Much of the unrest in the United States stems from unaffordability. Across every political contest from California to the East Coast, the affordability playbook is the same: “the cost of living is too high, and the opposition party is to blame.” The first part of this message ought to be beyond serious debate. The cost...
For water users and water watchers, October 1st was New Year’s Day. It’s a good time to step back and comment on where we’re headed with water policy and water projects. There is no single variable that affects how much water is available to Californians than how we manage the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Around five...
On September 21, Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency due to the “strong and likely historic El Nino event in the Pacific Ocean.” The timing of the announcement is in response to the latest predictions from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, estimating a 90 percent chance of a “very strong event during...
Whether artificial intelligence should be regulated, and if so, how, has almost overnight become one of the biggest political issues of our time. And with AI comes a surge in construction of massive data centers, for which we should minimize impact on the surrounding communities. But to the question of how we will find enough...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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...