Tag "drought"

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Can tiered water rates be used to encourage conservation?

A media firestorm erupted Monday, April 20, over Gov. Brown’s opposition to a State Court of Appeals decision in a water rate setting case involving Proposition 218.  The initiative, passed in 1996, requires voter approval for any new property-related utility

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Court strikes down tiered water pricing in San Juan Capistrano

San Juan Capistrano’s water fee usage plan ran afoul of Proposition 218’s taxpayer shield to protect taxpayers from being charged taxes disguised as fees and assessments. The goal of the tiered water plan was designed as a financial punishment for

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Southern CA chafes under water squeeze

Despite a long track record of conserving water, Southern California has had to scramble to find new ways to scale back even further. Gov. Jerry Brown’s statewide decree of a 25 percent cut in municipal water use has triggered a wave

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Environmental Views: Gray Davis vs. Pete Wilson

Town Hall Los Angeles hosted a discussion between former California governors Pete Wilson and Gray Davis yesterday with the two disagreeing over environmental law regulations and touching on other policy issues and state politics. Wilson argued that the reason California

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‘Anti-science policies’ seen as factor in CA water crisis

Gov. Jerry Brown’s recent executive order mandating decreased water use prompted national and international attention. All coverage understandably emphasized the state’s 4-year-old drought; some linked the problem to climate change. But a California-based journalist who specializes in science reporting based

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Unions central to Brown’s infrastructure plans

Faced with a restive constituency disgruntled by drought, Gov. Jerry Brown has moved to execute on his plans for California infrastructure — a boon to labor unions, but a point of contention for his political adversaries. Train trouble As the Los

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Environmentalists face blame for drought

As California’s potent drought inspired soul searching from analysts worried the Golden State can’t grow without water, politicians and officials focused on a more immediate task: laying blame for the problem. Gov. Jerry Brown has tried to set a philosophical tone, cautioning that

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Feds cloud pot picture in CA

Over the strenuous objections of some California lawmakers, the Department of Justice vowed to continue prosecuting the medical marijuana industry in the Golden State. Despite a recent bipartisan federal amendment de-funding the Department’s fight against medical marijuana, spokesman Patrick Rodenbush revealed to the

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Brown imposes 25 percent water cutbacks

Faced with a crisis unprecedented in California’s history or his own tenure in office, Gov. Jerry Brown unveiled mandatory water restrictions at Phillips Station, a Sierra Nevada locale hit hard by this year’s meager snowfall. Cities and towns, he said, must now

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