The Heartland Institute

Construction of BrightSource Energy’s Ivanpah solar power project in the Mojave Desert is destroying the habitat of threatened desert tortoises. Conservationists have documented that in addition to destroying desert tortoise habitat, the project, approximately 50 miles south of Las Vegas in southeastern California, has directly caused ...

With transportation coffers barely able to maintain highways, let alone adding new capacity to relieve congestion, many transportation economists and urban planners have concluded that the best solution to U.S. freeway congestion is to implement variable pricing on all congested freeways. At the same time, many political scientists ...

With transportation coffers barely able to maintain highways, let alone adding new capacity to relieve congestion, many transportation economists and urban planners have concluded that the best solution to U.S. freeway congestion is to implement variable pricing on all congested freeways. At the same time, many political scientists ...

Stockton, California is quite at home on lists of dubious distinctions. This Northern California city has been variously listed as the city with the second-highest home-foreclosure rate of any major U.S. metropolis, the second-highest violent crime rate in California, and was two times the frontrunner of Forbes magazine’s “America ...

The Federal Communications Commission is seeking public comment on when it is appropriate for a local government to shut down mobile networks without notice, after San Francisco officials interrupted wireless services last August. The FCC promised a probe in December after San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit system blocked ...

An official with the Audubon Society has called for a five-year moratorium on permitting new solar arrays near the nation’s largest wind farm, at Altamont Pass, California. Arrays Worsen Wind Impacts Rich Cimino, conservation director for the Ohlone Audubon Society, says new solar arrays near Altamont Pass will worsen serious ...

On December 12, 2009, the California Air Resources Board (CARB), a subdivision of the California Environmental Protection Agency, published its final rule to reduce diesel exhaust emissions in the state, the “Goods Movement Emission Reduction Plan” (GMERP). The controversial plan set up a draconian, regressive tax, one of the ...

Two solar energy trade groups are suing Riverside County, California over a new surcharge on large solar power projects. The surcharge is an annual fee of $450 per acre on large-scale solar projects. Fee vs. Tax The Large-Scale Solar Association (LSA) and the California Independent Energy Producers Association (IEP) filed suit ...

Hydraulic fracturing has enabled profitable extraction of oil and gas in diverse areas of the country. As a result, many states sitting atop the country’s shale formations are reconsidering the way they tax these resources, to fill budget holes. Many of these debates are occurring in states with unconventional deposits and where ...

Annual snowfall in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains is showing no sign of decline, according to a study by University of Alabama-Huntsville climate scientist John Christy. The study’s results, accepted for publication in the American Meteorological Society’s Journal of Hydrometeorology, refute frequent assertions by global warming ...

The recent discovery of vast deposits of oil and natural gas trapped in shale rock formations has revolutionized our nation’s short-term, mid-term, and long-term energy outlook. For example, proven natural gas reserves in the United States rose by 40 percent between 2004 and 2009. At the same time, new technological advancements ...

In the mid-1980s, high premium costs and a tidal wave of auto insurance litigation led to vast public outrage against auto insurers. Under California’s referendum process, voters in 1986 narrowly approved Proposition 103, which completely remade the state’s auto insurance system. Insurers were required to roll back their rates ...

After a futile attempt to implement a citywide free wi-fi system in Santa Clara, California, the city has announced it’s re-launching the plans under its very own network. Silicon Valley Power, the municipal electric utility owned by Santa Clara, is preparing to launch the Internet access later this year, according to The Santa ...

Adelanto, California school district officials rejected a petition by parents to convert Desert Trails Elementary School into an independent charter under the nation’s inaugural Parent Trigger law. The Adelanto Elementary School District board voted 5-0 in late February to deny the parents’ petition, which district Superintendent ...

A six-year-old California boy reportedly has been suspended for “inappropriate touching” of a classmate, on his leg or groin. The mother says the two boys were “roughhousing.” The school district reportedly has dropped the charges and transferred the six-year-old to another school. Source: Theresa Harrington and Hannah Dreier ...

A California marine biologist was indicted last month on federal criminal charges for feeding whales, which is illegal under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The biologist is federally licensed to conduct public whale-watching tours. She also researches whale behavior for her own projects. She was out on her research boat ...

The current economic environment of low—virtually zero—interest rates has hit savers hard, but the US Federal Reserve’s accommodative monetary policy is actually having a stabilizing effect on the economy. Abruptly raising interest rates could harm economic growth and the housing market. Until the economy stabilizes enough that ...

A gray wolf crossed south of the Oregon-California border this winter, marking the first time a wolf has been sighted in the Golden State since 1924. According to federal wildlife managers, the predator is ranging along the California-Oregon border hoping to define a home territory and searching for other wolves to form a ...

A federal district court has put a temporary stop to a California Air Resources Board (CARB) rule restricting carbon dioxide emissions from transportation fuels. According to the court, the rule violates the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause by discriminating against oil and biofuel producers located outside the state of California ...

Parents of students at a failing elementary school in the Southern California desert city of Adelanto are the second group to exercise their rights under the state’s Parent Trigger law. Members of the Desert Trails Elementary parent union say if the Adelanto Elementary School District refuses to make certain changes, they intend ...