For years, the Democratic Party has been at war with gas and oil, and now states that rely on this industry for jobs are starting to pay the price.
More specifically, California is seeing jobs in this sector disappear for multiple reasons.
Now, Gov. Gavin Newsom is trying to keep them where they are, but it sounds like California is about to see a mass exodus that could crush its economy.
If Democrats had their way, oil and gas would already be gone.
This became a major talking point during the 2020 presidential election, as virtually every major Democrat candidate vowed to kill the industry.
For example, then-candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) stated, "Reducing the consumption of fossil fuels isn’t enough. We have to phase out production -- starting now.”
Democrats were also pushing legislation to stop new land leases for gas and oil, which Joe Biden put into play after he took office.
It was only three months ago that Newsom signed an executive order designed to eliminate the sale of gasoline-powered cars in the state.
The state's website posted, “Following President Trump’s signing of illegal Congressional resolutions attempting to roll back California’s clean cars and trucks program and make the state smoggy again, Governor Gavin Newsom today signed an executive order doubling down on the state’s efforts to transition away from fossil fuels.”
It continued, “This action builds on the lawsuit Governor Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta filed earlier today against the Trump administration to protect California’s clean air authority. It also follows last month’s announcement that California and 10 other states launched a coalition to continue advancing clean cars.”
So, why would any fossil fuel company try to remain operational in a state that already declared plans to put it out of business?
Newsom is now panicking that the industry he is trying to shut down is exiting the state, so he recently signed legislation that would track the approval of 20,000 wells over the next decade in the state’s largest producing oil county.
It does not appear to be enough, however, as Chevron executive Andy Walz stated, "I think it's been a tyranny of about 25 years to get the refining business to leave California."
He added, "It's a tough place to recruit people. It's a tough place to move employees – a lot of our employees move up through the company, they gain experience in different geographies, different locations, and we have a lot of people who will not move to California. That makes it difficult."
So, what is Chevron doing? Well, it started to move operations from California to Texas, a state that openly welcomes the fossil fuel industry and will continue to do so as long as Republicans are running it. This is devastating for California, which already boasts some of the highest gasoline prices in the nation. If oil production declines in the state, those prices go even higher. Kick a dog enough, even the most loyal of them will eventually bite that foot, and Newsom just got bitten.
