Wildfires
Blog
Wildfire needs holistic approaches to be extinguished before it begins
A fire in Paso Robles was recently stopped after just an acre burned. The quick stop was credited to the use of sheep and goats for “fuel abatement.” After catastrophic wildfires have burned valuable land across the west in recent years, the deployment of grazing livestock to minimize fuel loads ...
Pam Lewison
August 2, 2022
Agriculture
Eric Edwards and Sara Sutherland – How Federal Bureaucracy Hinder Projects to Reduce Wildfire Risk
With California’s fire season in full swing, Eric Edwards and Sara Sutherland, senior research fellows with the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) in Montana, join us to discuss their new paper detailing how bureaucratic federal environmental reviews – much like the California Environmental Quality Act – add delay and ...
Pacific Research Institute
July 11, 2022
Blog
Jumpin’ Jack Flash Can’t Get No Gas
Los Angeles will possibly be among the few cities in the world to outlaw the construction of new gas stations if a proposed policy change is approved by the City Council. Since Los Angeles is arguably the virtue-signaling capital of the world, it’s hard to imagine that it won’t happen. ...
Kerry Jackson
June 30, 2022
Blog
New Assembly Bill Seeks to Expand Dysfunctional CEQA
Assembly Bill 1001, a bill that expands upon and brings new, highly subjective standards to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), continues to successfully move through the California State Legislature. California enacted CEQA over five decades ago to reform the public decision-making process to incorporate environmental considerations. A leader in ...
Pacific Research Institute
June 8, 2022
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 ...
Rowena Itchon
June 7, 2022
Blog
Grazing is part of successful wildfire suppression
Not very many people are capable of scaling rock faces, and none are able to properly digest the diets of ruminant animals – range grasses, small woody stalks, underdeveloped trees – which makes those animals perfect for wildfire suppression efforts. Earlier this year, the city of Sacramento deployed nearly 1,000 ...
Pacific Research Institute
May 5, 2022
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 ...
Kerry Jackson
April 22, 2022
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, ...
Tim Anaya
April 20, 2022
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 ...
Kerry Jackson
April 8, 2022
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 ...
Pacific Research Institute
March 28, 2022
Wildfire needs holistic approaches to be extinguished before it begins
A fire in Paso Robles was recently stopped after just an acre burned. The quick stop was credited to the use of sheep and goats for “fuel abatement.” After catastrophic wildfires have burned valuable land across the west in recent years, the deployment of grazing livestock to minimize fuel loads ...
Eric Edwards and Sara Sutherland – How Federal Bureaucracy Hinder Projects to Reduce Wildfire Risk
With California’s fire season in full swing, Eric Edwards and Sara Sutherland, senior research fellows with the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) in Montana, join us to discuss their new paper detailing how bureaucratic federal environmental reviews – much like the California Environmental Quality Act – add delay and ...
Jumpin’ Jack Flash Can’t Get No Gas
Los Angeles will possibly be among the few cities in the world to outlaw the construction of new gas stations if a proposed policy change is approved by the City Council. Since Los Angeles is arguably the virtue-signaling capital of the world, it’s hard to imagine that it won’t happen. ...
New Assembly Bill Seeks to Expand Dysfunctional CEQA
Assembly Bill 1001, a bill that expands upon and brings new, highly subjective standards to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), continues to successfully move through the California State Legislature. California enacted CEQA over five decades ago to reform the public decision-making process to incorporate environmental considerations. A leader in ...
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 ...
Grazing is part of successful wildfire suppression
Not very many people are capable of scaling rock faces, and none are able to properly digest the diets of ruminant animals – range grasses, small woody stalks, underdeveloped trees – which makes those animals perfect for wildfire suppression efforts. Earlier this year, the city of Sacramento deployed nearly 1,000 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 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 ...