NOW THEY’VE GONE TOO FAR: California Law Threatens to Help Drive Up Bacon Prices.

Wholesale prices for pork belly—the cut of meat used to make bacon—have surged this summer, nearly tripling since the start of June after hitting a multiyear low in May. Pork-belly prices were at $2.15 a pound on Wednesday, just shy of their highest level since last August. The run-up could soon pressure restaurants and supermarkets that had been stepping up bacon promotions.

“They’re probably thinking twice about featuring a new bacon cheeseburger, bacon chicken sandwich or Baconator, or whatever,” said Brian Earnest, lead economist for animal protein with agricultural lender CoBank.

Helping drive the price surge is an animal-welfare law in California requiring pigs to be given at least 24 square feet of pen space for their meat to be sold in the state, which accounts for roughly 15% of U.S. pork consumption. After facing years of legal challenges, Proposition 12 was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in May and went into effect July 1.

But there’s some potential good news: “How bacon prices change in coming months as a result of Prop 12 is still to be determined. Most of the pork produced in the U.S. isn’t currently compliant with the law, and some suppliers might opt to stop selling in California rather than change their practices. That could drive up retail prices in the state, while pushing them down in the rest of the country where supply would increase, analysts say.”

Good. Let Californians pay for their own laws.