Wildfires

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Earth Day: How To Avoid Discussion Of Real California Issues

Conspicuously missing from the Los Angeles mayor’s race, the Los Angeles Times “reported” last month, was an adequate focus on climate change. No surprise that the Times’ ​​culture columnist and critic followed up by writing that “the only thing we should be talking about is the climate crisis.” Rather than ...
Agriculture

More Talk, Less Action as Dry, Hot Summer Approaches

On Tuesday, Gov. Newsom travelled to Butte County where, according to a press release from his office, he discussed “impacts of the climate driven drought, including on hydropower production by state facilities, and the state’s response.” It’s part of the Governor’s campaign to promote his so-called “Save Our Water” campaign, ...
Blog

California… We Gotta Get Outta This Place

Last fall, The Babylon Bee posted a piece of biting satire that said the U-Haul company had named Gov. Gavin Newsom as its salesperson of the year for the third time in a row “after a record-setting sales quarter.” “Thanks to Gavin Newsom, literally every middle-class family has moved out ...
California

California Burning – Panel Discussion

California once again experienced one of the largest wildfires in state history in 2021, in the shadow of a severe drought that is increasing fire danger. In this panel discussion from PRI’s annual Ideas in Action Conference in Sacramento, policy experts discuss what can be done to reduce wildfires and ...
CEQA

UC Berkeley Case Shows Why Comprehensive Reform Badly Needed to End CEQA Abuse

By Chris Carr The California Supreme Court last week declined to stay a lower court order in a case involving a housing and classroom complex under construction on the UC Berkeley campus. This will effectively shut the door to one of America’s finest public universities for thousands of prospective students. ...
California

Chris Carr Featured in Nor Cal Record in Article on UC Berkeley Case

By Sarah Downey Last week’s legislative action to exempt the University of California at Berkeley from a long-standing state environmental law, is raising questions about how the statute could be further reformed to help not just schools but a host of infrastructure, housing, wildfire protection, and other projects. What’s clear ...
Business & Economics

The Problems with CEQA – with Chris Carr

The California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, is a 50-year-old law responsible for holding up many projects in the state due to its labyrinthian process and its vulnerability to lawsuits. Across the state, housing developments, schools, hospitals, even bike paths and wildfire mitigation efforts have been stymied by CEQA. Chris ...
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

New Report Shows How “CEQA Gauntlet” Hinders Housing, School, Infrastructure, Climate Projects

With 3,000 prospective UC Berkeley students facing rejection due to a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) lawsuit, the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute today released “The CEQA Gauntlet,” a new research project detailing how CEQA adds expense and delay to – and in some cases halts – critical California projects including ...
California

Watch Videos from 2022 PRI California Ideas in Action Conference

Conference Theme:  Saving California As PRI’s new book Saving California suggests, market-based reforms can help solve California’s biggest policy problems and even advance the goals of the state’s most progressive legislators. Come hear policy experts and real life changemakers discuss reforms that could push the state onto a better track and ...
Blog

Earth Day: How To Avoid Discussion Of Real California Issues

Conspicuously missing from the Los Angeles mayor’s race, the Los Angeles Times “reported” last month, was an adequate focus on climate change. No surprise that the Times’ ​​culture columnist and critic followed up by writing that “the only thing we should be talking about is the climate crisis.” Rather than ...
Agriculture

More Talk, Less Action as Dry, Hot Summer Approaches

On Tuesday, Gov. Newsom travelled to Butte County where, according to a press release from his office, he discussed “impacts of the climate driven drought, including on hydropower production by state facilities, and the state’s response.” It’s part of the Governor’s campaign to promote his so-called “Save Our Water” campaign, ...
Blog

California… We Gotta Get Outta This Place

Last fall, The Babylon Bee posted a piece of biting satire that said the U-Haul company had named Gov. Gavin Newsom as its salesperson of the year for the third time in a row “after a record-setting sales quarter.” “Thanks to Gavin Newsom, literally every middle-class family has moved out ...
California

California Burning – Panel Discussion

California once again experienced one of the largest wildfires in state history in 2021, in the shadow of a severe drought that is increasing fire danger. In this panel discussion from PRI’s annual Ideas in Action Conference in Sacramento, policy experts discuss what can be done to reduce wildfires and ...
CEQA

UC Berkeley Case Shows Why Comprehensive Reform Badly Needed to End CEQA Abuse

By Chris Carr The California Supreme Court last week declined to stay a lower court order in a case involving a housing and classroom complex under construction on the UC Berkeley campus. This will effectively shut the door to one of America’s finest public universities for thousands of prospective students. ...
California

Chris Carr Featured in Nor Cal Record in Article on UC Berkeley Case

By Sarah Downey Last week’s legislative action to exempt the University of California at Berkeley from a long-standing state environmental law, is raising questions about how the statute could be further reformed to help not just schools but a host of infrastructure, housing, wildfire protection, and other projects. What’s clear ...
Business & Economics

The Problems with CEQA – with Chris Carr

The California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, is a 50-year-old law responsible for holding up many projects in the state due to its labyrinthian process and its vulnerability to lawsuits. Across the state, housing developments, schools, hospitals, even bike paths and wildfire mitigation efforts have been stymied by CEQA. Chris ...
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

New Report Shows How “CEQA Gauntlet” Hinders Housing, School, Infrastructure, Climate Projects

With 3,000 prospective UC Berkeley students facing rejection due to a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) lawsuit, the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute today released “The CEQA Gauntlet,” a new research project detailing how CEQA adds expense and delay to – and in some cases halts – critical California projects including ...
California

Watch Videos from 2022 PRI California Ideas in Action Conference

Conference Theme:  Saving California As PRI’s new book Saving California suggests, market-based reforms can help solve California’s biggest policy problems and even advance the goals of the state’s most progressive legislators. Come hear policy experts and real life changemakers discuss reforms that could push the state onto a better track and ...
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