to the California Association of Realtors. That’s all despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office boasting on July 13 about his record of “hundreds of pieces ...
Blog
The Gordon Chang Report: China Annexing the South China Sea—and the Pacific Ocean
READ THE PDF China Annexing the South China Sea— and the Pacific Ocean On July 25, Global Times, the Chinese tabloid run by People’s Daily, warned the Philippines that China might build a military base on Scarborough Shoal, which Beijing claims and calls Huangyan Dao. “China reserves the right to ...
Blog
Should Californians Trust New Antitrust Legislation?
The Legislature returns this week from its summer recess, kicking off one more month of lawmaking. One proposal that’s expected to draw heavy fire is a bill that beefs up the state’s antitrust law, which is already so harsh that it’s not fit to be copied elsewhere. Assembly Bill 1776, known as the COMPETE ...
Agriculture
Beef, it’s what wolves are having for dinner in California
Researchers from the university collected scat from “wolf pack territories of the Lassen (2022 and 2023) and Harvey (2023) Packs in the Northeastern region of California),” according to the study. Samples were opportunistically collected from roadways and game/livestock trails between June and October of 2022 and 2023, then DNA sequenced ...
Blog
Useful data, but misguided advice: Harvard on housing
Useful data, but misguided advice: Harvard on housing by D. Dowd Muska | July 31, 2026 Advocates of deregulation-oriented solutions to the affordable-housing crisis continue to notch wins in liberal and conservative states, including California’s “by right” housing reforms and a recently passed package of permitting reforms known as the ...
Blog
Challenge to market-based housing reforms comes up short
Several causes have been offered to explain runaway real-estate valuation. For instance, some cities face serious geographic constraints that make building a difficult proposition. I live in an area in northwest Washington that is bounded by Canada to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Cascade mountains to ...
Blog
California Took Homes for the 710 Freeway Extension. The Extension Was Never Built
Drive through parts of El Sereno, Alhambra, South Pasadena, or Pasadena, and you will notice something strange. Homes sit behind aging fences, looking like they should belong to families, except they do not. For decades, they have been owned by the State of California, waiting for a freeway that was ...
Agriculture
Prop 12 bill is a win-win for ag
The American Meat Producers Association, a lobby group formed last year, and fronted by Holly Bice, an attorney with ties to several animal rights causes, has launched a $30 million effort to stop the repeal of Prop 12. According to association members who have adopted Prop 12 retrofits, the legislation ...
Blog
If EVs Sell Themselves, Why Are Taxpayers Paying for More of Them?
The rebates from the MyFirstEV program, which has no income cap (meaning it’s a subsidy for the wealthy), will be paid by taxpayers and participating automakers who will match the state’s contributions dollar-for-dollar. The timing is revealing. The rebate arrives just as the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found that two-thirds of Californians now oppose Gov. ...
California’s latest ‘green’ strategy threatens local recycling efforts
California’s latest ‘green’ strategy threatens local recycling efforts By Steven Greenhut | August 7, 2026 California’s state recycling agency, CalRecycle, boasts that “California is building a circular economy that can recycle all waste by reducing how much trash we make [and] creating responsible recycling markets.” There’s nothing wrong with recycling, of ...
Austin’s housing solutions offer a model for California cities
As LAist’s David Wagner reported, only about 16% of Orange County households earn the $350,400 needed to afford the county’s median home price of $1,442,930, according to the California Association of Realtors. That’s all despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office boasting on July 13 about his record of “hundreds of pieces ...
The Gordon Chang Report: China Annexing the South China Sea—and the Pacific Ocean
READ THE PDF China Annexing the South China Sea— and the Pacific Ocean On July 25, Global Times, the Chinese tabloid run by People’s Daily, warned the Philippines that China might build a military base on Scarborough Shoal, which Beijing claims and calls Huangyan Dao. “China reserves the right to ...
Should Californians Trust New Antitrust Legislation?
The Legislature returns this week from its summer recess, kicking off one more month of lawmaking. One proposal that’s expected to draw heavy fire is a bill that beefs up the state’s antitrust law, which is already so harsh that it’s not fit to be copied elsewhere. Assembly Bill 1776, known as the COMPETE ...
Beef, it’s what wolves are having for dinner in California
Researchers from the university collected scat from “wolf pack territories of the Lassen (2022 and 2023) and Harvey (2023) Packs in the Northeastern region of California),” according to the study. Samples were opportunistically collected from roadways and game/livestock trails between June and October of 2022 and 2023, then DNA sequenced ...
Useful data, but misguided advice: Harvard on housing
Useful data, but misguided advice: Harvard on housing by D. Dowd Muska | July 31, 2026 Advocates of deregulation-oriented solutions to the affordable-housing crisis continue to notch wins in liberal and conservative states, including California’s “by right” housing reforms and a recently passed package of permitting reforms known as the ...
Challenge to market-based housing reforms comes up short
Several causes have been offered to explain runaway real-estate valuation. For instance, some cities face serious geographic constraints that make building a difficult proposition. I live in an area in northwest Washington that is bounded by Canada to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Cascade mountains to ...
California Took Homes for the 710 Freeway Extension. The Extension Was Never Built
Drive through parts of El Sereno, Alhambra, South Pasadena, or Pasadena, and you will notice something strange. Homes sit behind aging fences, looking like they should belong to families, except they do not. For decades, they have been owned by the State of California, waiting for a freeway that was ...
Prop 12 bill is a win-win for ag
The American Meat Producers Association, a lobby group formed last year, and fronted by Holly Bice, an attorney with ties to several animal rights causes, has launched a $30 million effort to stop the repeal of Prop 12. According to association members who have adopted Prop 12 retrofits, the legislation ...
If EVs Sell Themselves, Why Are Taxpayers Paying for More of Them?
The rebates from the MyFirstEV program, which has no income cap (meaning it’s a subsidy for the wealthy), will be paid by taxpayers and participating automakers who will match the state’s contributions dollar-for-dollar. The timing is revealing. The rebate arrives just as the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found that two-thirds of Californians now oppose Gov. ...