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The Sierras have had practically no snow this year. Lake Tahoe, which relies on skiing for income, has no ski areas operating at full capacity. Some only have 30% of their lifts open. Last year, they had 50 feet of snow in some places. The Sierra Nevada is at a mere 14% of normal snowpack. The southern California Metropolitan Water District (MWD) says this could be the driest year on record. This isn’t just happening in California. It’s been exceptionally warm and dry across the nation. Flowers

So the Iowa caucus has come and gone for the 2012 election.  Does it really mean anything in the overall grand scheme of things?  Not really.  The Iowa voters don't necessarily pick the candidate that will eventually be the nominee.  And when it comes to the voting demographic in Iowa, it does not come close to being an accurate representation of the overall national voting demographic.  Regardless, though, Iowa goes first... as it has since 1972.  And though it might not pick the winner all the

Despite the influence of small government advocates like those in the Tea Party movement, the size, role, and influence of government on a federal, state, and local level is set to grow significantly in 2012. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), about 40,000 new laws will go into effect in 2012, and that doesn't include laws and provisions within laws that will also take effect this year on a federal level. Though in some ways, some of the new laws to take effect mi

On Monday, Secretary of State Debra Bowen officially certified Americans Elect to appear on California's ballots for the 2012 elections.  The addition brings the number of qualified political parties in the state to seven, including the American Independent, Democrat, Green, Libertarian, Peace and Freedom and Republican parties.  It is the first time a new political entity has been certified by the state since 1995. There are two ways in which a political body can achieve ballot access in the G

The Bureau of Reclamation has requested input from the public to resolve water supply and demand imbalances for the seven states, including California, using Colorado River water. The problem can be easily stated, the solutions not so easily. Using ten year running averages, the bureau shows that demand for Colorado River water has already outstripped supply and that this trend will continue and worsen. They emphasize multiple approaches and solutions will be needed to solve the problem of too

The verbal fireworks between the banking industry and the Obama administration (“fat cat bankers” vs. “punitive regulators”) might have led you to believe that the years since Bush was president have been tough ones for Wall Street. But articles in this week’s Huffington Post and Washington Posthave both pointed out that the Obama years have been financial boom times for bankers, with Wall Street institutions earning more in the first 2 ½ years of this administration than they earned during the

With Republicans meeting in Nevada on Tuesday for yet another presidential primary debate, it's beginning to seem like they're having another one each week. This Sunday, The New York Times reported that this campaign season's early debates are drawing television audiences twice the size of those four years ago, leaving us to ponder the possibility that profits are driving the 2012 primary's dizzying number of debates. If you've been as overwhelmed by the number of debates as many Republicans ha

The average age of farmers and ranchers in America is increasing, and rural populations are in decline. This is why the U.S. Department of Agriculture is acting to plant a new crop of much needed agricultural producers here in California and across the nation. Last week, Ag Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced this year's winners of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture's (NIFA) 'Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program' (BFRDP). According to a NIFA news release, a tota

Renewable energy projects, plus research and development, were supposed to be major powerhouses in creating a new economy. Many hoped this could propel states like California and Nevada out of recession. Surely, if massive wind and solar farms were built, this would create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, or so they thought. Many big renewable energy projects are already under construction. More are planned. They can be mammoth, sprawling projects covering thousands of acres. But the job crea

For most of the last decade, California was first or second in new business creation. In 2009, it ranked first. In 2010, new business creation imploded. Actually, that's an understatement. California was almost dead last in 2010 with only Michigan behind them.  That's right, it went from #1 to #50 in just one year for business creation (The list includes the District of Columbia, so there are 51 entries.) In 2008, California created 32,829 businesses, in 2009, it created 12,529, but in 2010 it