Gov. Newsom’s Demand for Federal Probe Into Natural Gas Prices a Deflection From Failing Policies

As California Governor Gavin Newsom demands a federal probe into escalating natural gas prices, he really wants to direct your attention toward his concern for the little guy, while he deflects his already signed laws and orders bumping off the state’s oil and gas industry – all in the name of “climate change.”

“As millions of California families experience soaring gas utility bills, Governor Gavin Newsom took action today urging the federal government to investigate the recent price spike affecting the Western U.S. and highlighted the state’s action to provide relief to Californians,” the country’s most compassionate governor said Monday in a press statement titled, “Governor Newsom Calls for Federal Investigation of High Natural Gas Prices As California Provides Relief.”

Newsom “took action” by writing a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, requesting that the agency “immediately focus its investigatory resources on assessing whether market manipulation, anticompetitive behavior, or other anomalous activities are driving these ongoing elevated prices in the western gas markets.”

NaturalGasIntel.com explains The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission does regulate the transmission of natural gas on interstate pipelines. It also reviews proposals to build liquefied natural gas terminals and interstate natural gas pipelines. Hmmm. What pipelines?

Newsom’s “relief” is a “California Climate Credit,” distributed twice a year, in April and October. Most residents receive a natural gas credit in April, and electric credits in April and October. For 2023, the Commission has accelerated the distribution of the residential spring electric and natural gas California Climate Credits, the California Public Utilities Commission reported. “The California Climate Credit is part of California’s efforts to fight climate change.”

Indeed, California natural gas prices are soaring, but in such a heavily regulated industry, it’s a supply and demand issue. The significantly colder temperatures this winter have caused natural gas prices to escalate with the increased demand, but no increased production.

My climate credit will be $38 and $52 against my $696 PG&E bill. You can check your climate credit HERE.

Gov. Newsom left out his important role in escalating natural gas prices in California.

In October 2022, Gov. Newsom addressed the $2.50 difference between California’s highest-in-the-nation gas prices, over $7.00 in some California locations, and the rest of the country in a video. “This degree of divergence from the national prices has never happened before. And oil companies? They provide no explanation. The fact is, they’re ripping you off,” he said. “Their record profits are coming at your expense.”

Newsom left out of his video the part where in 2021 he largely killed hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in California as part of his overall plan to end oil extraction. He also announced his action to halt issuance of fracking permits by 2024.

Gov. Newsom also 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 touts is 40 new climate change bills regulating California businesses and its people. And that’s just the start.

In addition to California’s gas taxes, state regulations create a more demanding and exacting process on oil and gas as well. And the governor and Legislature ramp these up annually.

During Gavin Newsom’s first year in office, the Trump administration Bureau of Land Management finalized plans to open 800,000 acres of federal land in Central California to oil and gas leasing, primarily located in Fresno, Monterey and San Benito counties. This would have allowed oil and gas drilling to move forward in Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Merced, Monterey, San Benito, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Stanislaus Counties, according to a report by the Bureau of Land Management.

This caused environmentalists’ and Democrats’ heads to explode. “California won’t stand idly by while the Trump Administration pushes forward a project that endangers our communities and natural resources,” then-Attorney General Xavier Becerra said.

Just ahead of the BLM announcement, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the firing of California’s top oil regulator after environmental activists reported a recent spike in state fracking permits and allegations that senior officials within the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources own stock in petroleum companies they oversee,” Bakersfield.com reported.

“The Western States Petroleum Association, one of California’s leading oil trade groups, attributed the surge in fracking permits to the resolution of a bottleneck in the approval process.” Bakersfield.com has extensive detail about this.

California sued the Trump administration in 2020, with Attorney General Xavier Becerra calling the Bureau of Land Management plan “half-baked” and “misguided.” Becerra said the plan conflicts with California policy of reducing emissions of planet- warming gases 40% by 2030, KQED reported.

The overall goal of Newsom’s “sweeping” climate change package is “Achieving net zero GHG emissions” in the state, and to Newsom and his acolytes, that means outlawing oil and gas. So pretty much everything we use in modern society needs to be upended, overhauled, and restricted, according to the Gov. Newsom and the burgeoning industry of climate change hustlers.

The California Legislature had a chance to halt increasing California gas tax increases in 2022, but they didn’t. In March 2022, the Assembly Transportation Committee was set to hear AB 1638 by then-Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, to suspend California’s .51 cent gas tax (CA gas tax is now .54 cents). Kiley noted that Maryland and Georgia had just reduced their gas taxes, and the people of those states saw immediate results. He said rebates are a good idea, especially with a substantial state surplus, and should be much larger, returning to overtaxed tax payers more of their own money.

Kiley’s bill was hijacked by Democrats who passed amendments to gut the bill so they could not be accused of voting for the gas tax increase.

In June Kiley Tweeted this prophetic statement: “Democrat Legislators have written a strongly worded letter demanding an investigation into the ‘real’ causes of high gas prices. This is not satire.”

So Gov. Newsom is taking a page out of the Democrats’ playbook and sent his own “strongly worded letter” demanding an investigation into the “real” causes of high natural gas prices – knowing nothing will come of it other than a lot of “harrumph, harrumph, harrumphs.”

Remember, when he signed his “sweeping set” of 40 new climate change bills, Newsom said, “We’re not interested in investing in the industries that have created the problems that we’re trying to mitigate.” Newsom was referring to the oil, natural gas, agriculture, and auto industries, or “polluters” as Gov. Newsom and climate change grifters would have you believe.

Gov. Newsom has already issued draconian directives to the California Air Resources Board to ban gas-powered cars and trucks, shutdown oil and gas production and limit how Californians travel… and how we heat our homes in chilly weather.