Governor Newsom directives increase California’s dependency on foreign crude oil to support the State’s international and military airports, and shipping terminals.
Published November 7, 2023 at the Heartland Institute https://heartland.org/opinion/california-continues-to-be-a-national-security-risk-for-america/
Ronald Stein is an engineer, senior policy advisor on energy literacy for the Heartland Institute and CFACT, and co-author of the Pulitzer Prize nominated book “Clean Energy Exploitations.”
Historically, California has been successfully reducing in-state oil production over the decades and has increased crude oil imports from foreign countries from 5 percent in 1992 to more than 75 percent today to meet the California consumption demand.
Governor Gavin Newsom, by continually seeking further decreases of in-state oil production, Newsom’s emissions policies continue to force California, the 4th largest economy in the world, to be the only state in contiguous America that imports most of its crude oil feedstock to in-state refineries from foreign countries. That dependence, via maritime transportation from foreign nations for the state’s crude oil demands, has increased imported crude oil from 5 percent in 1992 to more than 75 percent today of total consumption.
California has more than 140 airports with huge fuel demands of more than 13 billion gallons of aviation fuel per year that includes these major airports:
- 9 International airports
- 41 Military airports
In addition, California has three of the largest shipping ports in America, with #1 Los Angeles. #2 Long Beach, and #7 Oakland. Ships arriving and departing from the shipping ports up and down the coast from San Diego to San Francisco require massive amounts of lower grade bunker fuels.
While California is pursuing the elimination of crude oil production, China has no intentions of abandoning its economic, military, or strategic ambitions – all of which rely on crude oil. Asia is the region with the greatest number of future petroleum refineries. As of 2021, there were 88 new facilities in planning or under construction in Asia.
The California Air Quality Management District (AQMD) policies have the potential to further reduce in-state refinery capacity, so the State can be more dependent on Asia for the fuels and petrochemical demands of the State.
Shockingly, Newsom has yet to inform the citizens of the State, and the citizens of America, as to how he expects the States’ airports, military, and shipping ports to continue operating without the fuels for planes and ships.
Without the feedstock of crude oil to the California refineries to be processed into fuels to meet the demands of the 9 International Airports, 41 Military Airports, and 3 of the largest shipping ports in America, what is Governor Newsom’s’ explanation to all Americans as to how the 4th largest economy in California is not a security risk for the entire country?
With Governor Newsom having high expectations of being the Democratic nominee for the Presidency of the United States, maybe he can explain to those at the Democratic National Convention in August 2024, how California, under his leadership for 8 years, is now a national security risk with the following two subjects that he has led and campaigned for:
- Importing more than 75 percent of the state’s demand for crude oil for current in-state refineries to refine into fuels for California’s 9 International airports, 41 Military airports, and 3 of the largest shipping terminals in America, and
- Constantly reducing in-state refining capacity to refine fuels and petrochemicals for the materialistic demands of society.
Petrochemicals have been driving oil demand in recent years but that could all change if new restrictions come into place to curb the production of plastics and other products. With more than 6 billion on this planet making less than $10 a day that wish to join the industrial revolution, the global demand for petrochemicals has been gradually rising over the last two decades, as an increasing number of consumers spend on petrochemical-derived products.
With more in-state refinery closures imminent under Newsom’s watch, California can look toward Asia’s 88 new refineries for the manufactured fuels used by California’s 9 International airports, 41 Military airports, and 3 of the largest shipping terminals in America for manufactured oil derivatives that are the basis of most products in our materialistic society,
Even to the uneducated, such blatant dependency on foreign countries for crude oil and fuels to pass through three of the busiest shipping ports in America, all located on the coastline of the 4th largest economy in the world, California is a national security risk for the entire United States of America!
Ronald Stein, P.E
Author | Columnist | Energy Literacy Consultant
https://expertfile.com/experts/ronald.stein
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And this same s_it for brains governor has plans to bring America down in the same way following a_ole biden has been doing under obama and soro’s directions.
All these guys are clowns and need to be vacationed in Gitmo for the next 40 years, or proved dead and buried!
Careful. The secret service might break your door down for threatening the President.
Considering all that oil has to be transported either across the Pacific, across the Atlantic-through the Panama Canal then up the Pacific or across the Indian and Pacific to reach California…I wonder how negatively that affects the overall Carbon Footprint of Wackyfornia fuels
Not that it matters, except in the minds of the climate deluded.
California hates both crude and refined products pipelines into the State as much as they hate reality and common sense. In 1998 I was part of a three-member team doing a due diligence study on converting an ARCO line from New Mexico to California from oil to natural gas. It happened. That may have been the end of oil imports from non-foreign countries into California. Tragic.
As to how Gruesome Newsom stays in office, I wonder if I am still “voting” in California. I have not lived there since 2005, but much of California has more registered voters than eligible voters.
The Peoples’ Republic of Washington State has a similar problem.
My dad used to live with us at our home in Connecticut. He passed away almost six years ago. He moved out of Connecticut almost eight years ago. In 2020 I complained that his name was still on the voter rolls in our town. He received a jury duty notice this past summer and I notified the court that he was still a registered voter but had been deceased for over 5-1/2 years at the time.
This week at the polls his name was still on the roll. I once again notified the poll worker who noted it on the list and claimed she would “ask them about it”.
He was a registered Democrat. I’m sure that has nothing to do with it!
If he’s still on the register, send in a Republican postal ballot. That’ll teach ’em!
