Oil pumpjack, San Benito County. (Photo: Katy Grimes for California Globe)
California’s Oil and Gas Industry Provides $338 Billion Reasons to Support
Gov. Newsom is single handedly sending California into energy poverty, rather than economic and energy prosperity
By Katy Grimes, April 28, 2025 9:00 am
What a difference a presidential administration makes.
In “Welcome to Saudi America,” economist Stephen Moore writes, “Thanks to the fracking and horizontal drilling revolution, the U.S. has retaken the lead in global oil production. In 15 years, domestic oil production has roughly doubled. So much for running out of oil.”
Indeed. The U.S. has retaken the lead in global oil production, no thanks to California.
It’s such a stark contrast and gross negligence that California Governor Gavin Newsom isn’t going full steam ahead on California’s fracking and horizontal drilling – oil and gas extraction, which has been safely used in the US since 1947. “More than 17 million U.S. wells have been completed using the fracking process, producing more than seven billion barrels of oil and 600 trillion cubic feet of natural gas,” the Independent Petroleum Association of America states.
Instead, these are the unfavorable headlines on the status of California’s fracking and horizontal drilling:
Fracking and Dangerous Drilling in California: Briefing Book from the Center for Biological Diversity, a leftist environmental non-profit focused on population control and opposition to nuclear power under the guise of “climate change.”
Battle lines are drawn over oil drilling in California from CalMatters:
Drilling in California: Who’s at risk?, the NRDC reports. The Natural Resources Defense Council is one of the nation’s largest leftist environmentalist groups, which employs the “sue and settle” process, and has ties to the Chinese Communist Party, Influence Watch reports. “Members of staff within the NRDC’s Beijing office have either previously worked within the CCP or left the NRDC for a government position.”
Here is why:
California Governor Cracks Down On Fracking, Requires Audits and Scientific Review from NPR.
Newsom bans new California fracking permits starting in 2024.
Bad Timing: California Denies 21 Fracking Permits in Kern County, the Globe reported in 2021.
NPR reported in 2019:
In 2019, California Gov. Gavin Newsom imposed new regulations on hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, and curbed steam-injected oil drilling. extractive methods long opposed by environmentalists.
Under the new initiatives:
- New permits for fracking will be subject to independent scientific review by experts at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the permitting process will be audited by the state Department of Finance to study compliance with state law.
- A moratorium is imposed prohibiting new underground oil-extraction wells from using a high-pressure cyclic steaming process.
- New rules will be established to protect public safety “including prohibiting oil and gas activities within close proximity of homes, schools, hospitals, and parks.”
In 2021, Senators Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Monique Limon (D-Santa Barbara), introduced Senate Bill 467 to halt all hydraulic fracturing resource extraction. Under SB 467, new or renewed permits to conduct hydraulic fracturing, acid well stimulation treatment, steam flooding, water flooding, or cyclic steaming for the extraction of oil and gas would be prohibited beginning in January 2022. Gov. Newsom signed SB 467 into law in 2022.
Governor Newsom Takes Action to Phase Out Oil Extraction in California by 2024, Newsom announced.
Additionally, Governor Newsom requested that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) analyze pathways to phase out oil extraction across the state by no later than 2045.
“The climate crisis is real, and we continue to see the signs every day,” said Governor Newsom. “As we move to swiftly decarbonize our transportation sector and create a healthier future for our children, I’ve made it clear I don’t see a role for fracking in that future and, similarly, believe that California needs to move beyond oil.”
Under today’s directive, CalGEM will immediately initiate the rulemaking to halt the issuance of new hydraulic fracturing permits by 2024.
Groups Sue California’s Kern County for Fast-Tracking Over 40,000 New Oil and Gas Wells (2021), IndyBay reported:
“it was clear from the meeting that the Kern County Board of Supervisors is beholden to the Western States Petroleum Association, the largest corporate lobbying group in California, the California Independent Petroleum Association, and the oil companies. The Board rubber-stamped the ordinance because of the many millions of dollars the oil industry has spent in lobbying and campaign donations in Kern County and throughout the state.”
That’s some really unbiased reporting.
Remember Newsom’s climate grift:
Gov. Newsom signed a package of “sweeping legislation” in September 2022 to achieve statewide carbon neutrality as soon as possible, and no later than 2045, by establishing an 85% emissions reduction target, capping oil wells, slowing oil and gas permitting, making it impossible to increase refining capacity, and entirely phasing out oil and gas starting in two years.
That “sweeping set of laws” Newsom touted was 40 new climate change bills regulating California businesses and its people.
Kern County, California’s top oil producing county, dropped from 7th in the U.S. for oil production to 13th, ABC Bakersfield reported in 2023. “Kern County still remains the energy capital of California, but when it comes to moving down on the nationwide charts- the Western States Petroleum Association says that there are many factors that go into it.”
