A lot of these are stretches or remove nuance. I get the point they are trying to make, but it's a lot weaker than they think and undermined by their own "hero" example: painting cars in California

> A modern auto paint shop emits volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during primer, base coat, and clear coat application. The Bay Area AQMD makes permitting a new paint shop nearly impossible. This is THE classic example of what you can't do in CA.

Ah yes, the Bay Area, famously "all of California". And on top of that, the restrictions are mostly in highly populated areas.

Oh it's worse bullshit. Modern paint shops don't emit meaningful VOCs. Even in Texas, for example. Nobody's even making non voc compliant auto paint anymore because there is no market for it.

I can't speak to permitting but the coating and coating voc stuff I know quite well and what they state is simply bullshit.

I can also say I know of a bunch of auto paint places that opened in the mountain view surrounding area alone in the 10 years I lived there.

So I suspect it's all bullshit