California’s looming gas price catastrophe is a self-inflicted wound, courtesy of Democrats’ relentless regulatory crusade against fossil fuels. On Wednesday, the state’s Committee on Utilities and Energy grilled regulators over a potential 75% spike in gas prices, sparked by the closure of two major oil refineries, as the Daily Caller reports. The irony is thicker than crude itself: the same lawmakers now wringing their hands helped create the mess.
Two refineries, owned by Phillips 66 and Valero, will shutter in 2024, slashing 20% of California’s refining capacity and threatening a price surge at the pump. For years, Democrats have piled on stringent rules -- cap-and-trade, low carbon standards, and an unfavorable tax climate -- that have driven energy companies out of the state. No new refineries have opened since 1969, and now the chickens are coming home to roost.
“We have a crisis on our hands that may have been self-created,” said Assemblyman David Alvarez, a San Diego Democrat, at the hearing. Self-created? That’s putting it mildly -- decades of anti-oil policies have turned California into a refinery ghost town.
The state’s gas price gouging law, signed two years ago, was touted as a win for transparency. A Newsom spokesperson crowed to the Daily Caller News Foundation that it has saved billions by avoiding a 2022-style price spike. Funny how they’re less eager to mention the refineries fleeing under the weight of that same “oversight.”
California’s average gas price is already the nation’s highest, per AAA data, and a 75% jump could push it into the stratosphere. Assemblyman Cottie Petrie-Norris warned, “I know what climate leadership does not look like, and that is $10 gas.” Bold words, but her party’s policies are steering straight for that nightmare.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has urged refineries to stay while simultaneously backing rules that make operating in California a regulatory minefield. The state legislature’s recent special sessions greenlit new storage and maintenance mandates for refiners, piling on more red tape. Actions have consequences, and California drivers are about to pay the price.
Phillips 66, one of the closing refineries’ owners, isn’t fully abandoning the state, a company spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We’re not exiting California,” they said, pointing to assets like the Rodeo Renewable Energy Complex. But losing 20% of refining capacity isn’t exactly a vote of confidence in California’s business climate.
Valero’s closure adds fuel to the fire, with no new refineries on the horizon to fill the gap. The California Energy Commission notes the state hasn’t seen a major refinery come online in over half a century. That’s not an accident -- it’s the predictable result of a regulatory environment that treats oil companies like public enemies.
Alvarez pressed regulators at the hearing: “Another closure can lead to a significant increase in costs to consumers?” The answer is obvious -- less supply, higher prices. Basic economics, apparently lost on the architects of California’s energy policy.
In a twist that reeks of desperation, regulators are floating the idea of state-owned refineries to plug the gap. California’s already flirting with socialism, but taking over refineries? That’s a leap even Karl Marx might have questioned.
The gas price gouging law’s “independent petroleum watchdog” was supposed to keep Big Oil in check, Newsom’s spokesperson boasted to the Daily Caller News Foundation. Yet here we are, staring down a price spike while refineries pack their bags. Transparency’s great, but it doesn’t fill gas tanks.
Newsom’s team claims the law has brought “more transparency from the industry than ever before.” That’s cold comfort when drivers are bracing for $10-a-gallon gas, courtesy of the state’s policies. Maybe they’ll print the price hikes in bold for extra clarity.
California’s cap-and-trade program and low-carbon fuel standards were sold as climate saviors, but they’ve kneecapped the state’s energy sector. Refineries aren’t charities; they go where they can operate without being strangled by red tape. Right now, that’s anywhere but California.
Phillips 66’s spokesperson insisted the company wants to be a “trusted partner” with the state. Trusted, sure -- but not suicidal. No company can thrive in a state that treats fossil fuels like a mortal sin.
The legislature’s new rules, backed by Newsom, show no signs of easing up. Instead, they’re doubling down on a regulatory chokehold that’s already driven out 20% of the state’s refining capacity. California’s drivers deserve better than this self-inflicted gas crisis.
