Is California Driving Oil Biz Out of State to Takeover Oil Refineries?

California has highest-in-the-nation gas prices and the highest energy costs, which have increased 50% since 2019 according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office. The blame for the 50% increase in energy costs according to the LAO is California’s “ambitious climate‑related goals,” “intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation and help the state meet its larger climate goals.” This severely affects electricity prices.

And now, with California oil refineries starting their transition to the state’s mandated “summer blend fuel,” the state’s gas prices are going up – again.

The price at the gas pump in the past few weeks has gone up significantly. I just paid $116 to fill up my tank.

Nationwide, the average price for a gallon of gas is $3.16 – in California it’s $4.85 per gallon, and as high as $5.81 per gallon.

In Mississippi, the average price for a gallon of gas is $2.67 – almost half of California’s price.

In January, the Globe reported California’s average cost for a gallon of gas was $4.357.

“Oil is more than just gas stations,” Hector Barajas reported at the Globe in January. “It powers transportation, fuels manufacturing, supports agriculture, and keeps supply chains running smoothly. It’s found in nearly every product we use, from the food on our tables to the clothes we wear.”

“When oil prices increase, those rising costs ripple through every sector of our economy, leaving the public to foot the bill.”

Instead of making life more affordable for Californians by producing more of our own energy, and using our own resources to bring down costs and build a more affordable future for everyone, California’s lawmakers continue to push for unrealistic “green energy” mandates. They restrict our car choices, and force many people summer and winter to live uncomfortably because of high heating and cooling costs.

“President Trump’s policies could threaten many big green energy projects in the coming years,” the New York Times reports Tuesday, never acknowledging that big green energy projects are as big of a boondoggle as California’s 16-year old High Speed Rail project.

The NY Times acknowledges that the November 2024 election has already dealt a big blow to an ambitious California effort to replace thousands of diesel-fueled trucks with battery-powered semi trucks.

At the same time, the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) is currently hosting an event billed as an effort to “re-lay the foundations of civilization.”

President Donald Trump’s U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright spoke at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference in London, referred to by the leftist desmog.com as “a right-wing forum run by fierce opponents of climate policies.”

They claim as if it’s a bad thing that Secretary Wright has vowed to “get out of the way” of coal, oil and gas, and called the UK’s 2050 net zero target “a sinister goal” that would “impoverish” people.

He also downplayed the threat from extreme weather, and suggested that climate action is part of a plot to “grow government power” and “shrink human freedom.”

How refreshing. Secretary Wright promised that his first order of business will be to make energy affordable, reliable and secure for all Americans first.

“China and India are about as committed to Net Zero as Britain is to investigating the grooming gangs!” said Sir Paul Marshall, comparing UK energy policy to economic suicide.

The ARC conference includes speeches by Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, Speaker of the US House Mike Johnson, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, and Canadian psychologist and ARC founder Jordan Peterson.

The timing of this conference is significant. In August I reported that just as Chevron Oil company announced it would move its headquarters to Houston Texas from San Ramon California, California Energy Commission regulators announced proposed government controls of the petroleum industry, ostensibly in order to combat future energy price surges, according to a report released August 1, 2024 by the CEC.

Gov. Newsom threatened to call a special session if lawmakers didn’t pass his Venezuela-Like price controls proposal of the oil and gas industry – unless lawmakers passed his latest proposal to control California’s petroleum industry.

Here it is February, and once again, there are news stories that the CEC is more aggressively proposing the takeover of the California’s refineries. The Los Angeles Times reports:

“Russia. China. Venezuela. Iran. More than a dozen countries make gasoline at state-owned refineries.

Could California be next on the list?”

The LA Times is acknowledging that California policymakers are considering state ownership of one or more oil refineries, as if this is a good idea. The state can’t even build a high speed rail system – what makes anyone in government think taking over the oil and gas refineries is a reasonable plan?

The Western States Petroleum Association explained how devastating Newsom’s proposal would be:

“There are bad regulations, and then there are regulations so detrimental that industry experts, the California Energy Commission, and anyone with a basic understanding of economics can clearly see the harm they will cause consumers. Governor Newsom’s refinery supply mandate will create artificial shortages of fuel in California, Arizona and Nevada by forcing refiners to withhold fuels from the market. Lawmakers who vote for this mandate will be voting to increase gas costs for their constituents.”

And now with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin sending California’s vehicle emissions waiver request to Congress for review, which pretty much kills California Governor Gavin Newsom’s ban on gas-powered vehicles, common sense may be forced on California.

As the NYTimes reports, California’s effort to replace thousands of diesel-fueled trucks with battery-powered semis “sputters under Trump.”

“The California plan, which has been closely watched by other states and countries, was meant to take a big leap forward last year, with a requirement that some of the more than 30,000 trucks that move cargo in and out of ports start using semis that don’t emit carbon dioxide.

But after Mr. Trump was elected, California regulators withdrew their plan, which required a federal waiver that the new administration, which is closely aligned with the oil industry, would most likely have rejected. That leaves the state unable to force trucking businesses to clean up their fleets. It was a big setback for the state, which has long been allowed to have tailpipe emission rules that are stricter than federal standards because of California’s infamous smog.”

Apparently Trump’s plan also hurts China’s efforts to help force the U.S. into electric trucks and autos. The NYT reports:

“Lower prices for electric trucks will also help. Wen Han started an electric truck company, Windrose Technology, in 2022 in China. He aims to start selling his vehicles in the United States this year for around $250,000 — well below the cost of those sold by more established manufacturers. He said he could make money at that price, even with U.S. tariffs, which are 40 percent for the truck Windrose makes, because of his low manufacturing costs.

“Our job is to make diesel trucks obsolete,” he said, “and that happens with or without any sort of subsidies.”

At least he said the quiet part aloud.

“State officials have long considered the rules essential to cleaning up California’s severe air pollution and combating climate change,” CalMatters reported, obviously upset about the federal waiver forcing big rigs to go all-electric being dropped.

As the Globe asked, “Where is California’s severe air pollution? Who in California is experiencing climate change?”

It’s probably more important to listen to those in the trucking industry than a reporter paid to write “about the impacts of climate change and air pollution and California’s policies to tackle them.”

Expect many changes courtesy of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Department of Energy  – and to trickle down to California so that the state is no longer living under self-imposed energy scarcity and exorbitant costs to heat and cool homes, or put gas in the car.