Search query: new jersey

Governor Jerry Brown is expected to provide a huge boost to the progressive anti-Electoral College movement with his signature on AB 459, the National Popular Vote law. The highly controversial bill, passed by both the Assembly and the state Senate last Thursday would enroll California in an interstate agreement that obliges member states in presidential elections to give their electoral votes to the candidate with the most votes nationwide, regardless of the true tally of each state's electoral

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University has published an update and a revision of a 2007 study entitled “Freedom in the 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom”. The report analyzed three primary “freedom variables” for each state, determining the overall burden that local and state policies place on individual residents. So how did California stack up? Frankly, not so good. In fact, California was only underperformed by New Jersey and New York. The authors, William Ruger a

PG&E fought against it, but Marin Clean Energy prevailed and now residents there can choose renewable energy via Community Choice Aggregation. Under Community Choice Aggregation (CCA), communities can choose what type of power they want with distribution left to the big utilities.  It recently received a huge boost from the state legislature under a new law which allows CCAs to count customers as participating unless they specifically opt out. The Marin CCA now offers two types of renewable ene

According to an MSNBC poll, 96 percent of respondents strongly favor the labeling of genetically modified foods. Over 40,000 people participated in the survey which is the latest in a series of national polls showing that a vast majority of Americans still want to exercise the right of informed consumer choice when it comes to nutrition. Blogger Rady Ananda offers a review of opinion polls conducted since 1994 to show that the numbers have always heavily favored GMO labeling. Here are some exam

Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Resources Inventory has been analyzed by the American Farmland Trust (AFT), an agricultural conservation group working to aid farmers, ranchers and their communities. The numbers, published in the Fall/Winter 2010 issue of American Farmland Magazine, reveal California's dismal performance over the past quarter-century in protecting its rural legacy from suburban sprawl resulting in a risk to domestic specialty crop production. “During the

Fueled by a growing demand for locally produced food year-round, the number of farmers' markets extending their operations into winter months is on the rise, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. Northern states are leading the charge by pioneering techniques to extend growing seasons with indoor gardening methods. Nationwide, at least 900 farmers' markets run between November and March, a 17 percent increase from 2008. Traditional, weekly farmers' markets typically begin in the spr

"I think it's eerily like 1994. Not much will change." That's what Rich Hamblen told me about the 2010 midterm elections on our way to a political conference sponsored by the Los Angeles-based Tenth Amendment Center. And Rich would know. With decades of political activism under his belt, and a year of hard time for civil disobedience pertaining to a Second Amendment issue dear to his heart, the man has some serious street cred when it comes to politics. I challenged him, ever the optimist, and

It  may seem like the current uproar and ongoing revolt against the Transportation  Security Administration’s newest security protocols came out of nowhere,  but opposition to full-body scanners has been building for some time.   The breadth of the opposition is perhaps most clearly apparent in the  unified position of third party and Independent activists from across  the political spectrum. Just  under a year ago, the advanced imaging technology could be found in use  at fewer than two doze

At this point, it is all but guaranteed that Republicans will hold the House of Representatives come the election in November. Commentators from Nate Silver to Jon Stewart to Karl Rove to Rush Limbaugh for once have reached a consensus on this point, and as of now, the only battle being fought is over the size of that upcoming majority. Its existence has long since been conceded as an inevitability.  But what then? Once the GOP has seized back the mantle of power, what is to come, and how can w

Meredith Whitney, who was early and right about the cratering of our banking system, says the appalling fiscal condition of many states is a systemic risk to the entire country, with California being in the most calamitous shape. She says California has the biggest budget deficit, has increased spending "dramatically", and has public pension systems that are deeply in the red. Plus, since she expects a double dip in housing, California revenues will drop even more. Though it now appears that a