Will California be able to rebuild? The unintended consequences of blanket opposition to development.
In our blog, “No One Wants to Pay“, posted April 9, 2025, we discussed California’s major fire financial losses and suggested that it would be difficult to finance a recovery. Money is not the only problem. The California Environmental Quality Act, (CEQA), makes environmental protection a mandatory part of every California state and local agency’s decision-making process. CEQA has become the basis for anyone with a grievance against a project to file lawsuits to slow projects by years or kill projects by imposing delays and litigation costs that make the project infeasible.
Things may change and potential investors might want to watch for developments. To wit, there is a growing consensus, even among Democrats who dominate state government, that their beloved environmentalism is becoming a threat to not only all sorts of useful development, but even to their environmental-protection agenda.
As an aside and a tiny venture into politics, if Governor Newsom is seriously considering national office, there has to be some visible progress in California.
All comments and suggestions are welcome.
Walter J. Kirchberger, CFA
