Californians for Energy and Water Abundance

For too long, California has been held hostage by environmental activists and litigants, backed by politicians who prioritize environmental policies over the needs of people, imposing scarcity and high prices that benefit special interests but harm households and small businesses. Even on their own terms, California’s environmental laws and regulations are failing. They are already to blame for devastating wildfires and self-inflicted water shortages, and now we have reckless proposals to develop offshore wind farms that threaten marine ecosystems. California’s leadership has abandoned common sense.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

California is a global leader in technology and innovation. With practical, cost-effective and sustainable strategies, we can produce abundant water and energy, lower the costs of food, housing, and transportation, and protect our environment without sacrificing prosperity.

Energy Strategy: Powering California’s Future 

California should be setting the standard for affordable, reliable energy—not forcing people into rolling blackouts and some of the highest utility bills in the nation. The solution is an energy strategy that embraces responsible oil and gas production alongside rapidly advancing solar and nuclear power. We can deliver abundant, affordable energy to California while protecting the environment—and also set an example that other states and nations will enthusiastically follow.

Water Strategy: Capturing, Storing, and Expanding Supply 💧

California gets more than enough water, even in dry years—but mismanagement and misaligned priorities have left us rationing instead of thriving. By capturing storm water, expanding groundwater storage, upgrading reservoirs, recycling wastewater, and investing in desalination, we can secure our water future. Instead of scarcity, we can have abundant, affordable water for every Californian, including Golden State farmers.

California doesn’t have to choose between prosperity and environmental stewardship. With the right policies, we can have both.

For more information about CPC’s Californians for Energy and Water Abundance project, visit abundanceca.com.

director of water and energy policy, CPC

Edward Ring is the director of water and energy policy for California Policy Center, which he co-founded in 2013 and served as its first president. In addition to his policy work, his writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the National Review, City Journal, Real Clear Politics, and other media outlets. Ring is the author of several books, including “Fixing California – Abundance, Pragmatism, Optimism” (2021), “The Abundance Choice – Our Fight for More Water in California” (2022), and “Solutions – Innovative Public Policy for California” (2024).

 
water hose pexels-karolina-grabowska-4870798

The Easy Impossible Paths to Water Abundance

Coming up with a plan to find sufficient water to maintain 100 percent of existing irrigated farm acreage in the San Joaquin Valley the next time a multi-year drought strikes is not impossible. We can pipe water from Lake Roosevelt…

jaroslaw-kwoczala-ynwGXMkpYcY-unsplash

Rehydrating the Los Angeles Heat Island

Along with the fairly recent popularization of terms such as atmospheric river and bomb cyclone, we increasingly hear the term “vapor pressure deficit” (VPD). At any given temperature, the term refers to how much moisture is in the air compared…

pexels-alex-ohan-204757441-27520046

Twelve Scarcity-Enabling Laws to Scrap

Last week, as a representative of the California Policy Center, I had the opportunity to testify before a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee at a hearing on the topic of “California Fires and the Consequences of Overregulation.” While my remarks…

pexels-timmossholder-3936201

Conditions to Put on Federal Relief Funds

What can President Trump do to pressure Governor Newsom and the California legislature to manage the state’s water projects in a way that doesn’t simply offset the federal efforts? What leverage does he have, if for every federal regulation that…