California's new tax--another disaster

We live in a crazy state. All is collapsing around us--high unemployment, high taxes, companies leaving for other states. And what do the Democrats in Sacramento decide to pursue? A green tax. Unbelievable.

Here's what's happening. California has become the first jurisdiction in the nation to adopt a full-scale cap-and-trade tax to combat global warming. The new taxes and regulations will require a nearly 30% reduction in carbon emissions from power plants, manufacturers, cars and trucks by 2020. Yes, you read that right--not 3% but 30%. That's a recipe for a serious economic nosedive.

It all started in 2006, according to The Wall Street Journal. This green tax was signed into law in 2006 by then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in the fantasy that California was going to be the green role model for other states.

How is that working out with other states? Not so well. Ten states in the Northeast entered a regional cap and trade compact to limit greenhouse gases in 2008, but that market is now dying if not dormant and states (recently New Jersey) are dropping out.

Even the federal government, known for stupidity, has wised up. In 2010 the Democratic Senate killed cap and trade, and there is no chance anytime soon this tax will be implemented in Washington.

Now with states and the federal government slowing down and being far more cautious about this crazy plan, you'd think California would also re-think the plan. You'd be wrong. Our "Golden State" will go it alone on cap and trade, and the economic fallout won't be pretty. Nearly every independent analysis agrees that water, electricity, construction and gas prices inside the state will rise. The only debate is about how much.

Here come some scary statistics about the potential costs. A 2009 study by the California Small Business Roundtable estimated costs of $3,857 per household by the end of the decade. That's staggering. Gasoline prices, already near the highest in the nation, could rise by another 4% to 6%. Dust off that bicycle. An analysis by the state's own Legislative Analyst's Office found that the higher costs of doing business would mean "leakage of jobs," with the California economy "likely adversely affected in the near term by implementing climate change policies that are not adopted elsewhere." Duh . . . no kidding. Watch the jobs flee and the economy crater.

I guess what really frustrates me is the empty symbolism of the disastrous action. A single state's policies can't possibly alter the planet's temperature given the huge carbon footprint elsewhere. Do you think China and India will be shamed by California into stopping their economic progress? Har, har.

So here we go. California—with 2.1 million people already out of work and with the nation's second highest jobless rate at 11.9%—will walk the plank with this tax. When will the voters in this state wake up?