Think Long Attacks Public Education
By Brian Leubitz
In case Think Long’s proposal to reduce taxes on the highest earners in favor of additional taxes on the middle class wasn't enough to piss off the Left, there is this little treasure in the report: (viaSacBee)
We believe such new funding should not be automatically given to a system that is failing to educate millions of Californians. It instead should be tied to improving performance of K-12 schools, as a result of rigorous evaluation of teachers, as well as curbs on automatic teacher tenure and seniority.
Shift in US Natural Gas Market Will Hobble Economy, Harm Environment
By Rory Cox
Pacific Environment
Little noticed by most outside the energy business, the US is currently undergoing a seismic shift for the worse in its energy policy. This shift threatens to kick the cane out from under our hobbled, creaking economy, harming domestic manufacturing while also removing a critical piece of the puzzle in making progress towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Currently, the US energy grid has a strong strategic advantage in that there are plentiful natural gas reserves in North America. Natural gas is what supplies most of California’s energy grid, and increasingly is replacing coal plants in the US. It is supplied through a network of pipelines. This is different than, for instance, Japan, which relies on natural gas imports delivered by ship from around the world. While Japan pays upwards to $14 per unit for natural gas, the US’s unique situation means we’ve been paying much less—currently, natural gas sells for as little as $3 per unit.
Super Committee Out Of Way - Now Back To Reality?
By Dave Johnson
Campaign for America's Future
Let's hope that the failure of the "super committee" quest to take money out of the economy clears the media mist for a minute, so people can focus on real issues that matter to real people. What are the chances of that? Will our government now focus on creating jobs, reducing inequality, fighting climate change, providing health care, increasing justice, balancing trade, increasing education, enabling small business to compete against the multinational?
Real Issues
People are in the streets across the country, demanding that the government start addressing real issues that matter to real people. But the increasingly irrelevant Congress has instead focused on things like blocking the government from making school lunches more nutritious.
Create Jobs
Tar Sands Oil Producers Eye California
By Ngoc Nguyen
New America Media
The Obama Administration’s recent decision to delay the approval process for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline has shifted attention to alternate routes for bringing a glut of tar sands oil in Canada to refineries and ports abroad.
Last week, Canadian firms bought up thousands of miles of existing pipeline in the U.S. Midwest, intending to reverse oil flows southward to Gulf Coast refineries – a “workaround” that would get oil flowing in the right direction, but still not enough to accommodate the volume of crude being produced.
A second – lesser known -- alternative involves piping tar sands oil westward across Canada to Vancouver, where it would reach West Coast refineries by tanker. California, which up until now has remained out of the fray in the fight over tar sands oil, would be key to such a northern pacific route.