Don's Tuesday Column

    THE WAY I SEE IT   by Don Polson   Red Bluff Daily News   5/07/2024

California, land of fruits and nuts

Here’s a “heads up” to mark your calendar: June 8 is the date for the annual Republican Red, White and Blue Dinner, themed “United We Stand.” Contact Lisa at 530-949-2761 for dinner info and reservations.

Seeing that the “P.A.T.H. Plaza Navigation Center Opens” gives this writer mixed feelings; folks should be willing to admit to preferring that our local, state and national economy and housing stock gives access and opportunity to anyone aspiring to self-sufficiency. The goals and vision, for apparently necessary transitional steps and shelter serving the homeless, should encompass such transitions.

While our world was never, in actuality, a “Leave it to Beaver,” “Father Knows Best,” or even a “My Three Sons” family series—due to the reality of family dysfunction, divorce, job loss, alcohol abuse, etc.—there remained certain givens. Education in the K-12 system did consistently turn out literate, math-capable young men and women yearning for jobs, higher education and/or careers.

Economic stability and growth, recessions aside, provided—and continues to provide—a “path” for those seeking opportunities for a fairly seamless, sometimes rocky, transition from home to post-school responsibilities. The services of the P.A.T.H. Navigation Center must aim to instill some of the life habits and skills that used to be a given for anyone leaving home and school to seek their future.

Just sayin’…that’s what’s needed. I’ll repeat the need for vetting and identification; criminals and druggies have no place but in jails or rehab. Perhaps Red Bluff can show Sacramento how it’s done.

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As our homeowner’s insurance is soon to be cancelled, like many North Staters are informed, the causes for such upsetting news are not obscure. It’s a California thing as insurers have pointed out: state-created wildfire conditions, regulated rates preventing business sustainability, and so on.

Hence, hope arose that “Allstate will insure California homes again under one condition” (mercurynews.com). The paywall prevented accessing the content but it appears Allstate’s solution involves regulators allowing insurance businesses to assess premiums based on the risks to policyholders’ homes in this state.

Translation: Insurance and “reinsurance” costs unique to CA will not be absorbed to the point of insolvency. You can’t force businesses to operate at a financial loss, similar to businesses in high-crime urban areas, unwilling to endlessly write off retail theft.

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An old pejorative said at California’s expense, “the land of fruits and nuts,” can’t be dismissed entirely as Tehama County reaps some abundance from fruits and nuts, regardless of the intent of the phrase. When it comes to the cruder use of “nuts,” meaning those detached from reality, we have “low hanging fruit,” ready examples of irrational, even ludicrous policies imposed by Sacramento Democrats.

Rather than accept the reality that Electric Vehicles have not a chance of being the vehicle of choice for anyone beyond the well-off urban elite happily accepting the many thousands of dollars of subsidies, and the per-vehicle financial losses approaching $100,000+ for Ford and other EV producers—Sacramento wants to impose electric locomotives on the American railroad industry. It’s regulatory insanity.

The “nuts” in state government have deluded themselves into thinking they can simply impose unrealistic big rig truck pollution standards requiring battery-powered tractors—the end result of allowing CA to implement automotive standards that other states must adhere to. Undeniable madness.

The “pixie dust” mentality over electric trucks, trains and cars defies facts or numbers; consider the “law of unintended consequences” over rooftop solar energy. In “California’s Exploding Rooftop Solar Cost Shift” (energyathass.wordpress.com), the rapid rise of CA electric costs is tied to the fact that “In 2024, residential PV (solar panels) will shift nearly $4 billion onto others’ bills, more than double the 2020 amount.”

Forget “greedy utilities” or “climate change-induced” wildfires. It’s simple math: Utility companies (PG&E, SoCalEdison, San Diego G&E) must purchase power from rooftop solar, even at a loss. They must still, however, maintain sufficient power generation for non-daylight usage.

Any shortages of revenue must be passed on to rate payers, meaning primarily those without the rooftop panels. “In 2014, the homes served by these three utilities got less than 2% of their electricity off their roofs. Today they get about 20%. As fewer kWhs are sold from the grid, retail rates must rise even more in order to recover the fixed costs of the system.”

More insanity: “California’s government school monopoly is imposing trans ideology on students and keeping it secret from parents. When the Chino Valley School District established a policy of notifying parents, Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the district, charging that the district ‘placed students in danger of imminent, irreparable harm from the consequences of forced disclosures,’ and so on.”

“Protect Kids of California Act of 2024” is seeking to qualify for the November ballot. As manipulative leftists frequently do, AG Bonta has misleadingly renamed it “Restrict Rights of Transgender Youth,” as if parents are an impediment to guiding vulnerable, confused children safely to healthy adulthood.

Next week: Some thoughts on the campus anarchy from my personal experience.