Wildfires
Blog
Spending Watch
SB 222 Will Weaken California’s Economy and Reduce State Revenues
SB 222 Will Weaken California’s Economy and Reduce State Revenues Wayne Winegarden and Nikhil Agarwal March 2025 The destructiveness of the Eaton and Palisades fires were unprecedented. According to the Anderson School of Management at UCLA, the recent Los Angeles wildfires caused up to $164 billion in property and capital ...
Wayne Winegarden and Nikhil Agarwal
March 13, 2025
California
PRI Webinar – Reforms to Help Southern California Recover Faster
In the aftermath of January’s destructive Southern California wildfires, media reports, whistleblowers, and elected officials are providing much needed oversight in the role misguided government policies have played in worsening the tragedy. Affected residents are now seeing firsthand how bad policies and unnecessary government bureaucracy are hindering the rebuilding process. ...
Pacific Research Institute
March 12, 2025
Commentary
Newsom’s misguided climate priorities endanger Californians
The state and local governments’ responsibility for the failures that led to the cataclysmic Los Angeles wildfires in January 2025 will eventually be determined. But even at this juncture, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his legislative majority cannot escape their responsibility for their budget priorities that have funded a misguided ...
Daniel Kolkey
March 4, 2025
Blog
Read the latest on the Southern California wildfires
Burn Baby, Burn
California has become the “Can’t Have State,” as in can’t have plastic bags, can’t have plastic straws and utensils, can’t have a new gasoline-powered car 10 years from now, can’t have a long of things that would make up a list too long to go into here. The next “can’t ...
Kerry Jackson
March 4, 2025
Blog
California’s latest insurance package will offer little relief
California’s latest insurance package will offer little relief California’s property insurance market has hobbled along for years, as insurers have slowly – then quickly – exited the market after years of massive wildfire losses have threatened their reserves. State officials have mostly blamed climate change, arguing that increased temperatures are ...
Steven Greenhut
February 28, 2025
Blog
Learn how looters are adding to trauma being experienced by fire victims
A Tale of Two LA’s
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…” A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens The toll of the recent Southern California fires is shocking. Together, the seven fires known colloquially as the “Los ...
Steve Smith
February 18, 2025
California
Joe Kent – Lessons from Maui as LA Begins to Rebuild
This week, Joe Kent of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii joins us to share lessons learned from the Aloha State’s experience in rebuilding after the devastating Maui wildfires from a few years ago. It’s a conversation everyone who has been affected by the wildfires should listen to, especially as leaders ...
Pacific Research Institute
February 11, 2025
Blog
SmartLA is a not-so-bright way to rebuild Los Angeles
There are rumors that the fires were deliberately started so planners could rebuild under the SmartLA 2028 strategy. Let’s dismiss this conspiracy theory right now. No serious person believes it. But that’s not to say that officials won’t demand that the renewal of the burned-out sections fit their definition of a “smart ...
Kerry Jackson
February 7, 2025
Blog
Consumer-protection edicts will only slow LA recovery
Consumer-protection edicts will only slow LA recovery by Steven Greenhut | January 31, 2025 A week doesn’t go by that I don’t get at least one unsolicited offer for my property, typically from investors who don’t use a company name or last name. They often claim to have driven by the house ...
Steven Greenhut
January 31, 2025
Blog
LA needs fewer government rules, not a Marshall Plan
LA needs fewer government rules, not a Marshall Plan By Sal Rodriguez | January 24, 2025 California Gov. Gavin Newsom has a knack for putting forth “big hairy, audacious goals.” From his vow to end homelessness in San Francisco in 10 years, to deliver single-payer health care in California or ...
Sal Rodriguez
January 24, 2025
Spending Watch
SB 222 Will Weaken California’s Economy and Reduce State Revenues
SB 222 Will Weaken California’s Economy and Reduce State Revenues Wayne Winegarden and Nikhil Agarwal March 2025 The destructiveness of the Eaton and Palisades fires were unprecedented. According to the Anderson School of Management at UCLA, the recent Los Angeles wildfires caused up to $164 billion in property and capital ...
PRI Webinar – Reforms to Help Southern California Recover Faster
In the aftermath of January’s destructive Southern California wildfires, media reports, whistleblowers, and elected officials are providing much needed oversight in the role misguided government policies have played in worsening the tragedy. Affected residents are now seeing firsthand how bad policies and unnecessary government bureaucracy are hindering the rebuilding process. ...
Newsom’s misguided climate priorities endanger Californians
The state and local governments’ responsibility for the failures that led to the cataclysmic Los Angeles wildfires in January 2025 will eventually be determined. But even at this juncture, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his legislative majority cannot escape their responsibility for their budget priorities that have funded a misguided ...
Read the latest on the Southern California wildfires
Burn Baby, Burn
California has become the “Can’t Have State,” as in can’t have plastic bags, can’t have plastic straws and utensils, can’t have a new gasoline-powered car 10 years from now, can’t have a long of things that would make up a list too long to go into here. The next “can’t ...
California’s latest insurance package will offer little relief
California’s latest insurance package will offer little relief California’s property insurance market has hobbled along for years, as insurers have slowly – then quickly – exited the market after years of massive wildfire losses have threatened their reserves. State officials have mostly blamed climate change, arguing that increased temperatures are ...
Learn how looters are adding to trauma being experienced by fire victims
A Tale of Two LA’s
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…” A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens The toll of the recent Southern California fires is shocking. Together, the seven fires known colloquially as the “Los ...
Joe Kent – Lessons from Maui as LA Begins to Rebuild
This week, Joe Kent of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii joins us to share lessons learned from the Aloha State’s experience in rebuilding after the devastating Maui wildfires from a few years ago. It’s a conversation everyone who has been affected by the wildfires should listen to, especially as leaders ...
SmartLA is a not-so-bright way to rebuild Los Angeles
There are rumors that the fires were deliberately started so planners could rebuild under the SmartLA 2028 strategy. Let’s dismiss this conspiracy theory right now. No serious person believes it. But that’s not to say that officials won’t demand that the renewal of the burned-out sections fit their definition of a “smart ...
Consumer-protection edicts will only slow LA recovery
Consumer-protection edicts will only slow LA recovery by Steven Greenhut | January 31, 2025 A week doesn’t go by that I don’t get at least one unsolicited offer for my property, typically from investors who don’t use a company name or last name. They often claim to have driven by the house ...
LA needs fewer government rules, not a Marshall Plan
LA needs fewer government rules, not a Marshall Plan By Sal Rodriguez | January 24, 2025 California Gov. Gavin Newsom has a knack for putting forth “big hairy, audacious goals.” From his vow to end homelessness in San Francisco in 10 years, to deliver single-payer health care in California or ...