While Joe and others have valid points, their broad brushed view of what California represents demonstrates that they never
lived in or visited the Los Angeles basin in the mid 1950's when smog was so bad EVERY DAY from auto emissions and factory smokestacks
that your eyes would sting and water. A grey haze limited visibility to a quarter of a mile. Breathing the toxic air from poorly tuned
and primitive automobile engines caused headaches. Many industrial operations would dump toxic materials into public waterways.
Who hasn't ever heard of the Cuyahoga River in Ohio catching fire in 1969. Unregulated use of DDT nearly caused the extinction of
our national symbol, the bald eagle as well as other raptors. Environmental regulations were meant for and have enhanced the ability
of the majority of citizens to enjoy breathing clean air and drinking clean water. California led the way in those endeavors. Unfortunately,
the ultra liberal politics in California allowed the radical left to ramrod ever stringent regulation to the point where common sense became
the baby thrown out with the bathwater. And, yes, a lot of industry left the state due to the strangulation of forms, applications, fees,
obsessive oversight, litigation, etc. But I, for one, would never want to go back to the environmental free for all that once was.
Consider the parable of the motorcycle that is only original once. With 40 million people, the majority of whom live in 4 distinct
urban areas (LA, SF, SD and Sac) life would be chaos without the lubricating oil of social regulation. Folks who want to live their lives
free from excessive governmental oversight should head on up to Alaska, Montana, Wyoming where hardly anyone lives.