‘Hero’ Gavin Newsom Stands Up to Big Oil in New Ad Campaign
Except Newsom needs Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jane Fonda to bolster cause
By Katy Grimes, March 29, 2024 2:39 am
California’s own “Hero,” Governor Gavin Newsom, has been recognized in a new series of ads attacking “Big Oil.”
“Governor Gavin Newsom Joins ‘Team of Heroes’ Standing Up to Big Oil in New Ad to KEEP THE LAW Protecting Neighborhoods from Toxic Drilling,” a press release from The Campaign for a Safe and Healthy California says.
“The Campaign for a Safe and Healthy California is a coalition of public health professionals, environmental justice groups, community and faith leaders, and youth joining together to stand up to Big Oil and make sure that no Californians have to endure health hazards from living just steps from dangerous oil wells.”
Those “Big Oil” jobs pay well and provide nice benefits enjoyed by many in the middle class.
What are they talking about? And who are “they?”
To get there we have to look at who paid for the ad:
“The Advocacy Action Fund raises and utilizes funds solely for social welfare purposes,” CauseIQ reports. “Founded in December 2021 with the goal of promoting social welfare, it did not provide grants or program services during that year.”
Interestingly, they have made grants to Reproductive Freedom for All, Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates Serving AK HI ID IN KY and WA, and Earthjustice. And these are large grants – $2 million, $1 million and $800K respectively.
But those grants are a drop in the bucket compared to their revenue in 2022 of $146,286,986.
But Wait! There’s More!
The Holdfast Trust was created by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, who donated Patagonia “to Fight Climate Crisis.”
PRNewswire has the rest of the story with notable celebrities left out of Gov. Newsom’s press release:
Friday, Governor Gavin Newsom and Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger exhibited a bipartisan show of strength in taking on Big Oil, joining community leaders and environmental activist Jane Fonda in working to KEEP the historic law (SB1137) preventing new toxic oil and gas drilling near schools, hospitals and neighborhoods.
Gov. Newsom claims:
“Big Oil is at it again – this time trying to undermine a landmark public health law I signed that would protect California neighborhoods from the effects of toxic drilling near places where people and their families live and play. I will continue to stand with front-line communities to make the oil industry play by the rules. Make no mistake, in November, we will KEEP THE LAW that finally forces Oil Companies to put our health before their greed,” said Governor Gavin Newsom.
Aha. It’s oil company “greed.”
As the Globe reported in February 2023:
…the bill Newsom signed is Senate Bill 1137, a gut-and-amend bill by Democrat Senators Lena Gonzalez and Monique Limón, to require 3,200-foot mandatory setbacks around California oil and gas wells.
According to Dave Noerr, the Mayor of Taft, CA and President and CEO of Huddleston Crane Service, the “lunacy” behind the bill stems from untrue claims frequently repeated by media, that “the fossil fuel industry contributes to public health harms that kill hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. each year and disproportionately endanger Black, Brown, Indigenous, and poor communities,” as LA City Council President Nury Martinez said when the City of Los Angeles was proposing a ban on all new oil and gas extraction, as well as phasing out all existing wells over the next twenty years.
The Globe asked in August 2022, “Why now when oil production has responsibly occurred in Los Angeles County and around the state for more than 100 years?”
Just in the City of Los Angeles:
- there are 26 oil and gas fields that intersect city boundaries, and 5,229 oil and gas wells, according to the CA DOGGR and verified by the City’s Petroleum Administrator.
- There are approximately 819 active, 296 idle, 3,181 plugged, and 933 buried wells.
- There are oil and gas facilities in nearly every section of the 503 square miles of the City.
- The City of Los Angeles produces 2% of California’s total production.
Requiring a 3,200 foot setback would impose a ban on all of Los Angeles’ oil wells, and drive up the cost of oil and gas in the state.
Even Elon Musk knows we need more oil and gas production. CNBC reported: “Realistically I think we need to use oil and gas in the short term, because otherwise civilization will crumble,” Musk said.
Notably, “Even Elon Musk knows 52% of his cars are plastic,” Noerr said.
PR Newswire reports, “‘KEEP THE LAW’ Campaign endorsers include public health groups, community and faith organizations, and environmental justice leaders from across California,” PR Newswire reports. But there is one problem – the campaign does not list who these public health groups, community and faith organizations, and environmental justice leaders actually are.
Expecting a list of endorsers, the link only takes you to their “Endorse Us” page.
They do link to Funding Details at www.fppc.ca.gov but it’s just the front page of the FPPC.
Searching the FPPC website for The Campaign for a Safe and Healthy California results in Advocacy Action Fund, Inc, and this:
Eric Schmidt and Wendy Schmidt.
Eric Schmidt is the former CEO of Google, and Wendy Schmidt is his wife. Forbes listed Eric Schmidt as the #5 richest of California’s billionaires in 2021.
Influence Watch reports:
As of 2023, Wendy was the president of the Schmidt Family Foundation, a private foundation that supplies grants to renewable energy projects, environmentalist organizations, and other climate change-related initiatives. 1
She was leading the foundation’s grantmaking program “the 11th Hour Project,” which distributes funds to environmentalist energy, conservationist, and healthy food initiatives. She was also in charge of Schmidt Marine Technology Partners, a fund for scientists and engineers dedicated to ocean ecology. 7
Eric Schmidt is connected to:
11th Hour Project (Non-profit):
Influence Watch reports: The Project focuses on three issue areas: reducing the consumption of conventional energy and transitioning to environmentalist sources, campaigning against commercial agriculture, and stimulating economic growth in developing countries using left-of-center approved methods instead of traditional mining, energy, and agriculture projects.
