Author: Edward Ring

Edward Ring is the director of water and energy policy for the California Policy Center, which he co-founded in 2013 and served as its first president. The California Policy Center is an educational non-profit focused on public policies that aim to improve California’s democracy and economy. He is also a senior fellow of the Center for American Greatness. Ring is the author of two books: "Fixing California - Abundance, Pragmatism, Optimism" (2021), and "The Abundance Choice - Our Fight for More Water in California" (2022).

Ringside: The Potential of Waste-to-Energy in California

April 17, 2024 2:45 amApril 17, 2024 2:46 am

When searching for new sources of renewable energy in California, harvesting the waste streams from our cities, farms, and forests is a logical option. But how much waste do these sources produce each year, and how much energy would they...

Ringside: How Much Water Will $30 Billion Buy?

April 10, 2024 2:20 pmApril 10, 2024 2:20 pm

So far this year I had the privilege of attending two water oriented events. The first, in February, was at the annual CalDesal conference in Sacramento. The second, in March, was at the Kern County Water Summit in Bakersfield. I...

Ringside: Sacramento’s War on Water and Energy

April 4, 2024 7:10 amApril 6, 2024 9:06 am

After the deluges of 2022-23, and the rainfall season so far this year delivering an above normal snowpack and above normal rain, the drought in California is over. Even the situation on the dry Colorado is much improved, with Lake Powell and...

Ringside: The Cost of Offshore Wind vs Carbon Sequestration

March 28, 2024 8:59 amMarch 28, 2024 8:59 am

The California Energy Commission (CEC) has set planning goals for floating offshore wind turbines, calling for between 2 and 5 gigawatts of “nameplate capacity” operating by 2030, and 25 gigawatts by 2045. Note “floating.” Unlike off the East Coast, or...

Drain the Reservoirs, Return California’s Stolen Land

March 23, 2024 2:45 amMarch 22, 2024 3:12 pm

The destruction of dams on the Klamath River provides an encouraging precedent for progressives throughout California. As was breathlessly reported in the San Francisco Chronicle and elsewhere, indigenous tribes are now able to recover their sacred land and revive their ancestral villages and way...

Ringside: Evaluating Underground CO2 Sequestration in California

March 20, 2024 10:20 amMarch 20, 2024 10:20 am

While the confirmed skeptic will consider Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) to be the ultimate waste of money, it nonetheless is happening. Billions of dollars have already been committed, with no end in sight. Regardless of how one might judge...

Ringside: California’s Dubious Megaprojects

March 14, 2024 2:39 amMarch 14, 2024 2:40 am

It would be inaccurate to suggest that California’s state Legislature can no longer think big. They can, and as such they are carrying on a tradition that two generations ago gave us the best universities in the world, expressways and...