George Rebane
Last Friday I attended a forum on California’s toxic business environment, and left stunned. The forum was held at the behest of Assemblyman Dan Logue as part of his ongoing investigation of why businesses in the state are heading for greener pastures elsewhere. In attendance at the Rood Center were also Representative Tom McClintock and various Nevada County political leaders. Testifying was a grim array of the county’s business owners – operational word here is ‘grim’.
RR readers are aware of the coverage I, other local bloggers, and The Union have given the most devastating of the recent legislative bombshells from Sacramento – AB32, the CO2 ball and chain that is now being administered by the California Air Resources Board. This law and its spawn of regulations will single-handedly keep California permanently in its economic doldrums.
Local leftwing bloggers have done what comes naturally in their coverage of AB32. The Union has attempted a more ‘balanced account’ of the issue about which there is nothing in balance (their report here). If you’re a collectivist who sees a happy land after uniformly applied poverty, you will celebrate this latest explosion of government power. If you’re a free market conservative, especially with a technical or financial background, you see it for the disaster that it is. And if you’re a consumer of any stripe, stand by for ram – shortages, higher prices, limited choices, permits and fees every time you turn around, … .
And that disaster was described by the local business owners who detailed the specifics of insane equipment replacements, unintended collateral impacts, tax revenue losses, new government handouts, and, of course, mounting job losses. Local businessman Lowell Robinson even showed off one of CARB’s new gas pump nozzles. It costs almost $500 and fails hard – it has a nasty habit of not shutting off after your tank is full.
The only job gains seem to be in Sacramento which is hiring a new corps of inspectors and clerks to see that AB32’s statewide regulations are being complied with, and the appropriate reams of paperwork are being regularly submitted. I guess this is what also counts as ‘creating green jobs’, more government monitors checking everyone for compliance. In East Germany, the government’s security apparatus finally wound up hiring one sixth of the country’s population – one out of six got a check from the Stasi for keeping an eye on the other five.
My own reporting on AB32 over the past months was a relative puff ball compared to the actual damage the implemented law is doing in our county and across the rest of the state. The liberal media is, of course, silent. Considering its flawed technical underpinnings and the insane business practices being imposed, AB32 is a poster child of leftwing garbage legislation. Dan Logue (Dan@DanLogue.com) is doing more than yeoman’s duty in Sacramento with his work to get the law repealed before California becomes a federal ward (petition here).
Before you call the movers, see what you can do to help the man.
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