A Commanding Approach to Climate Change
One cheer for Senator Kevin De León. The leader of the State Senate introduced legislation yesterday adding comprehensive new regulations to control California greenhouse gas emissions. No, I’m not endorsing the substance of his legislation. More on that below. But the Senator deserves credit, along with other Senate and Assembly leaders, for insisting the Legislature […]
Mandates to Force Reductions in Gasoline Unrealistic
The Western States Petroleum Association is strongly opposed to legislative or regulatory mandates designed to force a 50 percent reduction in gasoline and diesel use in California by 2030. Mandates to force reductions in gasoline use are not climate change policies. They are attacks on an important industry in California designed to create conflict and […]
Academic Analysis on Top Two Misses the Point – Voters Want Winners to Govern
In 2010, voters approved Proposition 14. This measure fundamentally changed California’s partisan primaries conducted under rules determined by private political parties into a nonpartisan system in which the purpose of the primary became a public one in which the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, advance to the general election. This change has empowered millions […]
Will State Appeals Court Correct Its Very Basic Mistake In Top Two Case?
I don’t disagree with the conclusion that the California State Court of Appeals reached in a recent challenge by minor parties to our state’s top two election system. Top two is a bad system that undermines democracy and discourages participation, but I think the judges were right to find the system was constitutional. Still, it’s […]
Manufacturing Missing Piece of Climate Proposals
California can lead the world in combating climate change if we design policies that allow innovative and energy efficient manufacturers to grow in our state rather than other locations with cheaper, dirty energy. That’s why protecting and growing California manufacturing must be front and center in California’s next plan for emission reductions. High energy costs […]