California Dreaming a Growing Nightmare as Governor Grounds Electric Cars

California – one of the most liberal states in America — is currently fraught with problems.  They are so numerous and serious that folks and businesses are leaving the state in droves – and those staying are not happy campers.

The evidence is everywhere, but one recent irony seems to symbolize the problem.  California politicians are among the most fervent supporters of the Green New Deal ideology.  California recently promulgated the first-in-the-nation regulation to ban the sale of gas-powered car in 2035.  (Note that this is a “regulation” and not a piece of legislation.  That is part of the problem in liberal “La La Land.”)

More recently, uber progressive Governor Gavin Newsom issued a request that owners of electric-powered vehicles not recharge them due to a power shortage. All those environmental-minded citizens, who were asked to – and did – fork over big bucks for a Tesla are now told to ground them.  This is more than irony.  It is the theater of the absurd.

In the last half of the 20th Century, California was a symbol of the good life.  Trends developing in the Golden State were quickly spread across the country.  “Valley girls” and “surfing boy” playing “Beach Blanket Bingo” was the iconic teen scene for two generations or more.  It was a place to move to and get rich, with “tech valley” bringing the world an unprecedented age of information and communication.

The migration to California made it the most populated state in the Union – and consequently the most powerful state politically.  It was powerful enough to become a state delivering a President of the United States – Ronald Reagan.  An accomplishment most states are yet to achieve.

Today, however, politics and nature are taking a toll on California.

Politics

The big-spending Democrats in Sacramento have been driving the state’s economy into the ground for decades — and the chickens are starting to roost.  The tax burden is reaching confiscatory levels.  People are fed up with Little Brother governance.

The left-wing political class is not only draining the working folks of their hard-earned money, but left-wing social policies resulted in innumerable jobless and homeless folks taking up more and more of the commons for tent cities – creating both a sanitary and safety risk to residents and tourists,  as well as  the homeless.

San Francisco actually has a “poop map” that pinpoints each discovered human dropping in public places.  If you go online and check out the map, The City by the Bay is a latrine of brown dots covering most of the map.  Apparently, people are leaving more than their hearts in San Francisco. I can already hear the parody of Tony Bennett’s theme song.  (You just cannot make this stuff up.)

Soft-on-crime Democrat prosecutors and judges are turning California cities into crime-centers not seen since the lawless days of the old west.  People are being assaulted, robbed and murdered every day in Broad daylight – and business looted by gangs of desperados. 

California suffers the second greatest negative impact – second to Texas – from the throngs of illegal migrants crossing the border from Mexico.  It is not just a numbers problem.  Among the migrants are hundreds of thousands of criminals, gangbangers, and drug cartellians — bringing billions of dollars of Fentanyl that is now the number one killer of American youngsters.

Woke politics is everywhere in California – impacting hardest on the schools in terms of parental response.  And government spending and regulations have made California a very inhospitable place for average Americans.

Nature (and politics)

California has some of the most serious issues with Mother Nature – often worsened by failure of the political class to prepare and respond effectively.

Most folks have heard of the San Andreas Fault.  It virtually destroyed San Francisco in the early 20th Century … has caused deadly earthquakes since then … and, according to scientists, there is the potential for another devastating eruption in the near(?) future.

Then there is the drought.  We are getting daily reports on the sudden and devastating impact of the water cut off in Jackson, Mississippi.  We have had a similar situation in California evolving over a much longer period.

Water levels in the reservoirs are critically low.  Lake Meade is down 200 feet.  The water line at Hoover Dam is down around 1000 feet.  If it lowers another 100 feet or so, the generators will stop generating and the lights will go out for a lot of folks.  Rationing residential electricity is already a necessity (ergo no recharging the Tesla).

The drought is also affecting the crops – adding to the nation’s food shortages.  The water shortage impacts more than electricity generation.  No more watering the lawn.  Homes using too much water will have “restrictors” installed on their intake valves.  An insufficient water to fight fires.

Speaking of fires, California has seen some of the worst forest and brush fires in America.  Lack of prevention and lack of zoning have put increasing numbers of people in harm’s way from the increasing number of fires.

The water shortage has not been mitigated by occasional torrential rains that create mudslides through the mountainous regions.

Summary

Many of California’s problems are national – even global – but it is hard to find a state that has become afflicted with so many problems.  California is becoming increasingly uninhabitable for humans.  No one is singing “California here I come” these days.

And what does California’s Governor Gavin Newsom do about all this?  He spent a lot of time fighting off a recall vote.  He is currently attacking Florida Governor Rod DeSantis – who did not have to fight off a recall.  Why is he picking on one of the more popular governors in America?  Simple.  Newsom sees DeSantis as a future presidential rival.

Rather than focus on his presidential ambitions, Newsom may fare better by focusing on his own state’s enormous problems.

At least California has “the happiest place on earth” –Disneyland.

So, there ‘tis.