Draining Hetch Hetchy — Some History for San Francisco’s “Measure F”
San Franciscans will be voting next week on Measure F to study the draining of Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park. Hetch Hetchy, for those who don't know, is a spectacular, glacier-formed valley of equal proportion to its neighbor Yosemite Valley. Congress authorized a dam in 1913 to provide public hydroelectric power and a reliable source of water for San Francisco and peninsula communities. The project became a disaster, costing more money and taking more...
CONTINUE READINGRedeeming FEMA: How the Agency has Been Strengthened Since Katrina
Today's FEMA is a lot different from the organization that flubbed the Katrina response. There have been a number of positive changes, mostly during the past four years. First, as the Washington Post explains, FEMA's authority has expanded: Congress has broadened FEMA’s authority so that the agency can respond in advance of major storms, instead of waiting for governors to request federal aid after a disaster strikes. The measures earned plaudits from then-Gov. Hale...
CONTINUE READINGSaving Public Transit: Neighborhoods Matter
Public transit depends on neighborhood design to be successful. Without convenient neighborhoods that orient housing and jobs around transit, buses and trains will waste scarce public dollars by failing to attract sufficient riders and offering poorer quality service to those who do ride. Mott Smith, a Los Angeles-based real estate developer and advocate who focuses on transit-oriented projects, discusses the importance of neighborhoods to making transit work in this v...
CONTINUE READINGFrom Green Governor to Conservative Candidate: The Amazing Transformation of Mitt Romney
“EPA New England applauds Governor Romney for his strong environmental leadership.” That quote from EPA’s regional director in 2004 shows the extent of Romney’s transformation in the past eight years. It’s no secret that Mitt Romney’s current views on many issues differ from his actions as Governor of Massachusetts. Still, it’s a bit shocking to see just how radical the change has been. Basically, on environmental issues, Romney has transformed himself ...
CONTINUE READINGA Resource on Disaster Law Issues
As the storm slowly passes through, there will inevitably be questions about a host of issues: the scope of FEMA's role, the requirements of the Stafford Act, the operation of flood insurance, how private insurance might or might not apply, and so forth. The Berkeley Law School Library has established a great website with copies of many key documents and links to many more. (An overview of Disaster Law can be found here.) Here's a description of the site: This Disas...
CONTINUE READINGHow Did Alaska Avoid the Resource Curse? Can Anyone Else Do So?
Dan made a useful point the other day about the possibility that increased energy production could yield a resource curse, i.e. an increase in unproductive and oligarchical rent-seeking when an economy becomes based upon resource extraction. One might add that this rent-seeking also tends to underdevelop a country's human capital, as it has in Saudi Arabia: a nation's leaders can simply buy off the population with partial rent payments instead of trying to make them an...
CONTINUE READINGRomney Versus Disaster Assistance
In assessing Romney's argument that disaster response should be a state or private responsibility, we should consider his record in Massachusetts. In his last year as governor, Romney refused to provide state assistance when major floods hit western Massachusetts., even though the state government had ample funds. Romney had already begun to run for President, and was frequently out of state. Here's what a local conservative newspaper had to say: It's been two months...
CONTINUE READINGKeynesian Mother Nature: The Case of Hurricane Sandy
My parents, my brother and his family are all getting ready to face Hurricane Sandy. Warned about the Storm's likely path, they have taken a series of precautions. My parents have stocked up on supplies and won't be leaving their 11th floor apartment for a day or two. They expect to lose electric power soon.Viewing this anticipated shock as a research lab, I have a few questions. Given that tens of millions of people will be exposed to this risk, how much can sel...
CONTINUE READINGRomney’s Opposition to Federal Emergency Assistance in Disasters
The federal role in disaster response dates back to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, when General Funston sent troops from the Presidio to deal with the city's desperate emergency. Governor Romney seems dubious about this century-old federal role. During one of the GOP primary debates, Governor Romney was asked what he thought about the idea of transferring FEMA's responsibilities to the states. This is what he said: Absolutely. Every time you have an occasion to t...
CONTINUE READINGNew Climate Denial Talking Point!
Or at least one that I've never heard before. On Friday night, I was lucky enough to be the "left" in a local version of NPR's "Left, Right, and Center" with Matt Miller. We did it at my local synagogue, where Miller (and I) are members. The "right" was my old friend Larry Greenfield, who is a very good fellow in every way except for an insane world view (what can you do). One question centered on climate change. I emphasized the overwhelming scientific consens...
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