California needs to change the way electricity is delivered to customers. PG&E isn't doing the job well enough. Mandates for renewable energy are taking resources away from maintenance of electric lines, says Sr. Fellow Lawrence McQuillan, director of the California Golden Fleece^® Award . California forests have become overgrown, making them tinder boxes feeding the next fires.

California needs to rethink how it gets its electricity, says Sr. Fellow Lawrence McQuillan. Are there alternatives to large utilities such as PG&E and other monopolies? Customers are captives to the utilities and their government regulation boards. Local communities should be able to buy PG&E distribution lines to form their own utilities.

Who is to blame for millions of people having their power shut off due to possible wind damage to electric power lines in fire prone areas? Sr. Fellow Lawrence McQuillan says blame is to be share between the utility's governing board, state fire agencies and other bureaucrats in California who have prioritized green initiatives instead of safety upgrades. This could have the effect of pushing businesses out of the state due to the high costs of operating in California, says McQuillan.

Based on his Independent Institute book, War and the Rogue Presidency, Dr. Ivan Eland speaks at a luncheon hosted by the Committee for a Responsible Foreign Policy, on September 10, 2019, in Washington, D.C.

Sr. Fellow Robert Whaples, co-editor of the Independent book In All Fairness: Equality, Liberty, and the Quest for Human Dignity appears on the Wayne Allyn Root radio show. How does redistributing wealth hurt the poor, not help them? Robert Whaples addresses the matter of inequality and what to do about it. Does the government have a role in "doling out" equality?

Research Fellow Vicki Alger, author of Failure: The Federal Misedukation of America’s Children appears on the Andy Caldwell radio show. She discusses the state of charter schools in America. Charter schools are thriving due to competition for students. Parents deserve a choice in their children's education, says Alger.

Pacific Gas & Electric has shut off power to almost one million customers in Northern California as high winds are forecast which may cause fires to start. Fires started by PG&E equipment have destroyed thousands of homes in the past, so PG&E is taking this step to prevent devastating wildfires. Lawrence McQuillan outlines how PG&E is devoting resources to "green energy" instead of taking precautions to prevent wildfires. McQuillan offers some alternatives that would save money and help manage wildfires which power companies could implement.

At this Cato Institute event held 9/18/19 in Washington, D.C., Richard K. Vedder, author, Restoring the Promise discusses tackling higher education’s myriad ailments and how to fix them.