How Much Can California Ask of Its Rivers?

From Parks to Housing to Economic Renewal, the Golden State’s Former Backwaters Face a Flood of Expectations

California is finally embracing its rivers. But it may be a choking embrace.

We Californians have long celebrated our coastal splendor and toasted the height and beauty of our mountains. But our rivers? For most of us, they have been a mere utility, the plumbing that moved water around the state.

Today in the Golden State, its regions and its people are at long last taking the advice of the late environmentalist David Brower, who counseled his fellow Californians to “begin thinking like a river,” and fulfilling the eternal Christmas dream …

Why California Will Need Its Own Weed Cartel

The Legalization of Recreational Pot Is Doomed Without a Corporate Middleman

If California is going to transition successfully to full legalization of cannabis, our state is going to need its own cartel.

For the record (and to reassure my friends in federal …

If California Cows Could Talk

Much Like Their Human Counterparts, Cows Around the State Are Being Asked to Do More With Less

I am a California dairy cow. Mmmm—oo.

Surprised to hear from me? In normal times, I wouldn’t be inclined to cooperate with the anthropomorphic scheme of a writer desperate for a …

We’re All Lebowski Now

In Today’s California, the Dude—Once the Quintessential Outsider—Has Become the Mainstream

Are we becoming a state of Lebowskis?

Jeffrey Lebowski, better known as the Dude, is arguably the most successful fictional Californian of the past two decades. Created by the Coen brothers …