The energy crisis has cost individual companies, private citizens, municipalities and the state millions of dollars, with no end in sight as the lights remain dim and the thermostats set low throughout the beleaguered state. Almost as high as the monetary cost of the crisis has been its profound effect on the state's dignity, as well as on its citizens' morale. It isn't helping that California has become the butt of countless jokes on network TV, the Internet and around the water cooler.
Every day seems to unearth a new miniature crisis.
And every day seems to produce a new and dubious solution to the problem. And yet, no coherent plan has emerged. More people are more confused than ever over exactly what California is doing to resolve the crisis, much less what it needs to do. At one point, a staggering 190 bills had been introduced in the Legislature proposing partial fixes, but no single proposal seemed to offer a long-range solution. Unquestionably, the governor is in an unenviable position.