Not that I’m advocating voter fraud in any way, shape or form. This comment was for the purposes of sarcasm and mild amusement only and should not be taken as incitement to commit a crime. Nor should it be taken as criticism in any way of the United States voting system and it’s proud tradition of voting in the correct candidate on every occasion, sometimes more than once! sarc (yeah you could probably tell, right).
A good portion of foreign crude oil going to California passes through the Panama Canal which is now restricted due to drought. This will cause supply chain problems. I’m sure Cal will blame Panama drought and consequent oil shortage on anthropogenic global warming (AGW).
They used AGW as excuse for drought they had last year, but are not giving it credit for drought free conditions they currently enjoy 🙂
“crude oil for current in-state refineries to refine into fuels for California’s 9 International airports, 41 Military airports”
Good time to realize –
Petroleum products produced from one 42-gallon barrel of oil input at U.S. refineries, 2022
Product . Gallons
Finished motor gasoline .19.45
Distillate fuel oil .12.77
Kerosene-type jet fuel . 4.16
So for every gallon of Jet Fuel, they need just over 10 gallons of crude. With all EV cars, would that make jet fuel the limiting number, not sure what the rest of the barrel is going to be used for.
We are in the “ correction by calamity phase” now. Reasoned voices in the wilderness was all we were. But if I said this to the average man on the street these days they would think I am referring to CAGW.
I enjoy Mr. Stein’s blog posts when they appear because they are concise and digestible.
Unless the provided data is erroneous or Mr. Stein is not bringing all the relevant facts to the table, then it would be hard to argue with his conclusions.
Such a heavy reliance on foreign entities for such a vital (and wildly under appreciated) natural resource like crude oil is frightening.
I don’t think that more the 1 in 20 adults living in California know how heavily dependent we ( CA & U.S.) have become to the plans of foreign and often hostile governments.
I think I may have missed how many international airports California has.
Others have commented before that excessive repetition makes it look like it was written by AI.
(nb Many international people don’t consider an airport that only goes only to Mexico or Canada to be truly international. Looking at you Charleston SC)
Michael that’s a lot of snarky attention to irrelevant points don’t you think? Why be so disagreeable? Is there anything about the substance of the article that you care to address?
Ron Stein may not rival Shakespeare for his literary skills, but he has an important message (substance over style). Also he doesn’t say “only goes only” while criticizing somebody’s repetitive writing style!
While he makes some good points, the multiple repetitions are off-putting and led me to skip-read the article.
As an “Energy Literacy Consultant” a bit of proof-reading would have been in order to clean it up, making it punchier.
I don’t think more than 1 in a 1000 understand that the push to replace fossil fuels with unreliables poses an existential security risk to all western woke democracies. It’s not just the US, it’s AU, Uk, EU etc. And in the US, it’s not just CA. It’s the northeast and states like Michigan where the Senate just passdd legislation demanding 50% electrivity production from unreliables by 2030. It has not yet passed in the house so is not yet law. As Mr. Oliver notes above, we are in the correction by calamity stage which is very likely going to cost a lot of lives. If the calamity only affected those pushing/supporting this nonsdnse, I would not care. Unfortunately, it will affect us all.
“Unfortunately, it will affect us all.”
Yes, it will.
It does look like we are heading for a correction by calamity, at least in some places like California.
Sometimes it takes a calamity to open people’s eyes.
What’s the problem? The problem is delusional thinking on the part of Democrats. That delusional thinking creates all these disasters we are currently experiencing from the local level, all the way up to international wars.
Democrats are not fit to govern. Where they do govern, disaster ensues.
Perhaps part of Gov. Naggin’ Gruesome’s trip to China was spent negotiating a mutual defense and trade pact between China and the People’s Republic of Commiefornia! His government in Sacramento probably feels far more affinity for the CCP than they do for mainstream Americans or the Stupid Party (Republican.)
More properly: Radical Democrats are a national security risk for the entire United States of America!
It’s not as if CA is energy poor. I spent a few years in SoCal during my time in the Navy and
recall oil well pump jacks being common in the Huntington Beach area back in the early 70’s.
Heck my landlord had a couple behind our apartment unit.
If memory serves correctly there were a couple of off shore rigs in the Santa Barbara area,
one of which had a sizeable leak that made the beach sand a bit sticky and black. I think
that event is what might have put the state into this situation…There are a lot of CA transplants
in MT that bring their big city driving habits along with their odd beliefs. They do make a decent
table wine tho.
MrEd
Yep, California is #7 in the top 8 states with oil reserves.
https://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/crudeoilreserves/
As to transplants, here in Arizona they have turned our state blue [governor & 2 senators].
Didn’t someone once say ~ “We get the government we deserve” ? [sigh]
But, today was another gorgeous day in AZ, totally consistent with “climate change”! Lol
How about this blast from the past? In 2003, California Democrats were caught plotting to tank the State’s economy. They were having a meeting and the microphone connecting the room to various news offices was on. Amazingly, the LA Times reported on it, but of course since it was Democrats behaving badly they didn’t pursue it further. https://t.tonyrogers.com/news/cal_dems.htm
Checkout Gavin Newsom’s connections to Getty Oil and then checkout Getty’s connection to Ecuador. If that doesn’t bother you, then checkout Jerry Brown’s 75 year old family connections with Indonesian oil importers. If that still doesn’t bother you, then checkout both of Newsom’s and Brown’s refusals to allow any use of the California Tidelands Trust which contains billions of barrels of oil all owned by and held in trust for The People of California.