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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

California’s plans to build a high-speed rail system present the state with “immense financial risk,” concludes an explosive new report from an independent review panel. The panel advises state officials against borrowing billions of dollars to construct the first section of the track this year. Ignoring Conclusions The California ...

As the February deadline approached for states to submit No Child Left Behind waiver applications to the U.S. Department of Education, some states decided to reject the offer or delay their applications, citing the expense of waiver requirements. The DOE announced in September 2011 it would waive some of the law’s requirements ...

As a way of combating hard economic times, California’s Elk Grove Unified School District board announced it will allow negotiations to begin with cell-phone companies interested in locating their towers on school property. Associate Superintendent of Elk Grove Unified School District Rob Pierce said each tower location could generate ...

For the Chinese, 2012 is the Year of the Dragon. For beleaguered California taxpayers this may be the Year of the Billionaire. Of the half-dozen or so potential November ballot measures designed to raise taxes, nearly half are actively sponsored by billionaires. Tax Hikes on Business, Income Here is where the ultra-rich individuals ...

A proposed ballot initiative would give California high school students the right to access classes required for admission to state universities, regardless of where they live. The Student Bill of Rights initiative removes state barriers to online and blended learning, which could expand drastically if the measure passes. A 2009 ...

Like many other observers, we have found the California High-Speed Rail Peer Review Group to have made a convincing case for a fresh look at the feasibility of the California high-speed rail project. The Group's report was issued this week as eleven House Democrats -- eight from California -- joined an earlier request from ...

Transportation experts and taxpayer advocates are hailing an independent review panel’s recommendation against borrowing to build a high-speed rail line in California, but the state’s rail authority indicates it plans to keep rolling with its plans. The California High-Speed Rail Peer Review Group created by the Legislature to ...