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April 15, 2024 - 8:15pm
Never one to miss an opportunity for posturing, California Governor Gavin Newsom recently announced plans to “Trump-proof” the state if the former president wins later this year. Newsom is particularly concerned about a Trumpian reversal of California’s stringent environmental regulations, which have become a mainstay of his governorship. Yet as the 56-year-old continues to spout on presidential politics, his record in California suggests that the rest of the country may choose to Newsom-proof their own states.
The working and middle classes in California are struggling. The state suffers from the highest unemployment rate and slowest job growth in the country — as well as the highest percentage living in poverty. As a result, there’s growing net out-migration that even the Newsom-friendly LA Times has been forced to acknowledge.
Politics plays an important role. Indeed, California’s state government has managed to undermine one of the world’s most innovative economies. The state was recently ranked the least tax-efficient in the nation, which is encouraging even more people to leave. In addition, surveys show that although the national mood is sour, many believe their states are moving in the right direction. California, however, is an outlier, with only one-third feeling things are getting better. Proposals to raise high taxes even higher, in part to cope with the deficit, likely won’t make them feel any better.
Much of this can be traced to the climate state religion embraced by both Newsom and his predecessor Jerry Brown. California has the toughest climate laws in the country: it has adopted an early start towards EV mandates, banned future oil and gas drilling, and implemented regulations designed to make it all but impossible to develop single family houses in the periphery.
Add to that the state’s regulatory regime, and the problems mount further. The enforcement of higher salaries for fast food and hospitality workers, for example, is particularly tough for smaller businesses. It is also brutal for anyone involved in the carbon economy — factory workers, truck drivers, farm hands, construction, and oilfield workers — which is tied to energy use. Latinos and other ethnic minorities who make up the vast majority of these workers therefore pay a heavy price, as a new report by Soledad Ursua and other researchers lays out.
This is partly why California’s climate regime has been described as a “green Jim Crow”. The Golden State now has the highest energy prices in the continental US, meaning that only the wealthiest can afford to get by. These costs have also made house-building difficult, with construction now at a 10-year low. Thanks to restrictions on suburban family residences, prices remain artificially high as a result.
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SubscribeKotkin is relentless on Newsom. Lighten up buddy. The guy is the best mainstream actor in the North America right now. Trudeau has been completely flubbing his lines ever since 2SL got added to the acronym.
I’m not saying he’s EU caliber yet but he’s awful good at expressing “The Narrative.” These aren’t his policies. They’re just the policies he’s been asked to champion for a televised audience.
”green Jim Crow” is just trolling
It’s catchy, but the use of the term “Jim Crow” is probably not appropriate. I would have rather said something like “….sacrificing California on the altar of the Climate Cult….”
OTOH, back in the 90s, the left very cleverly used the expression “greening of hate” to oppose population issues at orgs like the Sierra Club etc. The Sierra Club has now been completely captured by the identity crowd …
… illustrating that the pairing of “green” with terms of opprobrium like “Jim Crow” is an effective rhetorical tactic out here.
There still is a bit of it. The Breakthrough Institute calls it “avocado politics” (green outside and brown – as in brown shirt – inside) and I call it “alt-green.”
Payback’s a b***h, eh?
Newsom is occasionally mentioned as a potential Democratic Presidential nominee, but I can’t see him resonating with the US as a whole.
And Californians keep electing Democrats. They should get what they voted for good and hard.
According to the article, they are.
it is fine out here, going for a sunrise surf, have a good one
Stockholm syndrome is clearly a real phenomenon.
Presumably Newson and the California government were elected and their views represent the progressive majority of California?
It is hard to imaging that Ronald Reagan was once Governor of California.
Every time I hear that people are leaving California in droves for reasons including but not limited to the state’s high cost of living, or progressive fetishes, or urban degradation, or climate rage, I can’t help but think the elite Newsomites are rejoicing over the thought they may finally get the California coastline and other prime real estate all to themselves. Trump endangerment is just the big lie they compulsively have to keep repeating.
Same thing in the UK, but in reverse. Bring in millions of immigrants, dump them in the poorer parts of town and watch the value of your property in Putney or Highgate go through the roof. Meanwhile pat yourself on the back for being a good global citizen.
California is the laboratory for the left-wing ideologies. They are used there and the experience will be used to impose them everywhere.
California was a Republican state, especially southern California. Then the left instituted relaxed borders and were able to swing the state to solid Democrat.
Environmental regulation’s story is the same: auto emissions, nuclear power, solar power: all the leftist positions were tried first there and now are used everywhere.
Social issues, especially crime, followed the same path.
Their experiment has shown their way to success. First get the voters you want. Then you can do whatever else you want.
California’s regulations wouldn’t disadvantage them if they applied elsewhere as well. Newsom needs to get on the front foot and back renegade red states into the corner they’re anyway painting themselves into.
Typical far-left authoritarianism. How does it feel seeing the Latinos whose votes you thought you owned turning on you? Can’t wait to see the eruption of hand wringing and finger pointing on November 6th. You’re going down, suckers.
Well, CA does have so much going for it, but the mismanagement is clear for all to see, and it can’t be denied that there are significant problems. No empire lasts forever.
Sell CA back to Mexico….ease our problems…toss in Oregon
Anti-California pieces are always popular on UnHerd. The population of California pretty much doubled between 1980 and 2010. 39 million now. Is that enough? I think so.
The population growth is due to mass immigration from foreign countries, not domestic migration from the rest of the country or high birth rates. As long as the country maintains a de-facto open border and California continues to heavily subsidize illegal migrants with generous transfer payments from its legal citizens, the state’s population and housing prices will continue to skyrocket.