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).

The Abundance Choice, Part 4: Crafting the Initiative for More Water

May 16, 2022 4:35 pmJune 20, 2022 11:01 am

To be fair, Assemblyman Devon Mathis (R-Porterville) didn’t come up with the idea of allocating a percentage of the state budget to accomplish a policy priority. He got that idea from the California Teachers Association, which back in 1988 convinced voters to...

The Abundance Choice, Part 3: The Mechanics of Ballot Initiatives

May 15, 2022 2:21 amMay 26, 2022 12:14 pm

By the spring of 2021, it was obvious the State Legislature was not going to change its inadequate approach to water policy. As the state faced another year of drought, restricting water use was the only solution being taken seriously...

The Abundance Choice, Part 2: The Problems With Indoor Water Rationing

May 12, 2022 2:45 amMay 26, 2022 12:13 pm

Perhaps the biggest example of misguided water policy in California are the escalating restrictions on indoor water consumption. As will be seen, the savings these restrictions amount to are trivial in the context of California’s total water consumption, yet are...

The Abundance Choice, Part 1: California’s Failing Water Policies

May 10, 2022 2:15 pmMay 25, 2022 11:14 am

In October, and then again in December 2021, as the third severe drought this century was entering its third year, not one but two atmospheric rivers struck California. Dumping torrents of rain with historic intensity, from just these two storm systems over 100 million acre feet...

Are Firefighters Hard to Recruit in California?

April 7, 2022 2:49 amApril 7, 2022 5:32 pm

In response to a recent California Policy Center analysis that provided an updated calculation of the average pay and benefits for full-time firefighters working for cities in California, one commenter claimed that it has become difficult to recruit firefighters. The accuracy...

Questioning Firefighters Union Political Priorities As Wildfire Season Approaches

March 31, 2022 6:15 amMarch 31, 2022 6:28 am

As another summer of wildfires approaches, it is in the interest of every Californian to understand that California’s firefighters’ union, the California Professional Firefighters, is one of the most politically powerful unions in the state. This union has the power to...

Sonoma County Teachers Strike is Over, but Issues Not Resolved

March 24, 2022 2:28 amMarch 23, 2022 9:37 pm

On March 7, members of the union representing teachers in the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District voted to strike. It began on March 10 and by March 17 it was over. What happened? At first, prospects for a resolution to...