The Weight ofCalifornia.

In 2008, California voters approved $9.9B in bonds for a high-speed rail system connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco. The original estimate was $33B.

It’s now $128B.

Track laid: 0 miles of high-speed rail.

Nearly two decades later, the project has consumed over $18 billion in taxpayer funds with construction limited to a segment of the Central Valley. No high-speed trains run anywhere in California. The federal government has clawed back $3.5 billion in funding.

California’s wildfire crisis has become a permanent feature of life in the state. The 2020 fire season alone burned 4.2 million acres—an area larger than Connecticut.

In January 2025, the Palisades and Eaton fires tore through Los Angeles, destroying over 16,000 structures and killing 28 people. The combined insured losses are expected to exceed $45 billion, making them the costliest natural disaster in California history.

Behind the flames lies a pattern: California consistently allocates fire prevention budgets it never fully spends. The gap between what is budgeted for fuel management, defensible-space enforcement, and forest thinning and what actually gets deployed averages 40%.

Californians pay more for energy than nearly every other state in the nation. Gas prices carry a $1.80/gallon premium over the national average—driven by the highest gas taxes in the country, cap-and-trade costs, and a shrinking refinery base.

Electricity rates have surged to 112% above the US average, even as the state leads the nation in renewable energy adoption. Three major refineries are closing or converting by 2026, removing 420,000 barrels/day of capacity and tightening supply further.

The energy cost burden falls hardest on lower-income Californians and the Central Valley, where extreme heat makes air conditioning a necessity and long commutes make gas prices a kitchen-table issue.