Because it is one of the single biggest food producers in the US, and has an effective monopoly on many of our foodstuffs (notably many nuts and citrus fruits). Losing California's food production for any reason, including destruction by fire or drought, would cause massive problems in the US, possibly up to and including a depression or economic collapse.

This also gets to something I've never understood: why global warming is political. The science is objectively solid and the economic costs of not doing something are clear. I'll argue about the benefit and drawbacks of policies to address it all day long, but how is outright denial a thing?

Look, I'm not American, but why would they foresake a state because of the state's predominant Voting habits?

1 in 3 voted Republican, are they going to be thrown to the wolves because of the other 2 ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_ele...

I know Chris Christie is implicated in blocking traffic in New Jersey, but punishing a state is a whole different league.

because it is part of the United States of America, and inhabited by their fellow Americans.

If conservatives are this blithe about inflicting hardship against their fellow Americans, then they are traitors.

(I'm a conservative, BTW. Fuck this whole year, with a chainsaw. I'm supporting liberals because my views are being represented by utter scumbags.)

Does everything have to get back to partisan finger pointing?

Because it's by far bringing in the most cash for the government: http://www.lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/90

California should get by far the biggest say in everything because of this. Divide the electoral collage up by GDP instead of population and see what the colors look like.