The Crossroads of Kern County

By Edward Ring
05/22/2024
With chronic uncertainty over water allocations for farm irrigation, and relentless and escalating regulatory assaults on its oil industry, the biggest economic sectors of Kern County are threatened. The irony is thick. Food and fuel are the prerequisites for civilization – the enabling foundation for California’s entire much broader and often spectacular economy – and...

TAGS: California water policy, Central Valley, energy, Kern County

Solar Farms Should Not Displace Prime Farmland

By Edward Ring
11/21/2022
Successfully coping with severe droughts in California and the Southwest requires tough choices, all of them expensive and none of them perfect. But taking millions of acres out of cultivation and replacing them with solar farms is not the answer. California produces over one-third of America’s vegetables and three quarters of the country’s fruits and nuts –...

TAGS: Central Valley, electricity, environmentalism, Green Energy, Solar Power

Yes, Virginia, There Are Lessons We Have Learned

By Larry Sand
11/11/2021
The recent election in Virginia has provided a trove of “teachable moments.” As a former educator, I know a teachable moment when I see one. And the political doings in Virginia this fall have been a goldmine. While the Democrats still maintain a small majority in the Old Dominion’s Senate in the recent election, Virginia...

TAGS: Central Valley, culture, election, parents, party, Teacher, Terry mcauliffe, union, va, virginia, wars

COVID-19 Worsens Fiscal Distress for Lindsay California

By Marc Joffe
04/14/2020
The city of Lindsay, in Tulare County, is California’s fourth highest risk city according to the California state auditor. And that was before the COVID-19 pandemic. Its fiscal condition will likely deteriorate further as residents shelter at home, raising the specter of sharp service cuts or even Chapter 9 bankruptcy for the city. The mistakes...

TAGS: CalPERS, Central Valley, Chapter 9 bankruptcy, coronavirus, Marc Joffe, pensions

Californians should pay more attention to water

By Darin DuPont
10/03/2019
As one rides on the train through the heart of the Central Valley, one becomes engulfed by the rich agricultural roots of California. Its beautiful crops and peaceful imagery make the breadbasket of the world a sublime place to live. Nevertheless, absent its rivers, both the crops and generations of hardworking Americans who take care...

TAGS: Central Valley, Fresno County, Kern County