Well that's the whole problem isn't it?
replyIt's not like the laws are simply "you can't make semiconductors here". The laws ban the harmful externalities of the process. The companies that want to make semiconductors don't want to find a way to make the processes less harmful: it's cheaper and easier to just go somewhere where they can pollute instead.
In many cases, California’s environmental regulations don’t make an earnest attempt to permit safe ways to do things.
replyAnd in all cases, those industries make no earnest attempt to develop safe ways to do things instead of simply doing it where it doesn't matter.
reply[Citation needed]
replyA sibling comment a few levels up provided it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47160514
replyGot anything from the last 50 years?
replyThere's a large middle ground between "Build absolutely nothing anywhere near anyone" and letting blatant polluters turn your neighborhood into a Superfund site. California solved the latter problem by going too far in the other direction.
When an industry leaves this many superfund sites in an area, that industry can expect some regulatory blowback from that area.
replyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Superfund_sites_in_Cal...
https://www.epa.gov/superfund/search-superfund-sites-where-y...