Oil rigs still dot the Los Angeles landscape, but the City Council has banned new oil wells. | David McNew/Getty ImagesSACRAMENTO, Calif. – Oil companies in California are planning an all-out fight against Gov. Gavin Newsom over his proposal to punish them for what he calls “unconscionable” profits. But that may be the least of the industry’s worries.
The industry isn’t giving up without a fight. Oil companies and their lobbyists are working to head off Newsom’s latest proposal, which would penalize companies if they again raise prices to the record-high levels of the fall, when California gas cleared $6 per gallon. “They’re taking advantage of you because they can,” Newsom said of the oil companies at a Dec. 5 news conference. “Because no one has stood up to them. Why? Because they have unlimited funds, unlimited capacity to manipulate and mislead, lie to people, lie to people. And that’s what I expect they’ll do once again, in this effort.”
California is taking more aggressive steps than any other state to address climate change by reducing the use of fossil fuels. Its air quality regulation agency on Thursday approved a plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 in part by reducing fossil fuel demand by about 90 percent. Newsom’s proposal targets 11 oil refineries that still operate in the state, the oldest of which dates to 1896.
As on other issues before, California is borrowing from Europe. The Council of the European Union opted in September to impose temporary windfall taxes on nearly all its member states to try to rein in excess profits amid price spikes tied to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The United Kingdom is trying it, too.
To Vince Fong, one of 18 Republicans in the 80-member California State Assembly, Newsom’s urgency and rhetoric suggest he’s more interested in scoring political points than addressing the factors that contribute to prices at the pump. The high fuel standards cost more, and California imposes the second-highest excise tax — after Pennsylvania — on wholesale oil. The state also imposes higher taxes at the pump than other states.
At the same time, California has lost nearly 10 percent of its refining capacity since 2019, compared with a national loss of 4.3 percent.
It’ll be a dark state… but it’ll be carbon neutral 🧐
With the advent of fusion energy, I would say this is the least of their problems
They should protest and close all their gas stations for a week
They should diversity into clean energy.
CA is doing nothing of the kind, unless outlawing reliable fuel and hope-hope-hoping that green fuels become available is a real strategy.
Methane can be converted to methanol with iron zeolites.Exxon did research on alge bio-oil, Why can't CO2 exhaust be bubbled through it to make O2,bio-oil clearing the CO2 w protein as a side-product. 'pop' energy approaches disadvantage alts (hydro power for old mill-dams etc)
Fossil fuels will be used until they are gone, and California needs pragmatic leadership that can navigate that reality realistically.
Maybe the oil industry should take their business and market elsewhere. When residents wonder where their energy went then maybe they will do something about the leadership and the direction of their policies.
Good
DougJBalloon
millions leaving California , most population is now immigrants , who cant afford the rent or the states high taxation . just one of its many problems
California continues to push and force middle income out-of-state.
It's them or us.
Like the wagon wheel companies of the past. Time marches on.