Posts From Wayne Lusvardi
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Water conservation success backfires on policy-makers
A longstanding truism when it comes to needed goods such as water systems, flood control or catastrophic earthquake insurance is that the public wants them but does not want to pay for them. This was confirmed anew by a
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How Obama energy rules hurt, help CA
On June 2, President Barack Obama announced his new rules to mothball “dirty” coal power plants so as to reduce carbon-dioxide power plant emissions by 30 percent from their 2005 level. He also set voluntary targets for the percentage of
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CA air board may invalidate 1.3 million pollution-offset credits
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s repeated punishment of an Arkansas waste disposal firm has led the California Air Resources Board to consider invalidating 1.3 million environmental offset credits bought from the Arkansas company by California firms to offset the effects
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More dams or regulations to alleviate drought?
American diplomat Dwight Morrow wrote, “Any party which takes credit for the rain must not be surprised if its opponents blame it for the drought.” Likewise any policymakers that take credit for restoring rivers for fish and not building dams
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CA utilities outfoxing Cap and Trade law
This is Part 2 of a two-part series on Cap and Trade. Part 1 is here. Recent news about California’s cap-and-trade emissions program is like reading a Spy vs. Spy comic strip in an old Mad Magazine, where spies
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Study: Green power worst way to cut CO2
This is Part 1 of a two-part series. Most people probably know more about Cap’n Crunch cereal than about California’s complicated cap-and-trade air emissions regulation program. But according to a new study, perhaps Cap’n Crunch would be a better
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Feinstein drought bill heads for House merger
In the novel “A River Runs Through It,” later made into a movie, Norman Maclean wrote, “Eventually all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. … I am haunted by waters.” Driven by the haunting reality of lack
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Ending water wars could spark tax wars
Phil Isenberg wants to end California’s water wars. The member of the Delta Stewardship Council and its past chair wants to connect the cost of water more closely to its users. According to a report by the California Economic Summit, he
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CA Senate OKs GOP drought declaration
“Fire, water and government know nothing of mercy,” runs an Albanian proverb. So far in 2014, California has been wracked by merciless firestorms and severe drought even before the driest days of summer. And members of both political parties have
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Feinstein attacks environmentalists on drought
On May 15, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., didn’t pull any punches about her recent attempt to push her drought bill through Congress. She blasted environmentalists for having “never been helpful to me in producing good water policy. You can’t have a water
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