Can California Be Saved?

[Dedalus]

My apologies for posting about California on a Vancouver Canucks forum! I always get a feeling that people get the wrong impression of California, and I feel this article brings up a lot of good points. It may be a little alarmist, but the facts and numbers are pretty sobering.

I wrote a summary in list form here:

(1) Fifth year of a catastrophic draught

(2) New reservoirs have been cancelled under California Water Project

(3) Legislators prefer to designate transgender restrooms, ban plastic bags at grocery stores, and prohibit pet dogs from chasing bears and bobcast

(4) Naturally-rich environment, poorly run

(5) Some of the highest gasoline taxes, sales taxes, income taxes, and electricity prices

(6) Roads and public schools rate near the very bottom of US rankings

(7) Traffic accidents increased by 13 percent over a three-year period

(8) Almost half of all accidents in Los Angeles are hit-and-runs

(9) State is growing gov't, but can't pay for it; shorting the middle classes, increasing taxes, but providing shoddy services and infrastructure

(10) Small business owners fleeing due to higher taxes and increased regulations

(11) Coastal wealthy vs interior poor

(12) 1/3 of welfare recipients reside in California

(13) 1/4 of Californians live below poverty line

(14) California has the most billionaires

(15) Some of the highest housing prices in the country and richest communities are clustered along the Pacific coastline; to wine country, Silicon Valley, Malibu, Hollywood, with coastal universities and zillionaire tech corporations

(16) Contrast that to the interior that requires more public services. The rich don't mind paying the necessary higher taxes; shrinking middle class suffers or flees

 

Link to article: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/425885/california-high-taxes-immigration-democrats

[250Integra]

Forgot to mention that Dustin Brown resides there.

[Armada]

Yes. 

[TOMapleLaughs]

(1) Fifth year of a catastrophic draught - http://inhabitat.com/possible-solutions-to-tackle-the-california-drought/

(2) New reservoirs have been cancelled under California Water Project - http://www.pcl.org/publications/8affordablewatersolutions.html 

(3) Legislators prefer to designate transgender restrooms, ban plastic bags at grocery stores, and prohibit pet dogs from chasing bears and bobcast - So?

(4) Naturally-rich environment, poorly run - http://blogs.edf.org/energyexchange/2015/06/09/cracking-the-code-on-californias-clean-tech-leadership/ 

(5) Some of the highest gasoline taxes, sales taxes, income taxes, and electricity prices - http://www.treehugger.com/slideshows/cars/11-electric-cars-under-27000-california/ http://www.teslamotors.com/en_CA/POWERWALL 

(6) Roads and public schools rate near the very bottom of US rankings - http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/2015-Infrastructure-Plan.pdf 

(7) Traffic accidents increased by 13 percent over a three-year period - https://www.google.com/selfdrivingcar/ 

(8) Almost half of all accidents in Los Angeles are hit-and-runs - https://www.google.com/selfdrivingcar/ 

(9) State is growing gov't, but can't pay for it; shorting the middle classes, increasing taxes, but providing shoddy services and infrastructure - http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/07/news/economy/california-tax-wealthy/ 

(10) Small business owners fleeing due to higher taxes and increased regulations - http://ipolitics.ca/2015/05/25/exploding-the-myth-of-the-wealthy-tax-refugee/ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-gibson/kansas-tax-cuts_b_5589663.html http://www.thinkncfirst.org/research/myth-busted-taxing-the-rich-will-chase-job-creators-away 

(11) Coastal wealthy vs interior poor - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/12/california-income-inequality_n_6673042.html 

(12) 1/3 of welfare recipients reside in California - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/06/california-prisons-colleges_n_1863101.html 

(13) 1/4 of Californians live below poverty line - http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/04/05/458148/california-spends-six-times-more-on-prison-inmates-than-on-college-students/ 

(14) California has the most billionaires - http://capitalandmain.com/latest-news/issues/labor-and-economy/wealth-tax-california/ 

(15) Some of the highest housing prices in the country and richest communities are clustered along the Pacific coastline; to wine country, Silicon Valley, Malibu, Hollywood, with coastal universities and zillionaire tech corporations - http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/05/28/playing-the-surge-in-california-real-estate/ 

(16) Contrast that to the interior that requires more public services. The rich don't mind paying the necessary higher taxes; shrinking middle class suffers or flees - http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2012/11/08/leaving-california-and-its-taxes-be-careful/2/ 

 

I would say there are some solutions already in action.  California has an opportunity to show real initiative and leadership towards solving these problems that will affect us all.  Good luck to them.

[milk and honey]

I saw a article blaming the government handling of this drought. I believe it was talking about how the government didn't take care of dams/made cuts to dams/something around this. 
 

Quite sad that in so called first world place with tons of billionaires and lots of poor people in the hood/ghetto/whatever you wanna call it. A simple resource that many of us take for granted is in danger and could be in danger to more of us.

Lets hope California gets a BC like winter full of rain .

[thejazz97]

I saw a article blaming the government handling of this drought. I believe it was talking about how the government didn't take care of dams/made cuts to dams/something around this. 
 

