Tit for Tat
California, being one of the most important states in the U.S., has another issue to deal with after we just discussed their climate issues. The progressive state is known to be tight when it comes to climate change and we’ve already witnessed this with their recent electric vehicle bill that will ban gas cars by 2035. Obviously, this isn’t enough to slow down climate change, but California is racing to be the leader of renewable energy – not just in the U.S. but the world too. It’s likely they believe in the idea that they can become the example for the rest of the states, but they’re going to have to deal with the latest problems as well.
One of these comes with their plans on offshore wind projects, which seem like an amazing idea due to the amount of energy they can harness. However, they have many hurdles to clear in order to implement this, one of them being the people and businesses of California. Funnily enough, it has nothing to do with taxes or anything of that matter, but the economy is involved. Commercial fishing companies are worried that the projects would interfere with their businesses, and this is a great point considering the Californian government needs to share the coast with fishing boats among other entities. To execute this, ports will need to be expanded and cables must be placed underwater to help produce energy and allow for all this activity to occur. Fishers argue they will lose access to rich fishing areas due to the cables, and with increased investment comes increased property prices that would hurt businesses even more. Environmentalists also have their concerns as infrastructure around aquatic areas could hurt ecosystems and wildlife like sea turtles and sharks, but it’s fair to argue environmental impacts are a net benefit. These projects will power more than 1.5 million homes and get California to be fully powered by zero-emission energy by 2045. If the world is really going to transition to renewables, California’s economy will look amazing in the next few years.
I am not a financial advisor and my comments should never be taken as financial advice. Investments come with risk, so always do your research and analysis beforehand.
