One thing is clear from this year’s election results: California will bet a big chunk of its economic future on alternative energy.

The resounding defeat of Proposition 23, which would have rolled back the Golden State’s cap-and-trade regime, came at the hands of a big coalition of venture capitalists, environmentalists and traditional business leaders bent on liberating the U.S. economy from imported oil.

That means California air regulators will move toward a cap-and-trade scheme that will increase costs for businesses across the Golden State.

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