by 
Donald
Trump
is
unlikely
to
win
a
popularity
contest
or
an
election
in
America’s
deepest
blue
states.
But,
ironically,
his
administration
could
prove
a
long
term
boon
to
these
places,
where
self-imposed
policies
are
turning
them
into
the
caboose
of
American
progress.
To
be
sure,
politicians
in
declining
states
like
New
York,
California
and
Illinois
will
lament
anything
Trump
does,
including
many
needlessly
stupid
and
cruel
acts.
But
on
many
levels
the
Trump
regime
offers
the
blue
states
a
way
out
of
their
own
destructive
approach
which
has
chased
away
businesses
and
individuals
at
a
staggering
rate.
No
wonder,
then,
that
even
some
blue
state
Democrats
are
questioning
their
own
party’s
#Resistance
tactics.
Even
DOGE
and
Trump’s
assault
on
the
feds
is
less
a
problem
for
blue
states
than
many
red
ones.
Local
and
state
governments
in
New
York,
California,
Massachusetts
and
Colorado
are
far
less
dependent
on
transfers
from
Washington
than
deep
red
Arkansas,
Louisiana,
Kentucky,
West
Virginia
and
Alaska.
The
pain
may
be
greater
in
the
Appalachian
hollows
than
in
the
urban
centres.
Perhaps
the
biggest
Trump
influence,
though,
will
be
on
issues
like
climate
change
—
a
major
factor
in
blue
state
decline.
Wherever
Net
Zero
has
been
adopted,
it
has
raised
energy,
housing
and
building
costs.
We
already
see
some
backtracking
in
California,
where
nuclear
and
natural
gas
plants
are
being
kept
past
their
supposed
termination.
At
the
same
time,
Trump’s
removal
of
EPA
regulations
may
also
help
relieve
cost
pressures
too.
There
are
some
potential
opportunities
for
Massachusetts,
New
York
and
particularly
California
in
the
space
and
high-tech
defence
sector,
where
the
Trump
administration
has
encouraged
investment.
California
retains
the
strongest
array
of
space,
aerospace,
missile,
and
drone
companies,
which
should
thrive
under
Trump.
Meanwhile,
the
“defence
bros”
may
be
powerful
in
Texas,
but
leading
edge
firms,
such
as
Anduril
in
Orange
County
and
Palantir
in
blueish
Colorado,
also
could
be
big
beneficiaries
of
a
shift
to
tech-based
warfare.
Another
key
Trump
break
could
come
in
housing.
Trump
officials
are
looking
at
allowing
leases
for
housing
on
federal
lands.
The
federal
government
is the
nation’s
biggest
landowner,
holding
a
third
of
all
property
—
an
area
six
times
that
of
California.
In
Las
Vegas,
Phoenix,
Albuquerque,
and
other
metro
areas,
federal
lands
brush
up
against
the
suburban
periphery.
In
California,
the
federal
government
owns
roughly
half
of
all
state
land,
including
properties
on
flat
land
near
cities.
Considering
that
urbanisation
covers
only
5.3%
of
the
state’s
land,
Newsom
could
make
inroads
here
—
with
federal
assistance.
Read
the
rest
of
this
piece:
UnHerd.
Joel
Kotkin
is
the
author
of
The
Coming
of
Neo-Feudalism:
A
Warning
to
the
Global
Middle
Class.
He
is
the
Roger
Hobbs
Presidential
Fellow
in
Urban
Futures
at
Chapman
University
and
and
directs
the
Center
for
Demographics
and
Policy
there.
He
is
Senior
Research
Fellow
at
the
Civitas
Institute
at
the
University
of
Texas
in
Austin.
Learn
more
at
joelkotkin.com
and
follow
him
on
Twitter
@joelkotkin.
Photo:
California
Governor’s
office,
Public
Domain.
Go to Source
Author: Joel Kotkin
