Apple builds in Texas, not California

I mentioned this before.  But this article goes into one of the possible reasons.

Instead, the big news on the energy front has been the revolution in fossil fuels, thanks to hydraulic fracturing and other improved energy-exploration tools. This has produced huge new supplies of natural gas in a half-dozen states, sending its price tumbling and prompting major European firms like BASF and Royal Dutch Shell to move manufacturing to the U.S. — something that would have seemed unthinkable a few years ago.

But such European firms have no interest in manufacturing in California. It is simply not cost-competitive with many other areas in the U.S. — a fact the Apple decision underscores.

This should matter to Californians no matter their politics. Our economy needs middle-class jobs in general — and it desperately needs middle-class jobs for those without a college education. Manufacturing has long been a key source of such jobs. A 2009 study found manufacturing jobs paid 70 percent better that nonfarm jobs in California.