truly amazing video

[mac]

Easy to find, is Forbes good enough?

Go back just a few years. California was a fiscal mess. It was in the midst of losing almost 40% of its construction jobs and 12% of its real estate jobs after the housing market collapsed (and before that, the dot-com bubble burst). Most of the state’s labor market was in awful shape.

But not anymore. At long last, California is casting off its label as a job-producing laggard.

[mrgybe]

Some do become confused between improvement and absolute performance. A sprinter can improve his 20 second 100 meter time by 25%........but he still lags way behind Usain Bolt who only improved by a fraction of 1 percent. To suggest that California has "the most robust economy in the country, if not the world" is patent nonsense. It is not even in the running. It has merely improved from poor to middling.

As for the impact of alternate energy efforts on California's economy, those efforts are so small relative to the total economy, that the impact is likely minimal. The linked source indicates that carbon based energy provides 75% of CA's needs; wind/ solar/ geothermal about 3%. It is interesting to note, however, that CA's electricity costs are 5th in the U.S.. There may be a connection there.
http://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=CA

[GURGLETROUSERS]

But percentages of CO2 production in your country are not actual amounts, are they. World figures I saw (actual amount of CO2 pollution) a couple of years ago (published, but didn't keep them for future reference) showed your country, and China, to be the largest CO2 polluters in the world. For comparison in percentages, Britain only produces 2% of the worlds CO2 output.

Aircraft may appear to be only a small part of the problem compared to gas guzzling cars, but if anybody is trying to claim that jet aircraft constantly flying and polluting the upper atmosphere are not a problem, they are in denial.

[mac]

GT--I worked in the airport business, and I don't think airlines are an efficient form of transportation. But I have seen no studies that showed high level pollution leading to climate threats, and the numbers of flights are only now rebounding to near thre 2008 levels. Indeed, from my 20 plus years, the increasing cost of fuel and inconvenience of air security has dampened demand significantly.

Why am I not surprised that mrgybe doesn't suggest a metric--but waits for the one I used and then attacks. I stand on my quotation--the most non-farm jobs added of any state. Despite higher fuel prices and higher real estate prices. I've expected the higher real estate prices would slow California's growth for decades--and I've been wrong. And those costs are far more significant to a family budget than the small increment in electricity prices. Anyone might well object that current job growth is only one metric. Agreed--but a pretty significant one in a recovering job market. We could also use recovery in real estate values, which would support my argument as well. The point remains, efforts to lower emissions, which have been highly successful in California, have had almost no effect on the overall economy. Deregulation of energy prices (have we forgotten ENRON?) and the financial markets, cornerstones of Republican orthodoxy, have had devastating impacts.

Isn't it time to shout "Benghazi" or "Al Sharpton" or "budget deficit" to try to get the hard core to salivate like Pavlov's dog.

[mrgybe]

4th highest unemployment rate in the country. Only marginally below the worst, Mississippi.

[isobars]

Oh, but Gov Moonbeam still supports his absolutely asinine high-speed toy railroad nobody will use.

[mac]

Oh, hurt me, compare us to Mississippi. I agree that unemployment is a valid metric. Of course California's is now dropping rapidly--11.3 in 2009, 10.4 in 2012 and 7.2 in 2014. Not sure that is with or without the last quarter jobs added. Higher than Texas at 6 something--but then you really need to factor in cost of living and average wage to get a meaningful comparison. That would involve an adult conversation, not a justification and attempt to divert from the fact that net energy use--and thus cost--is way lower in California. Less than half of Texas. But then fighting climate change is a job killer says...

[coboardhead]

California is number 2. Colorado is number 1.

http://milehighyp.com/news/colorado-is-the-top-economy-in-the-nation

[MalibuGuru]

I just got back from my 3rd trip to Maui in 3 months. (my contribution to GW) It was so cold over their I contemplated buying a heater. The mountain tops were closed due to snow and ice.

I think we should all do our part and fly away.....

[MalibuGuru]