Quite sad that in so called first world place with tons of billionaires and lots of poor people in the hood/ghetto/whatever you wanna call it. A simple resource that many of us take for granted is in danger and could be in danger to more of us.

Lets hope California gets a BC like winter full of rain .

Wouldn't do much good if it over-saturates the ground.

[Kragar]

I saw a article blaming the government handling of this drought. I believe it was talking about how the government didn't take care of dams/made cuts to dams/something around this. 
 

Quite sad that in so called first world place with tons of billionaires and lots of poor people in the hood/ghetto/whatever you wanna call it. A simple resource that many of us take for granted is in danger and could be in danger to more of us.

Lets hope California gets a BC like winter full of rain .

California (mountains) needs snow.  We're supposed to get a butt-load of rain this winter, but if we don't get snow-pack, it won't do much to turn the tide on the drought.  Our lawns will be green for a few months, but that's about it if we can't find a way to prevent most of it from being run-off.

[Electro Rock]

Saved? No, because 50 years of progressive agenda.

[Jack Fig]

I saw a article blaming the government handling of this drought. I believe it was talking about how the government didn't take care of dams/made cuts to dams/something around this. 
 

Quite sad that in so called first world place with tons of billionaires and lots of poor people in the hood/ghetto/whatever you wanna call it. A simple resource that many of us take for granted is in danger and could be in danger to more of us.

Lets hope California gets a BC like winter full of rain .

Then they get the inevitable mudslides.

[Edlerberry]

bring back the governator

[Alflives]

Why not float a giant ice berg from the Antarctic and anchor it off the coast?  Then pump the fresh water it supplies.  Or screw me, and we become the new California, with great growing season!

[Offensive Threat]

Lets build massive fruit farms and house many millions of people in the desert. Nothing could go wrong.

[Offensive Threat]

Why not float a giant ice berg from the Antarctic and anchor it off the coast?  Then pump the fresh water it supplies.  Or screw me, and we become the new California, with great growing season!

A large scale desalination project would work but the state doesnt have the funds to build it. Desalination requires fairly vast amounts of energy to work on the scale they need. id suggest a few nuclear reactors to power each of them it but thats near a major fault line. Regardless they still cant afford it.

[Alflives]

A large scale desalination project would work but the state doesnt have the funds to build it. Desalination requires fairly vast amounts of energy to work on the scale they need. id suggest a few nuclear reactors to power each of them it but thats near a major fault line. Regardless they still cant afford it.

the ice berg is fresh water.  No desalting needed.  As it melts, you collect the fresh water

[taxi]

A large scale desalination project would work but the state doesnt have the funds to build it. Desalination requires fairly vast amounts of energy to work on the scale they need. id suggest a few nuclear reactors to power each of them it but thats near a major fault line. Regardless they still cant afford it.

Where there's a will there's a way. Desalination is getting cheaper all the time. The bigger issue is that Californians need to stop living like they have unlimited water. California was a desert to start with. Now that there's 40 million people there, it's time to be more responsible.

[Offensive Threat]

the ice berg is fresh water.  No desalting needed.  As it melts, you collect the fresh water

The idea of using icebergs has been around as long as there have been ships. A in-depth study in 1977 saw it as feasible from a cost/ability perspective but moving a 100 million cubic meter block of ice (estimated to be around the optimum size) from the Arctic into more temperate waters would cause environmental damage every step of the way. From causing their own weather patterns to devastating any marine ecosystem they pass through to massive desalination and water temperature reductions for hundreds of miles in every direction along the route.

 They would need to get around the 1959 Antarctic Treaty which was designed specifically to keep this type of damage from happening.

[Alflives]

The idea of using icebergs has been around as long as there have been ships. A in-depth study in 1977 saw it as feasible from a cost/ability perspective but moving a 100 million cubic meter block of ice (estimated to be around the optimum size) from the Arctic into more temperate waters would cause environmental damage every step of the way. From causing their own weather patterns to devastating any marine ecosystem they pass through to massive desalination and water temperature reductions for hundreds of miles in every direction along the route.

 They would need to get around the 1959 Antarctic Treaty which was designed specifically to keep this type of damage from happening.

okay, I was making this stuff up.  It's rather scary really, that the real science people thought of actually doing this.  There are some crazy people out there, with incredibly stupid ideas.  

[Ghostsof1915]

The sad thing is a lot of the issues California has matches us. More and more hit and runs, overpriced real estate, a huge gap between rich and poor. Lots of homeless people and people living at or below the poverty line. 

The differences are they have industry, and technology companies, and far less water. 

 

 

[riffraff]

http://youtu.be/rsMW3VSHAKg

[Amish Rake Fighter]

beavers save water and battle drought

 

 

http://www.google.ca/search?q=beavers+save+water+and+battle+drought&client=safari&rls=en&oe=UTF-8&gfe_rd=cr&gws_rd=cr&oq=beavers+save+water+and+battle+drought&gs_l=heirloom-serp.3...57141.57141.0.58479.1.1.0.0.0.0.120.120.0j1.1.0....0...1ac.1.34.heirloom-serp..1.0.0.Y0w-9j89oVU