Use Market Pricing to Reduce California CO2 Emissions
Nobody should be surprised that California’s cap-and-trade program is the most cost-effective strategy to reduce carbon emissions. What’s astonishing is that policy makers insist on pursuing other more expensive options. The existing mandate to GHG reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 is apparently on an achievable path, helped by the historic recession, national automobile […]
Will Legislators Have to Wear Donor Patches?
John Cox is behind a unique initiative to require legislators to wear patches on their clothes that identify their biggest donors when they vote or give testimony in a committee or vote on the floor. No, he says this is not another wacky idea that comes out of California but a serious proposal to open up […]
What Do the Chargers Mess and the Water Mess Have In Common?
The San Diego Chargers are stuck. So is state water policy around the Delta. What do the two have in common? The Spanos family. The Chargers’ predicament is higher profile. The Spanos, who own the team, have spent years seeking a publicly funded stadium, and yet nothing happens. They blame politicians, and politicians blame them. […]
California’s Split Personality
Call it a tale of two states. On the one hand, California is briskly creating private-sector jobs, led by a Silicon Valley hiring spree. Sacramento’s budget, deeply in the red just a few years ago, is running a surplus, thanks to big income gains by the state’s wealthy residents. Meanwhile, however, large areas of the […]