When you think about the best-paid gigs in the San Francisco Bay Area, you might be thinking of the tech industry. But check out firefighting in San Ramon, just east of the Silicon Valley. In 2020, the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District — which covers 155 square-miles in Contra Costa County and serves a...
Not quite one year ago, Gavin Newsom did something that took political courage. It was also the right thing to do. He removed from one of the state’s local water boards one of the most outspoken critics of a desalination plant proposed for Huntington Beach. Unlike critics of desalination (once referred to as desalinization, and swiftly being...
In a recent investigation by CapRadio, Gavin Newsom was found to have misled the public with his progress on his wildfire prevention efforts. How big of a deal is this? Aren’t wildfires just a force of nature or an act of God? Isn’t climate change going to make fires worse anyway? How much did Newsom’s...
Why we fight government unions: Ordinary Californians often don’t understand the pernicious impact of government unions. Unions’ power and their political agenda to expand this power reduce economic opportunity and wellbeing in the state. As a result, California has higher taxes, bigger government, more regulations, higher costs, massive deficits, exploding unfunded liabilities, and fewer job creators and...
Thousands of firefighters continue to battle blazes across California. In Orange County, two firefighters are in critical condition after suffering major injuries battling the Silverado Fire. Every year around this time, firefighters risk their lives, and some of them lose their lives, protecting the rest of us from these catastrophic fires. Deep respect for what firefighters do,...
What we quaintly refer to as “super fires” have incinerated nearly 5,000 square miles of California’s forests so far this year. In response, Governor Newsom has declared he has “no more patience for climate deniers.” But it isn’t climate change that caused these superfires. It was negligent forestry. When it comes to facts that matter on...
When Gov. Gavin Newsom took office in January 2019 — aware that 10 of California’s 20 most destructive wildfires had occurred since 2015 — he promised an “all of the above” approach to reducing the threat that fires poised to public safety and property in a hot, dry era. In his first full day on...
Nobody knew how the fire started. It took hold in the dry chaparral and grasslands and quickly spread up the sides of the canyon. Propelled by winds gusting over 40 miles per hour and extremely dry air (humidity below 25 percent), the fire spread over the ridge and into the town below. Overwhelmed firefighters could...
Political leaders and pundits have been quick to link this month’s horrific wildfires to climate change, leading to the conclusion that California should continue and even double down on its carbon reduction policies. But the evidence suggests that these policies will make little difference in the frequency and severity of these disasters, and our scarce...