Someday Arnold Schwarzenegger will not be Governor anymore, but the impact of his “He-man” assualt on the alleged human-created component of some sort of warming trend on the planet will define his legacy. Of that I am sure that there is probably agreement between the Governor and this humble website publisher.
But the legacy that the Governor will, in fact, leave behind will be one of costly regulation and resource scarcity that will make it much harder to afford to be a Californian in the next generation than it is to be one now (if you can believe that).
I could start rattling off ill-advised policy goals and actions that will lead to this outcome, but for this post, I will highlight the Governor’s decision to reject the application of BHP-Billiton’s Liquified Natural Gas Facility many miles off the Malibu coastline.
The reality is that with the growth in population in California, sustainable energy sources are essential. Without new ones, that scarcity I mention above will raise prices for…everything. And guess what, it will hit those least able to afford it the most!
I know that the BHP proposal would have had some other hurdles to work out given other actions by the Democrat-dominated Coastal Commission and State Lands Commission. But those decisions aren’t part of Arnold’s legacy (in fact Arnold’s representative on the Lands Commission voted to allow the BHP facility to go forward).
Whether it was the high profile leftwing activist-actor “peers” of the Governator that influenced his decision, or whether he actually believes the bunk-science that this facility would have been injurious to the environment to a level to offset our need for energy… I guess it doesn’t matter.
What does matter is that the Green Governor is going to create a lot of expense to Californians, starting with people like my friend Paul who’s bulldozers don’t make the emissions-cut of Arnold’s latest regulatory taking.
Sigh.