Comments on the “Water Quality Control Plan” for the Delta
Comments on the “Water Quality Control Plan” for the Delta
The August 2026 final draft of the State Water Resources Control Board’s (SWRCB) “Water Quality Control Plan for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Watershed” has been released. Written comments will be accepted through September 18, and the board will also take oral comments at the October 28-29, 2026 meeting where the SWRCB may formally adopt the plan. Anyone...
By Edward Ring
Revisiting the “Crisis” of Sea Level Rise
Revisiting the “Crisis” of Sea Level Rise
Whenever a natural disaster occurs anywhere in the world that can be connected in some way with the alleged climate crisis, out come the professionals to make that connection. From the federally funded NPR, “A melting glacier contributed to the deadly Nepal floods. We can expect more like this.” From CBC, “Scientists fear Nepal’s disaster is...
By Edward Ring
Where does California get its energy?
Where does California get its energy?
Finding quality, consolidated information on energy use in California is surprisingly difficult. The California Department of Energy provides detailed information on electricity production, and a variety of reports on, for example, refinery inputs and production. But there is no report available from official state sources that puts it all together. This is unfortunate, because as a state...
By Edward Ring
Some Unions Actually Have the Power to Save California
Some Unions Actually Have the Power to Save California
There is no special interest in California more powerful than unions. While they aren’t significantly represented in the private sector, where they are present, they have disproportionate influence over what public works are prioritized by the state. And in the public sector, union members dominate the public workforce in almost every agency and department, from...
By Edward Ring
Without Sediment Removal in the Delta, California Risks Winter Flooding
Without Sediment Removal in the Delta, California Risks Winter Flooding
In the cities and farms immediately south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the worst flooding of the 20th century happened in 1997. Several days of unrelenting rain pummeled the slopes of the Sierras, and with the snow line unusually high at 10,000 feet, nearly all of it poured into the San Joaquin River and other tributaries. Reservoirs...
By Edward Ring
Iron Air Batteries—Niche, or Next Big Thing?
Iron Air Batteries—Niche, or Next Big Thing?
Iron air batteries appear poised to play, at the least, an important niche role in the emerging electric age. A very recent example of this is the $750 million equity financing that Form Energy secured this week, raising the total investment in that iron air battery manufacturer to over $2 billion. Iron air batteries offer...
By Edward Ring
California’s Neglected Infrastructure is Harming America
California’s Neglected Infrastructure is Harming America
California attracts a lot of criticism, with perhaps the most bipartisan criticism focusing on its punitive cost of living. And this bipartisan criticism even extends to agreement on the reason California is too expensive. In their bestselling 2025 book Abundance, authors Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson argued that liberal governance has become too legalistic, bureaucratic,...
By Edward Ring
Is Covering California’s Aqueducts and Canals with Solar Panels Economical?
Is Covering California’s Aqueducts and Canals with Solar Panels Economical?
Earlier this week, a respected YouTube channel covering the future of technology and energy released a video exploring the viability of solar panels covering California’s canals and aqueducts. The videos are hosted by Ricky Roy, a California-based mechanical engineer whose channel is called “Two Bit Da Vinci.” Reviewing his findings is an opportunity to offer some updates...
By Edward Ring
The Delusional Premises of Woke Greens
The Delusional Premises of Woke Greens
While the burgeoning democratic socialist movement is getting a lot of attention in advance of the 2026 midterm elections, a parallel dimension of wokeism quietly continues to advance. For now, the Trump administration has attenuated its most extreme threats, but its institutional support is unwavering, and its slow progress is unrelenting. The woke greens are...
By Edward Ring
Debunking the Allegedly Prohibitive Cost of Desalination
Debunking the Allegedly Prohibitive Cost of Desalination
Earlier this summer a guest op-ed appeared in the Orange County Register, “Learning the right lesson from San Diego’s desal water surplus.” But the “lesson” presented was only partly accurate. What the authors, both affiliated with the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC), got right was the need to change regulations that restrict the ability for farmers to...
By Edward Ring
A Fact-Based Appraisal of California’s Energy Strategy
A Fact-Based Appraisal of California’s Energy Strategy
The Statistical Review of World Energy is arguably the most authoritative and comprehensive source publicly available for national and global energy statistics. And a funny thing happened between the report issued in 2024 and the report issued in 2025. “Renewables” as a percent of total energy consumed in 2023 was quietly lowered from 9.3 in the U.S....
By Edward Ring
Large Scale Desalination Could Help Resolve Colorado River Shortage
Large Scale Desalination Could Help Resolve Colorado River Shortage
The operating agreements that govern Colorado River allocations expire at the end of this year, and negotiations between the seven states that share the water are stalled. With the federal government poised to step in and impose an agreement it formulates, the states — Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming in the upper basin, and Arizona,...
By Edward Ring