Wildfires
Blog
Monday’s Budget Vote Typical of Perhaps Least Open Budget Process in Recent Years
Lawmakers on Monday voted on what’s now commonly referred to as a “Budget Bill Jr.” Since the passage of Prop. 25, which enacted a majority vote budget and docked lawmaker pay if budgets were adopted past June 15, lawmakers have routinely passed on-time budgets to keep getting paid, regardless of ...
Blackouts
NorCal Record Covers Launch of Electricity Reliability Report
As electricity demands increase this summer, The Pacific Research Institute (PRI) has launched a new website to encourage energy competition that leads to more affordability, innovation and climate change solutions. The initiative is prompted by issues facing the nation overall, but California exemplifies the issues, Dr. Wayne Winegarden, PRI senior fellow in ...
Blackouts
Blackouts, Increasing Crime, Rampant Homelessness, And Man-Made Drought: Is This California Or A Third World Nation?
While still trying to process the unwelcome news that we’re going to have to grind through yet another year of drought, California energy officials told us to also be ready for the power to go out when the days grow long and warm. “The managers of California’s electricity system,” the ...
Blog
CEQA Strikes Again in Holding Up Major Homebuilding Project
Recently, the Southern California Association of Governments voted on new housing development goals for the region for the coming decade. Its vote requires cities and counties to make plans to zone for up to 1.34 million new homes by the end of the decade. The need to build additional new ...
Blog
Will Vaccine Passports Hasten California Exodus?
Orange County is testing a digital vaccine passport, but so far, there’s been no movement at the state level to require all Californians to present their papers to freely move about. Meanwhile, Texas, Florida, and Idaho have banned vaccine passports. Other red states are likely to follow. Should Sacramento decide ...
Blackouts
Power Outages: California, Texas, next the U.S?
California was the object of ridicule last year when residents experienced widespread power outages due to high temperatures and wildfires. Now, during an historic cold spell, Texas is under fire for an energy infrastructure that left much of the state without power. The finger pointing will go on for months ...
Blog
Groundhog Day for Minimum Wage
At first, we were relieved to find that Pres. Biden’s proposal to include a $15 minimum wage hike in the COVID-19 relief package was just a bad nightmare. But when Californians woke up the other day, the idea was back on track. Unlike Bill Murray, who thanks to the magic ...
Blog
CAPITAL IDEAS: Is California’s Economy on the Brink Due to Climate Change?
[vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”36222″ img_size=”full” qode_css_animation=””][vc_column_text]The economic outlook for California inspires as much optimism as a weather report of dark clouds and heavy thunderstorms. Rather than entertain the possibility that the hard times are the result of poor public policy, blame has been assigned to ...
Agriculture
California must change course to avoid water shortages
Californians have recently endured increasingly aggressive wildfires, rolling power outages, and smoke-filled air for days. Unless the state government changes course, we can add water shortages to this list. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, California has already suffered three droughts during this century – 2001-2002, 2007-2009, and 2012-2016. To ...
Blog
Businesses To Bear The Burden Of Another Government Mandate
On the second business day after the state’s higher minimum wage took effect, employers in Los Angeles County had another weight dropped on them. The County Board of Supervisors approved a $5 an hour increase in “front-line” workers’ wages. It applies to “stores located in the unincorporated areas of the ...
Monday’s Budget Vote Typical of Perhaps Least Open Budget Process in Recent Years
Lawmakers on Monday voted on what’s now commonly referred to as a “Budget Bill Jr.” Since the passage of Prop. 25, which enacted a majority vote budget and docked lawmaker pay if budgets were adopted past June 15, lawmakers have routinely passed on-time budgets to keep getting paid, regardless of ...
NorCal Record Covers Launch of Electricity Reliability Report
As electricity demands increase this summer, The Pacific Research Institute (PRI) has launched a new website to encourage energy competition that leads to more affordability, innovation and climate change solutions. The initiative is prompted by issues facing the nation overall, but California exemplifies the issues, Dr. Wayne Winegarden, PRI senior fellow in ...
Blackouts, Increasing Crime, Rampant Homelessness, And Man-Made Drought: Is This California Or A Third World Nation?
While still trying to process the unwelcome news that we’re going to have to grind through yet another year of drought, California energy officials told us to also be ready for the power to go out when the days grow long and warm. “The managers of California’s electricity system,” the ...
CEQA Strikes Again in Holding Up Major Homebuilding Project
Recently, the Southern California Association of Governments voted on new housing development goals for the region for the coming decade. Its vote requires cities and counties to make plans to zone for up to 1.34 million new homes by the end of the decade. The need to build additional new ...
Will Vaccine Passports Hasten California Exodus?
Orange County is testing a digital vaccine passport, but so far, there’s been no movement at the state level to require all Californians to present their papers to freely move about. Meanwhile, Texas, Florida, and Idaho have banned vaccine passports. Other red states are likely to follow. Should Sacramento decide ...
Power Outages: California, Texas, next the U.S?
California was the object of ridicule last year when residents experienced widespread power outages due to high temperatures and wildfires. Now, during an historic cold spell, Texas is under fire for an energy infrastructure that left much of the state without power. The finger pointing will go on for months ...
Groundhog Day for Minimum Wage
At first, we were relieved to find that Pres. Biden’s proposal to include a $15 minimum wage hike in the COVID-19 relief package was just a bad nightmare. But when Californians woke up the other day, the idea was back on track. Unlike Bill Murray, who thanks to the magic ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: Is California’s Economy on the Brink Due to Climate Change?
[vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”36222″ img_size=”full” qode_css_animation=””][vc_column_text]The economic outlook for California inspires as much optimism as a weather report of dark clouds and heavy thunderstorms. Rather than entertain the possibility that the hard times are the result of poor public policy, blame has been assigned to ...
California must change course to avoid water shortages
Californians have recently endured increasingly aggressive wildfires, rolling power outages, and smoke-filled air for days. Unless the state government changes course, we can add water shortages to this list. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, California has already suffered three droughts during this century – 2001-2002, 2007-2009, and 2012-2016. To ...
Businesses To Bear The Burden Of Another Government Mandate
On the second business day after the state’s higher minimum wage took effect, employers in Los Angeles County had another weight dropped on them. The County Board of Supervisors approved a $5 an hour increase in “front-line” workers’ wages. It applies to “stores located in the unincorporated areas of the ...
