Infrastructure

Activists try to stop crude-by-rail

“Boom!” read the signs carried by some of the five dozen or so protesters who raised a ruckus Saturday outside the Kinder Morgan rail yard in the Contra Costa County city of Richmond. The aim of the environmental and

Study: Green power worst way to cut CO2

Wayne Lusvardi June 2, 2014

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

Appellate court seems to OK high-speed rail

Kathy Hamilton May 29, 2014

This is Part 1 of a two-part series. Is a green light ahead for California’s high-speed rail project? In a crucial hearing on May 23 before the Third District Court of Appeal, questions asked by the justices seemed to lean

Ending water wars could spark tax wars

Wayne Lusvardi May 23, 2014

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

High-speed rail crashes into high costs

Kathy Hamilton May 22, 2014

Funding for the high-speed rail project keeps chugging along in Gov. Jerry Brown’s May Revision to his budget proposal for fiscal 2014-15, which begins on July 1. He maintained the same funding request from his January budget, $279,316. That’s

2007 press release shows rail authority touting CEQA compliance

Chris Reed May 21, 2014

A Tuesday afternoon AP story laid out the latest courtroom developments involving the bullet-train fiasco: “SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s $68 billion bullet train project should be exempt from the state’s strict environmental review process now that it is subject

Gov. Brown blames wildfires on global warming

John Seiler May 20, 2014

Gov. Jerry Brown has been blaming the wildfires on global warming/climate. The Times summarized his recent statements: “We here in California are on the front lines,” Brown said on ABC in the first of two Sunday morning news show appearances…. The

CA Senate OKs GOP drought declaration

Wayne Lusvardi May 20, 2014

“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

Feinstein attacks environmentalists on drought

Wayne Lusvardi May 19, 2014

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

Prop. 26 wins San Diego water war

Wayne Lusvardi May 12, 2014

Remember Proposition 26, the Stop Hidden Taxes Initiative, passed by 52.5 percent of California’s voters in 2010? Probably no one who voted at that time had any idea Prop. 26 would help resolve — at least for now — the 68-year