Alphabet (For-profit): FORMER EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN
Future Forward PAC (FF PAC) (Political Party/527):
Google (For-profit): FORMER EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN
New America (New America Foundation) (Non-profit):
Schmidt Family Foundation (Non-profit): DIRECTOR
Newsom’s fight with “Big Oil” is shameless given that in the United States, there are more than 20 million homes behind in energy bill payments. In California, energy poverty is real and pushes people further down into poverty. When people can’t pay their energy bills, the rest of us pay – but they never get ahead.
Dave Noerr told the Globe that it’s the green policies imposed by California, including surcharges, taxes and fees, that are causing the cost of energy to skyrocket – which is what the green energy proponents want. Banning oil fields would only greatly exacerbate the problem straight into a full crisis as we are seeing in real time in Europe.
This is being pushed by elites – billionaires, millionaires, globalists, leftists, China and the American left. The results will be devastating for the middle class – which is the goal.
Last year Rep. Kevin Kiley exposed Gov. Newsom’s scheme:
Rep. Kevin Kiley: Remember the Gas Tax Saga of 2022? With prices reaching $7 a gallon, Newsom and the Supermajority pulled out all the stops to kill my gas tax suspension bill. Now, there’s an epilogue to the story that’s even more absurd than any of the chapters. Facing public outrage over his opposition to my bill, last summer Newsom came up with a “tax refund” scheme that he billed as “inflation relief.” Conveniently, the branded debit cards landed in mailboxes at the same time as ballots. In recent weeks, 6.4 million Californians received another surprise in the mail: 1099 forms designating these tax “refunds” as taxable income. Meaning a chunk of the “gift” Newsom gave you out of the state treasury would now have to go back to the federal treasury.”
For those who have already filed their tax returns get ready to file an amended return, depending on what the IRS decides to do.
But Gov. Newsom just wants to “Protect Neighborhoods from Toxic Drilling” – even of that means the people are priced out of their autos, and forced onto public transportation.
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Newsom’s connection to the Getty family oil wealth is as transparent as looking through your living room window.
Wrecking-Ball Newsom a Hero? Alongside Backstabber Arnold and Looney-Toon-with-Daddy-Issues Jane Fonda? More like SUPER-HEROES! They’re taking on Big Oil! As if!
Really, it’s just incredible the lies these people tell. Turns out last year’s so-called “savior” gut-and-amend bill SB 1137 (now law), vaunted as an environmental protector of minority and poor communities, will produce the exact opposite result, and further impoverish those communities and likely wipe out the middle class for good measure. Bonus points plus cash left over for (falsely) burnishing Gavin Newsom’s name and green street cred on the national stage in service to his (denied) presidential campaign. Never mind the installation of a gushing cash faucet to provide millions and millions for Dem candidates this year. And all of it achieved through a duplicitous PAC —- with bored billionaires Eric Schmidt (former Google CEO) and wife Wendy at the helm, or rather at the bottom of it — which operates under cover of fighting for the environmental health and wellness of “vulnerable” populations.
Sooooo grateful (again) for Katy Grimes’ fine investigative report, without which I’m sure we wouldn’t have known the real story behind the obviously fake “heroes in our midst” story.
This is course conveniently timed to distract from the recent spike in gas prices. Gov. Hairdo is as slick as they come, I will give him that. But I do have one question? If oil and gas wells are so “dangerous to public health” why do people build their homes near them? This is like when people build a house next to an airport or the train tracks, complain about the noise, and then demand that the airport or train tracks be moved…the ones that where there BEFORE they built their house next door.
Or across the street from a high school track and field, ha ha.
Speaking of flattering names that don’t fit I just heard Fake Doctor Barbara Ferrer introduced as a “health care hero,” if you can believe it, when she showed up to pick up her “honorary degree” at social-justice-focused Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Willowbrook (L.A. County). Looks like the Dem/Marxists calling each other “heroes” is the big thing to do this election year.
Barbara Ferrer? Do you mean the Fake Doctor who has been paid over two million dollars of taxpayer money since the Covid scamdemic began? The Barbara Ferrer that looks better with a mask on than without one? THAT Barbara Ferrer?
Ha ha, YES, that one. Amazing isn’t it.
Californians need to stand up to big government, Newsom and the criminal Democrat mafia that controls the state who are taxing us to death?
One thing for sure is that Gavin is never short on B.S.
My wife and I both have family members that believe this phony horse hockey.
They go as far as saying, Newsom will tax Big Oil excessive profits and make it all right.
Can not talk to them, will not discuss or debate. This blatant propaganda is ruining California.
It’s like they are in a trance. Hypnotized. Not good. As you know.
Only Katy Grimes can shine the light on the shameless grifters of California and the frauds who fund them like Katy Grimes can. Thanks for doing this research, Katy. You ROCK!
YES!
Big Oil? Most of big oil has already left the state. Only Chevron remains. They are gradually moving their offices and personnel to Texas and moved their oil rigs off Santa Barbara to the the Gulf of Mexico decades ago. Their crude oil production has dropped from over 1.2 million barrels per day to under 300,000 bbls/day. Most of the branded gas stations you see on the street aren’t really big oil but branding agreements made with suppliers not even affiliated with big oil.
Maybe the price of oil would go down if Newsom didn’t use so much of it in his hair.