However, the organization says the biggest reason behind the drop are state regulations.”
“What it shows is that government policy and regulatory sort of bottlenecks that are likely purposely created have created that situation, where we are dropping in Kern County and state, wide, and production,” said Kevin Slagle, Vice President of Strategic Communications for the Western States Petroleum Association.
The State of California denies its involvement:
“23ABC reached out to the State of California and got this response from the Geologic Energy Management Division.
“Oil production in California has been in decline for more than three decades. CalGEM continues to issue more permits to permanently seal and close wells than any other activity. Last year, CalGEM permits to seal wells outnumbered all other permits by nearly two-to-one” said CalGEM.
However, the state also said:
“The state hasn’t implemented any regulations to force oil extraction or production out.”
As WSPA reports, A new report from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) Institute for Applied Economics – Oil and Gas in California: The Industry, its Economic Contribution and Major User Industries – was just released.
California’s oil and gas industry provides 536,770 total jobs in California and 148,140 Californians are directly employed by its individual companies—along with the $338 billion total economic contribution to California’s economy. Those numbers are something we all should feel proud of.
Oil and gas delivers $23 billion in annual wages and benefits to oil and gas workers in the Golden State, and $53.4 billion in wages to all workers supported by the industry
The headlines above tell an nearly opposite story than the jobs, economic impact, and California’s ability to be energy independent, as well as a primary exporter of oil and gas.
Skillfully flipping the script, Senator Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) has authored Senate Bill 13. Buckle up. The bill language says: the Energy Commission will monitor foreign countries that export oil to California and identify which of those countries have demonstrated human rights abuses, and which of those countries have lower environmental standards for the production of oil than California.
What a great bill.
However, it appears the Democrats are determined to kill it. The bill analysis says it will need to find “a better funding source.” SB 13 will be heard in Senate Appropriations today, and will likely be killed by Democrats.
Gavin Newsom’s deliberate targeting of the oil and gas industry with additional strict regulations and bills to kill it is death by a thousand cuts. With Chevron leaving the state, and Phillips 66 and Valero closing refineries, Newsom is single handedly sending California into energy poverty, rather than promoting economic and energy prosperity.
As I frequently remind the left, if you love your Birkenstocks, thank oil and gas. Here’s a partial list of the vast catalog of products and material goods made possible by oil and gas:
- Clothing, sandals, sneakers, umbrellas, sunglasses, nail polish, foam curlers;
- computers, calculators, telephones, ball point pens, copy machines, cameras;
- motorcycle helmets, life jackets, tires;
- pacifiers, baby bottles, diapers, crayons, car seats, laundry baskets;
- fishing poles, footballs, Frisbees, golf equipment and golf balls, soccer balls, shotgun shells, tents and sleeping bags, guitar strings;
- inhalers, first aid kits, heart valve replacements, hearing aids, prescription bottles;
- red solo cups, coffee pots, Teflon pans, freezer bags and containers, coasters;
- water pipes, smoke detectors, pillows, and even sofas;
- Birkenstocks;
- Camping and hiking gear and tents;
- Anything at REI, Anything at Camping World;
- Anything in a Prius – particularly the cushy seats;
- Running shoes;
- Dog leashes, frisbees, doggie poop bags;
- Bicycle helmets;
- Water pipes and red solo cups.
No one is immune from the lifestyle supported and supplied by oil, gas and petroleum.
ICYMI: After Battering Oil/Gas Industry, Gavin Newsom Wants California Oil Refineries to Stay Open. Gov. Newsom signed a package of ‘sweeping legislation’ in September 2022 to achieve statewide carbon neutrality
Hydrocarbon fuels are critical to our qualify of life and mobility: They are essential to the economy and our defense.
Trump must step-in now to temporarily nationalize the Phillips and Valero refineries before dismantling begins.
They tried that nationalization thing in Venezuela and Mexico. It hasn’t worked out very well in either case.
Actually working well in Mexico and I said temporarily for return to non governments ownership.
The critical matter is the “never to return infrastructure”. Paruse the Wilmington CA Phillips refinery; huge and expansive.
Similar to the Golden Gate Bridge. There’s not a US contractor who could replace it.
Solar and wind are ecological Disasters and produce little to no actual energy when you account for the energy used in producing the windmills and solar panels.
For now the best choice is Oil for mobile energy uses. In the future I hope we have nuclear producing the bulk of grid power.
Gov. Gavin “Hair-gel Hitler” Newsom and the criminal Democrat thug mafia that controls California have destroyed California’s energy independence in their quest to either force Californians into driving expensive EVs dependent on a fragile electric power grid or into riding dangerous public transit where criminals and mentally ill homeless are allowed to roam freely. Meanwhile they get chauffeured around in luxury vehicles paid for by taxpayers.
