California

California Imported Crude Oil Ranks as a Major Emissions Generator

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Shipping is by far the biggest transport polluter in the world. The fuel used is the cheapest and most polluting fuel available for the world’s 90,000 ships that burn approximately 370 million tons of fuel per year, emitting 20 million tons of sulfur oxides.  read more »

How Cato Sold Out California Property Owners

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In September, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill abolishing single-family zoning. This bill was a victory for the Yes in Other People’s Back Yards (YIOPBY) movement, as well as for urban planners who sought to densify California urban areas, which are already the densest in the nation.  read more »

Nashville: The Evolving Urban Form

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Nashville’s has long been known as “Music City,” a title that dates nearly a century to 1925 when the first “Grand Ole Opry” performance was held in the Ryman Auditorium (above). For even longer, Nashville has been the capital of Tennessee, with the 10th oldest state capitol building in the nation (below). But the big story increasingly has been the area’s rapid growth  read more »

Report: Restoring the California Dream

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This newly released report examines how the California dream can be restored for California's middle- and working-class families. An excerpt follows:  read more »

California's Economy is Weaker Than it Looks

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Whisper it, but the $45 billion surplus Gavin Newsom has projected for California next year isn’t quite what it seems. In fact, the bulk of that surplus is largely due to the earnings of a few giants such as Google, Apple and Meta (formerly Facebook), as well as a handful of IPOs.  read more »

California is a Bastion of Innovation Marred by Deep Inequality. Is That America's Future?

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Everyone seems to be California dreaming these days. Much of America, particularly its red parts, see California as a hopeless dystopia best understood as everything the nation should avoid. Meanwhile, for the progressive Left and many around Joe Biden, California is the Mecca, a great role model being attacked by jealous reactionaries.  read more »

Trouble in Paradise: The Crumbling California Model

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Some horrified conservatives dismiss California as the progressive dystopia, bound for bankruptcy and, let’s hope, growing irrelevance.  read more »

Here's Why California is Losing Population for the First Time

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California is suffering a major demographic reversal, one that threatens both the state’s economic future and the durability of its progressive model.  read more »

California's Keenest Competitors for Tech Jobs are Blue Western States

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For a generation, California has seen more of its residents and companies head elsewhere, but has found a way to respond, at least in terms of wealth creation, by constant innovation. But today, the Golden State’s hold on the elite reaches of the economy is slipping in ways that could threaten the state’s long-term prosperity.  read more »

Only Interior Counties, San Benito, Riverside and Monterey Grow in 2021

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Preliminary county population estimates just released by the state Department of Finance show that California’s population decline is persisting and accelerating. The state lost 173,000 residents over the year ending July 1, 2021. The Department of Finance reports that there were 56,500 Covid related deaths over the same period, which would account for about one-third of the population loss. Net domestic migration dropped to the lowest rate in a decade, down 277,000 --- more than the population of Marin County.  read more »