California chose ‘sustainability’ over gas – Latest News
The final oil tanker carrying crude from the Persian Gulf (Iraq) is unloading in Long Beach, California. This successfully marks the tip of Middle East oil imports to the state, at the least for now.
We need to exchange roughly 200,000 barrels per day.
We will not be operating dry — not but.
California has petroleum stockpiles and may pivot to different sources like Brazil, Ecuador, Guyana, Canada, and elevated U.S. home crude.
The final oil tanker carrying crude from the Persian Gulf (Iraq) is unloading in Long Beach, California. This successfully marks the tip of Middle East oil imports to the state, at the least for now. Los Angeles Times through Getty Images
Yet the scramble itself exposes a deeper rot: state-level selections have made California uniquely weak to provide shocks like the present Middle East disruptions.
Geography doesn’t help. California is an “energy island,” with very restricted pipelines from different U.S. areas, forcing tanker imports, sometimes going via the Panama Canal.
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The Trump administration has tried to help. The president suspended Jones Act necessities, briefly permitting non-U.S.-flagged tankers to deal with port-to-port shipments, from East Coast and Gulf refineries to California, easing the rapid crunch. (Democrats opposed the transfer, clinging to the century-old law’s job protectionism whilst Californians confronted spiking gas costs.)
But California’s power provide is in hassle. And that’s as a result of of long-term coverage selections our state has made to limit the native oil and gas industry.
Several state administrations contributed to the issue, however the heaviest regulation occurred underneath Governor Gavin Newsom.
Several state administrations contributed to the issue, however the heaviest regulation occurred underneath Governor Gavin Newsom. Getty Images
In-state oil manufacturing has plummeted from peaks within the Eighties, when California pumped a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of barrels yearly, to a lot decrease ranges at this time. The state now imports 60-75% of its crude.
Refining capability can be shrinking, with main closures like Phillips 66’s LA refinery (2025) and Valero’s Benicia (2026) decreasing capability by about 17%. Bureaucrats watched these capability numbers slide for many years, but their response was to double down on restrictions reasonably than to construct resilience.
Because nothing says “forward thinking” like watching your refineries disappear whereas lecturing everybody else about sustainability.
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Drilling and allowing restrictions inform the story best. Under Newsom, there was a dramatic drop in new oil effectively permits (from 1000’s per 12 months to much less than 100 in some latest years).
Moratoriums, environmental evaluations, and phase-out efforts have accelerated the industry’s decline.
Newsom, fearing gas price spikes, signed SB 237 in 2025 to spice up permits in Kern County, partially reversing his earlier coverage. Better late than by no means, except you’re a driver looking at at this time’s $6-plus gasoline and questioning why foresight was non-obligatory.
Refining capability can be shrinking, with main closures like Phillips 66’s LA refinery (2025) and Valero’s Benicia (2026) decreasing capability by about 17%. Bloomberg through Getty Images
Refinery challenges piled on. Strict environmental guidelines; the distinctive California gasoline mix (CARBOB – pricey to supply); the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS); the cap-and-trade system (now “Cap-and-Invest”), emissions targets, and refinery-specific laws all raised working prices.
Price-gouging legal guidelines and efforts to impose revenue caps contributed to closures by creating uncertainty and decreasing profitability. Refiners have cited these as key causes for exiting.
The bureaucrats who wrote these guidelines now concern limitless press releases about “working with industry” on options, as if the exodus they engineered was another person’s fault.
The broader inexperienced power agenda sealed the vulnerability. An aggressive push for carbon neutrality (2045 objective), electric vehicle mandates, and fossil fuel phase-outs prioritized long-term climate targets over short-term power security.
It is true that demand for gasoline and diesel is declining due to the effectivity of newer engines, the broader adoption of EVs, and the state’s push for renewables push. But demand has not dropped shortly enough to offset the availability shocks which are raising costs now.
The bureaucrats who wrote these guidelines now concern limitless press releases about “working with industry” on options. Bloomberg through Getty Images
The companies knew California sat on an power island. They knew import dependence was climbing. They knew geopolitics might snarl the Strait of Hormuz or the Panama Canal route.
Yet the regulatory machine saved grinding ahead, treating home crude like an embarrassing relic reasonably than a hedge towards threats to California’s energy-hungry financial system.
Bipartisan warnings from lawmakers, together with Democrats, fell on deaf ears.
California Energy Commission’s (CEC) experiences have been overdue. Emergency planning was an afterthought.
The similar officers who lecture the public about “climate resilience” in some way missed the more rapid drawback: retaining the lights on, and retaining and vehicles shifting when international tankers vanish.
California’s leaders chose a fast transition away from fossil fuels, accepting (or underestimating) the dangers of greater prices, import reliance, and fragility to shocks.
Other states with oil sources have managed a a lot better, and more resilient, strategy.
Who’s accountable? It isn’t one individual or company. It’s a cumulative coverage direction prioritizing emissions reductions over resilient home provide.
The ideologues and bureaucrats will no doubt insist that California was merely following “science” and state law.
The relaxation of us are left calculating how many more tanks we will fill earlier than we run out of money, or the pump runs dry.
Richie Greenberg is a political commentator based mostly in San Francisco.
