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California Archive

Saturday

6

October 2012

0

COMMENTS

California's Self-Imposed Gas Crisis

Written by , Posted in Big Government, Energy and the Environment

California shoots itself in the foot again with its overzealous regulatory culture:

Drivers in Southern California awoke Friday to find that their gasoline prices had spiked by nearly 20 cents a gallon overnight as a result of fuel shortages caused by a series of refinery disruptions in recent weeks.

Supplies of refined petroleum products on the West Coast are now at their lowest levels since 2008, while national inventories are about normal.

The immediate cause of the California price rise was a power failure at Exxon Mobil’s Torrance, Calif., refinery on Monday that shut down some production units at the 150,000-barrel-a-day facility. The company on Friday said the refinery had resumed normal operations. Supplies on the West Coast had already been tight because of an Aug. 6 fire at Chevron’s 245,000-barrel-a-day Richmond, Calif., refinery, which has still not been restored to full production.

Fires and power outages, surely I can’t be blaming the government for that, right? Well, no, but keep reading:

California typically has substantially higher gasoline prices than most of the country because of its tough environmental regulations and high taxes. Gasoline supplies are traditionally tight this time of year as refiners do maintenance work to switch from summer to fall gasoline blends mandated by the California pollution-reduction regulations. But this year, energy experts say, the local gasoline market is particularly chaotic because of the refinery shutdowns.

So here’s the thing. Supply disruptions happen in lots of industries. A localized disruption in a single state wouldn’t normally cause such shortages, but in this case, government is both contributing to the disruption itself – through the alternating mandated blends – and the inability for it to be resolved through reallocation of supply. Specifically, the reason California is seeing no relief from the rest of the country, which is not experiencing any shortage, is because California’s government says those supplies aren’t good enough.

Perhaps they are right and the costs are justified, but Californian’s should understand that this is the price to be paid for their environmental regulation. They aren’t just abstractions or imposed only on evil oil refiners, but instead place real burdens on ordinary Californians struggling to fill their tanks to get to work each day.

Friday

9

September 2011

1

COMMENTS

Overgovernment: Sanity Prevails Edition

Written by , Posted in The Nanny State & A Regulated Society

I don’t want the overgovernment series to be all negative, so here’s a case of common sense prevailing over nanny statism. When California Governor Jerry Brown (D) was sent a bill instituting a fine on children or their parents for snowboarding without a helmet, it was met by his veto pen. More importantly, here’s what he had to say (Hat-tip: Overlawyered):

While I appreciate the value of wearing a ski helmet, I am concerned about the continuing and seemingly inexorable transfer of authority from parents to the state. Not every human problem deserves a law.

I believe parents have the ability and responsibility to make good choices for their children.

And that, my friends, is the simple antidote to overgovernment. Someone just has to say ‘no, enough!’ Unfortunately, given how far gone is California already, it is likely too little, too late.

Sunday

8

May 2011

0

COMMENTS

California to Sleep Tight in Government Approved Sheets?

Written by , Posted in Big Government, The Nanny State & A Regulated Society

There is no issue too small,  no detail too obscure, and no topic too far outside the scope of legitimate government to escape the scrutiny of the Californian nanny state. To wit (Hat-tip: Overlawyered):

…[N]ext Monday … a committee will ponder a labor union-backed bill mandating the use of fitted bottom sheets in all hotel rooms.

The way union leaders see it, such sheets – common in households across America but far less so in hotels – will help ease the backbreaking work that defines a housekeeper’s job. Hoteliers, who say the mandate could cost the industry $20 million statewide, call it a ridiculous, unnecessary piece of legislation that is sidetracking politicians from far more pressing work like balancing the state budget.

Besides tackling the issue of fitted sheets, the bill also calls for the use of long-handled mops so that housekeepers do not have to get down on their hands and knees to clean bathroom floors.

This will cost money:

San Diego hotel operators insist that if using fitted bottom sheets cut down on worker injuries, they’d be the first to embrace them. Trouble is, the expensive equipment the lodging industry uses to press and fold linens is not designed to accommodate unwieldy, elasticized sheets that are difficult to fold and iron.

The machines, which at a minimum cost $60,000, can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, say hotel operators.

These costs will be passed on to consumers, which will mean higher costs for already financially exasperated Californians, as well as out of state tourists, many of whom will be turned away by the higher costs, depressing the Californian economy. s it any wonder that Texas is cleaning their clock?

Saturday

26

July 2008

0

COMMENTS

More Anecdotal Evidence On Why Republicanism Is In Decline

Written by , Posted in The Nanny State & A Regulated Society

Remember, this bill was signed by a man who was a featured speaker at the 2004 Republican National Convention.

California, a national trendsetter in all matters edible, became the first state to ban trans fats in restaurants when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill Friday to phase out their use.

Under the new law, trans fats, long linked to health problems, must be excised from restaurant products beginning in 2010, and from all retail baked goods by 2011. Packaged foods will be exempt.

New York City adopted a similar ban in 2006 — it became fully effective on July 1 — and Philadelphia, Stamford, Conn., and Montgomery County, Md., have done so as well.

Vocal do-gooders have once again conspired to deprive citizens of their freedom to choose.  You are simply not trusted to make the correct decisions in your own life, even if the weighting of risk versus reward is entirely subjective. That this charge was enabled, if not actually led by, a prominent republican illustrates the sad state of our national affairs.