Premium Panic, Burger Bounce

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Golden State nerves are fraying as insurance markets teeter, salmon struggle, and burger royalty bolts east. This week we tour Sacramento’s Delta compromise, In-N-Out’s eyebrow-raising Tennessee stop, and California Forever’s sci-fi factory gamble in Solano. A major new PPIC survey shows voters sweating insurance premiums and shrugging at renewables. Plus: anglers get their fix on a dormant podcast, our NCC leaders toast recent CEQA tweaks in the SF Examiner, and our Fast Five speeds through wildfire payouts, coding convicts, microbrew legend obits, anti-“Cali” rants, and a $65-billion SoCal burn.

Onward!

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HOME INSURANCE ANXIETY SURGES

A new survey from the Public Policy Institute of California shows that the Golden Staters are sweating the twin scourges of climate fallout and escalating utility bills. Sixty-percent fear homeowners insurance will morph into a luxury item and 57% worry it could vanish altogether. At the same time, only 40% still volunteer to pay extra for renewable juice — down from 56% in 2016 — even though 62% back the state’s 100%-renewables-by-2045 law. Six in 10 say Washington is phoning it in on climate, and an equal percentage cheer Sacramento crafting its own playbook. Offshore, wind and wave energy technologies score 75% applause, while more oil rigs barely muster 34%. The survey includes a vast trove of data about Californians’ environmental worries, regulatory concerns and mounting anxiety about the teetering insurance market.

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🤫 Everything you should know

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💦 🐟 🌽 - WATER WARS, DELTA DEAL — California’s State Water Resources Control Board just signaled approval for a three-year-old $2.9-billion “voluntary agreements” plan, a deal that swaps strict river-flow mandates for eight years of cooperative give-backs: farms and cities chip in money, habitat projects, and some water, in hopes of propping up a collapsing Delta ecosystem without shutting off pumps. As with any new development in the Delta water wars, nobody is happy. We’ll get high-drama public hearings next, followed by the inevitable cascade of litigation. All the while, look for climate change to keep tightening the screws. — CalMatters

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🌴 🍔 🌴 - IN-N-OUT…OUT? — The partisans on both sides of the California doom chronicles worked themselves into a lather this week after In-N-Out owner Lynsi Synder let slip that her family will be moving to Franklin, Tennessee, where the business is opening a new office to support growth. Appearing on the Relatable podcast earlier this week, Snyder pointed out the obvious: “There’s a lot of great things about California, but raising a family is not easy here. Doing business is not easy here.” A brief firestorm erupted in the California Exodus™ discourse, leading Snyder to clarify her comments in an Instagram video. — Fortune

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💡 👷 🏗️ - FIELD-TO-FORGE — California Forever just rolled out its next big swing: the 2,100-acre “Solano Foundry,” pitched as North America’s largest advanced-manufacturing hub and creator of 40,000 skilled jobs. Robots, aerospace, shipbuilding and green-energy lines would anchor the plant inside the firm’s still-theoretical new city. If the plan comes to fruition, Solano County could see a middle-class revival and near-home work for nearby commuters. Plenty of colossal speed bumps remain, including county staffing gaps, slow-moving approvals, and an eye-popping constellation of competing interests and ambitions. — KQED

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🎙️ 💬 🎧 - ON THE POD: WESTERN OUTDOORS PODCAST

Western Outdoor News has an earworm: a weekly podcast that hauls in real-time fishing intel, hunting field notes and campfire chatter with outdoor luminaries. Think bite reports, birdshot gossip and gear talk — all packaged in 30–45 minutes. The pod has hit a lull, but back episodes are still great. — Western Outdoors Podcast

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✂️ 📃 🌿 - NCC LEADERS WEIGH IN ON CEQA WINS

In a new op-ed in the San Francisco Examiner, NCC President and CEO Tracy Hernandez, and Board Chair Jim Wunderman celebrate California’s recent CEQA reform moves, arguing that common-sense regulations for housing and infrastructure construction can supercharge our ambitious climate goals. — SF Examiner

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🏃‍♂️ 💨 ✋ FAST FIVE

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1. 🔥 SoCal Edison says it will create an Eaton Fire compensation program. CalMatters
2. 🧑‍💻 Maine inmate works as full-time software developer for SF tech company. TechCrunch
3. 🍺 California’s father of U.S. microbrews dies at 80. NY Times
4. 🙅 Whatever you do, don’t call it “Cali.” SF Gate

💸 Price tag for LA fires pegged at $65B, the costliest ever. USA Today