Republican Senator Shannon Grove’s Senate Bill 13 sounds like a brilliant idea to make the Energy Commission monitor foreign countries that export oil to California that have demonstrated human rights abuses and have lower environmental standards for the production of oil than California.
Newsom and the criminal Democrat thug mafia in the legislature will never allow her bill to pass because it goes against their globalist agenda of destroying the state’s economy?
With California Democrats insane obsession with “renewable” energy sources like wind and solar, more than likely California will end up with major power outages like what just happened in Spain and Portugal where they focused on accelerating renewable energy, didn’t upgrade the grid’s basic stability, and they closed coal and nuclear power plants. They achieved zero emissions, zero electricity, and provided zero explanations!
(https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/spain-hit-massive-really-massive-power-blackout)
If there is anyone left in California (or the U.S.) who doubts that Worst Governor Ever Gavin Newsom has declared full-on war on the People of California, here is the irrefutable proof.
It’s so completely odd, though, that this Worst Governor Ever, ambitious beyond any other U.S. politician for a cushy chair and a huge gold-framed full-length mirror in the Oval Office, would think for one second that this crap could ever ever play in the rest of the country.
Best of luck Newsom! Enjoy your liquor!
Gavin and his cronies are criminals. Global warming is a scam. The Earth’s climate is driven by the sun and water vapor. People who subscribe to Climate Change dogma are shallow, gullible fools. That said, a quick search with almost any search engine brings up a dozen incidents of aquifers poisoned by fracking.
Consider this developing fissure in Arizona (https://www.livescience.com/57663-giant-crack-opens-in-arizona-desert.html). While unrelated to fracking, it should still give us pause. The fissure is part of a network apparently being caused by the removal of ground water, causing deep voids into which the land is collapsing. Is this not what we are doing, much deeper in the Earth, on a much grander scale, with hydraulic fracturing? Won’t shattering ancient bedrock and pumping out the oil create huge voids and weaken surrounding rock in ways we can’t predict? How will this alter water tables, or change the flow of deep magma? Is it possible to destabilize fault lines with this technology, or create new ones? We don’t know.
The article states that fracking has been used safely for 47 years, but “safe” is a relative term. The truth is, fracking has never before been using as extensively as it has been in just the last few years. Are we setting the stage for a disaster?
Newsom, co- conspirators and their overlords know that in order to cripple an economy, oil and gas production must be destroyed. Gas and oil are foundational to a thriving economy!
Drill,Baby,Drill!
Bring back the pump jacks, send home the PlumpJack maniac.
LOL. I think that the “Plumpjack maniac” needs to start hanging out with the boys at the Y.M.C.A. and get a life instead of doing his silly podcast:
Y.M.C.A. lyrics courtesy of GROK3:
Verse 1
Young man, there’s no need to feel down
I said, young man, pick yourself off the ground
I said, young man, ’cause you’re in a new town
There’s no need to be unhappy
Verse 2
Young man, there’s a place you can go
I said, young man, when you’re short on your dough
You can stay there, and I’m sure you will find
Many ways to have a good time
Chorus
It’s fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.
It’s fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.
They have everything for young men to enjoy
You can hang out with all the boys
It’s fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.
It’s fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.
You can get yourself clean, you can have a good meal
You can do whatever you feel
Verse 3
Young man, are you listening to me?
I said, young man, what do you wanna be?
I said, young man, you can make real your dreams
But you got to know this one thing
Verse 4
No man does it all by himself
I said, young man, put your pride on the shelf
And just go there, to the Y.M.C.A.
I’m sure they can help you today
Chorus
It’s fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.
It’s fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.
They have everything for young men to enjoy
You can hang out with all the boys
It’s fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.
It’s fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.
You can get yourself clean, you can have a good meal
You can do whatever you feel
Verse 5
Young man, I was once in your shoes
I said, I was down and out with the blues
I felt no man cared if I were alive
I felt the whole world was so jive
Verse 6
That’s when someone came up to me
And said, young man, take a walk up the street
It’s a place there called the Y.M.C.A.
They can start you back on your way
Chorus
It’s fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.
It’s fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.
They have everything for young men to enjoy
You can hang out with all the boys
Y.M.C.A., it’s fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.
Young man, young man, there’s no need to feel down
Young man, young man, pick yourself off the ground
Outro
Y.M.C.A., and just go to the Y.M.C.A.
Young man, young man, I was once in your shoes
Young man, young man, I was down with the blues
Every Republican running for office in California should have a version of the debt clock on their websites showing the difference between the price of gas in California and the price in the other 49 states. Multiply the difference by 10 and you have the cost of voting for Democrats every time you buy 10 gallons of gas. Billboards up and down our highways would remind voters everyday what it costs them to vote for Democrats.