Oregoners: How One State Chased Away Businesses and People

For decades Oregon welcomed thousands of newcomers every year, lured by the state’s chill lifestyle and breathtaking beauty. Now the state is better known for less attractive traits. In “Oregoners: How One State Chased Away Businesses and People,” Dennis Kneale reveals how progressive zealotry turned a Pacific Northwest paradise into a place of misery, misfires, and occasional malfeasance. Kneale, author of “The Leadership Genius of Elon Musk,” writes: “Oregon—and especially its signature city, Portland—is at a crossroads. Once a model of livability and economic vitality, the state now faces a steady erosion in quality of life. Homelessness has surged. Drug addiction and untreated mental illness are widespread. Schools are underperforming. Crime is rising. Businesses and high earners are leaving. Population growth is slowing.”“Many of these challenges are not accidental. They are the predictable result of policies that, critics argue, reward dysfunction, discourage enterprise, and operate with little accountability for outcome.”“Yet Oregon, because of its attachment to climate dogma, faces an energy shortage so severe that rolling blackouts and skyrocketing rates seem likely…the Pacific Northwest faces an annual shortfall of nine gigawatts within five years—roughly the amount of electricity Oregon uses in a full year.”Two-thirds of Oregon voters say the state’s economy is on the wrong track, wages are likely to decline or stagnate, and they would have a tough time finding a comparable job. More than half would consider leaving the state. Oregon is a canary in the coalmine for other blue states. It doesn’t have to be this way.A rebellion is at hand, aimed at healing the self-inflicted wounds created by well-intended policies that backfired badly. ‘Oregoners’ offers a cautionary tale—and a prescription for the state’s comeback. Read more