Wildfires

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No More Games – Return the Surplus to CA Taxpayers

Last year, I got a kick out of playing CalMatters’ Spend the Surplus Game.  This year, not so much. CalMatters created a clever online game that lets you decide how California should spend its surplus. This year, it’s projected to be $45.7 billion. Of that amount however, I only get ...
California

A Better California Doesn’t Require A Big-Government Budget

For most, “budget” means a set amount of money they’re able to spend over a defined period of time, such as the funds available in a household account. To California lawmakers, “budget” holds a different meaning. In their world, it typically defines an opportunity to freely spend a massive harvest ...
Blog

California Not Meeting Emission Reduction Goals by Doubling Down on Policy Mistakes

Download the PDF A recently released independent report says California isn’t going to meet its 2030 emissions goal. Those who have been paying close attention, and those who have immersed themselves in PRI research, won’t be even mildly surprised by this. They know the state has taken the wrong approach ...
Agriculture

Farmers and Ranchers – The Unsung Heroes of 2021

What do evergreen trees, ham, turkey, eggnog, and champagne all have in common? The holidays, yes, but also America’s agriculture — most notably the great agricultural states of the West. Let’s start with Thanksgiving dinner.  Our colleague Pam Lewison of the Washington Policy Center, and a farmer herself, recalls growing ...
Blog

Newsom: Fact-Checked Again – And Wrong Again

A few months back, Gov. Gavin Newsom claimed Texas ​​middle-class families “pay more taxes than middle-class families in California,” and he dared anyone to check him on it. We did, and he was wrong. Now he’s claiming that crime in Texas is worse than in California. He’s wrong again. Appearing ...
Blog

CAPITAL IDEAS: California Gets Kicked by Drought 66

DOWNLOAD THE PDF The recent record-breaking bomb cyclone that replenished depleted reservoirs and swelled shriveling rivers was not enough to break the drought. So parched is the state that Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency, a condition Californians, bedeviled by wildfires, unaffordable housing, growing homelessness, a punitive ...
Blog

Sierra Snow a Start to Ending the Drought

Experts, scientists, and everyone in between are rushing to give their take on the recent “bomb cyclone” that dumped the most amount of rain in many parts of Northern California in nearly 150 years. Sacramento broke the single-day rain record, last set in 1880, when 5.44-inches of rain fell between ...
California

Sunday Morning Newsmakers Features Saving California

Steven Greenhut, editor of the new PRI book “Saving California,” joined Larry Marino on KRLA’s Sunday Morning Newsmakers to talk about the California recall, wildfires, and the many public policy woes facing the state. Greenhut gives a detailed breakdown of the controversy around the Newsom administration’s misstated wildfire prevention efforts ...
Blog

Growing a Tree Infrastructure Makes Sense

In Pres. Biden’s $3.5 trillion pork reconciliation package, there’s a line item that even we limited government-types can get behind — planting trees. The question is, should the Federal government really be taking the lead? The New York Post article recently uncovered that Biden’s mega-spending bill provides for $3 billion ...
Blog

Goats: The Greatest-Of-All-Time Firefighters?

The New York Times calls them an “unconventional weapon against future wildfires.” Some are known as “Fire Grazers.” To most of us, though, they’re just goats. But they provide a valuable service: eating the “type of vegetation (that) is known as the fire fuel ladder and (which) leads to wider ...
Blog

No More Games – Return the Surplus to CA Taxpayers

Last year, I got a kick out of playing CalMatters’ Spend the Surplus Game.  This year, not so much. CalMatters created a clever online game that lets you decide how California should spend its surplus. This year, it’s projected to be $45.7 billion. Of that amount however, I only get ...
California

A Better California Doesn’t Require A Big-Government Budget

For most, “budget” means a set amount of money they’re able to spend over a defined period of time, such as the funds available in a household account. To California lawmakers, “budget” holds a different meaning. In their world, it typically defines an opportunity to freely spend a massive harvest ...
Blog

California Not Meeting Emission Reduction Goals by Doubling Down on Policy Mistakes

Download the PDF A recently released independent report says California isn’t going to meet its 2030 emissions goal. Those who have been paying close attention, and those who have immersed themselves in PRI research, won’t be even mildly surprised by this. They know the state has taken the wrong approach ...
Agriculture

Farmers and Ranchers – The Unsung Heroes of 2021

What do evergreen trees, ham, turkey, eggnog, and champagne all have in common? The holidays, yes, but also America’s agriculture — most notably the great agricultural states of the West. Let’s start with Thanksgiving dinner.  Our colleague Pam Lewison of the Washington Policy Center, and a farmer herself, recalls growing ...
Blog

Newsom: Fact-Checked Again – And Wrong Again

A few months back, Gov. Gavin Newsom claimed Texas ​​middle-class families “pay more taxes than middle-class families in California,” and he dared anyone to check him on it. We did, and he was wrong. Now he’s claiming that crime in Texas is worse than in California. He’s wrong again. Appearing ...
Blog

CAPITAL IDEAS: California Gets Kicked by Drought 66

DOWNLOAD THE PDF The recent record-breaking bomb cyclone that replenished depleted reservoirs and swelled shriveling rivers was not enough to break the drought. So parched is the state that Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency, a condition Californians, bedeviled by wildfires, unaffordable housing, growing homelessness, a punitive ...
Blog

Sierra Snow a Start to Ending the Drought

Experts, scientists, and everyone in between are rushing to give their take on the recent “bomb cyclone” that dumped the most amount of rain in many parts of Northern California in nearly 150 years. Sacramento broke the single-day rain record, last set in 1880, when 5.44-inches of rain fell between ...
California

Sunday Morning Newsmakers Features Saving California

Steven Greenhut, editor of the new PRI book “Saving California,” joined Larry Marino on KRLA’s Sunday Morning Newsmakers to talk about the California recall, wildfires, and the many public policy woes facing the state. Greenhut gives a detailed breakdown of the controversy around the Newsom administration’s misstated wildfire prevention efforts ...
Blog

Growing a Tree Infrastructure Makes Sense

In Pres. Biden’s $3.5 trillion pork reconciliation package, there’s a line item that even we limited government-types can get behind — planting trees. The question is, should the Federal government really be taking the lead? The New York Post article recently uncovered that Biden’s mega-spending bill provides for $3 billion ...
Blog

Goats: The Greatest-Of-All-Time Firefighters?

The New York Times calls them an “unconventional weapon against future wildfires.” Some are known as “Fire Grazers.” To most of us, though, they’re just goats. But they provide a valuable service: eating the “type of vegetation (that) is known as the fire fuel ladder and (which) leads to wider ...
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