Newsom passes on gas – American Thinker

At City Journal, Joel Kotkin observes the fate of Colorado, Oregon, and Washington, formerly beautiful and prosperous states until they began to slavishly follow the California model in energy, housing, and out-of-control regulation.

But that changed as these states began adopting the very policies—above all on energy, housing, and regulation—that many newcomers had fled from in California. Once politically purple, Colorado, Washington, and Oregon have turned solid blue, embracing the same agenda that even the New York Times concedes has turned “the California dream” into “a mirage.”

More like a nightmare. Gavin Newsom’s one, indisputable achievement as a California politician has been to make every aspect of California life measurably worse. Running for president, Newsom has nonsensically suggested he’ll bring the glories he’s imposed on Californians to the rest of America. Should he succeed, there will be nowhere left to run, no red, free states to which to flee his brand of socialism. And there won’t be any gas to help Americans run:

Graphic: Oil refinery in Martinez, California. Wikimedia Commons. CC4 International.

California gas prices could jump to $8 per gallon in 2026 thanks to the planned closure of two oil refineries in the state, according to an estimate by the University of Southern California.

Valero’s Benicia Refinery near San Francisco and Phillips 66’s Wilmington Refinery near Los Angeles are both slated to close in the coming year.

In explaining the company’s decision to close its Benicia refinery, Valero CEO Lane Riggs said on an earnings call that California’s tough “regulatory enforcement environment” was the main factor driving the closure of the state’s sixth-largest refinery.

The April announcement came six months after regional and state air regulators fined the company $82 million for exceeding toxic emissions standards for more than 15 years.

That will be $160 dollars to fill a 20-gallon tank. So of course, Newsom is blaming the oil companies:

California Governor Gavin Newsom, for his part, has blamed fossil fuel companies for the state’s high gas prices, saying the firms have been price gouging for a long time. “They’re screwing you,” Newsom said in October. “They’ve been screwing you for years and years and years. There’s no other way to put it.”

Actually, there is another way to put it:

[USC Marshall School of Business Professor Michael] Mische disputes Newsom’s claims, finding in his recent research that the state’s high gas prices are “self-inflicted.” His study of 50 years of gas prices found no widespread evidence of price gouging, either by gas station owners or refiners or oil producers in the state.

“It is [apparent] that policymakers are trying to use regulations, taxes, and fees to drive up the costs of gasoline and force California consumers into EVs,” he told NR.

The 2035 mandate banning the sale of gas-powered cars “created the coffin” for refiners, and then a series of regulatory actions afterwards, including a requirement that refiners must maintain an inventory of gasoline stock and report to a Department of Petroleum Market Oversight, were the final nails in the coffin, Mische said.

“I think the refiners have just been throwing their hands up in the air and saying if we’re out of here in 2035, we might as well get out of here now, there’s no use putting hundreds of millions of dollars into this.”

The California Conversation points out more of the truth, which isn’t anything emanating from Newsom:

• In the 1980s there were around 50 CA oil refineries. Today, only 14.
• In 1992 CA mandated special and costly gas formulations to fight smog.
• The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 imposed all manner of new costs in pursuit of greenie purity.
• In 2011 CA implemented Low Carbon Fuel Standards, which dramatically increased costs and added regulations to refiners.

And in 2024:

Just last year, California introduced new refinery inventory mandates. These mandates require oil refiners to maintain minimum fuel stockpiles, aiming to prevent price volatility and protect consumers from sudden price spikes.

All of these mandates, including California’s lunatic electric vehicle mandates due to eliminate gas-powered vehicles by 2035, have done enormous damage. Despite the market rejecting EVs, Newsom was intent on keeping that mandate until the US Senate struck down California’s ability to set its own emission standards and affect those of other states.

With the imminent closure of two more refineries, California will lose 21% of its capacity. Even in the fantasy-fueled home of groomer Disney, economic reality eventually catches up.

Become a subscriber and get our weekly, Friday newsletter with unique content from our editors. These essays alone are worth the cost of the subscription.

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.