The California Energy Scam: Newsom’s Actions Of “Leaking” Emissions To Poorer Developing Countries.

Cleaning up emissions in-state increases worldwide emissions by “leaking” manufacturing to poorer developing countries with miniscule environmental regulations.

Published February 12, 2024, at America Out Loud NEWS

https://www.americaoutloud.news/the-california-energy-scam-newsoms-actions-of-leaking-emissions-to-poorer-developing-countries/

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.”

In California, Governor Gavin Newsom has been vocal about his commitment to reducing in-state greenhouse gas emissions, but much of his “success” has been accomplished by “leaking” those emissions to offshore locations with miniscule environmental regulations compared to California.

California is probably the most environmentally regulated location on the planet. The state also has the highest poverty rate in the nation, the highest state income tax in the nation, the highest gas taxes in the nation, and record homelessness. The challenges are that:

• The states’ population needs cost effective products in their daily lives.
• The Governor supports manufacturing in poorer developing countries with minimal environmental regulations, i.e. “leakage” of emissions to others to achieve cost effective products for its population.

By “leaking” emissions to other countries, California successfully reduces its in-state emissions, but effectively induces net increases to the world’s emissions!

Newsom’s actions of “leaking” emissions to poorer developing countries violate many sections of the written legal framework of The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and California Global Warming Solutions Act (AB32).

The written legal “green” framework statutes in California that Newsom circumvents are:

• A California statute passed in 1970, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), that was signed into law by then-Governor Ronald Reagan and was the beginning of the State’s “green” movement.

• Then in 2006, the passage of the California Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32) marked a watershed moment in California’s history. By requiring in law, a sharp reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, California set the stage for its transition to a sustainable, (in-state) low-carbon future. 

Of those two voluminous documents, CEQA and AB32, Governor Newsom has chosen just five words from AB32 Section 38562 (4) “reduce toxic air contaminant emissions” as the foundation of his mandates, and his personal emission policy to clean the “air bubble” inside California borders by leaking those emissions to others outside the boundaries of California.

Here are a few sections from AB 32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act that demonstrate the Governor’s actions that increase the “leakage” of emissions to developing countries to clean the “air bubble” around California:

1. AB32 section 38564 states: “The state board shall consult with other states, and the federal government, and other nations to identify the most effective strategies and methods to reduce greenhouse gases, manage greenhouse gas control programs, and to facilitate the development of integrated and cost-effective regional, national, and international greenhouse gas reduction programs”.

1. A consequence of the renewable electricity (RE) movement is that most of the exotic minerals and metals needed by EV batteries, wind turbine, and solar panels are being mined in developing countries with virtually no environmental laws nor labor laws, thus the exploitation of people of yellow, brown, and black skin, and the environmental degradation to their local landscapes, all “unseen” by California eyes.

• Contrary to the wording in AB32 section 38564 “facilitate the development of integrated and cost-effective regional, national, and international greenhouse gas reduction programs”, government sponsored “SUBSIDIES” are providing financial incentives for those poorer developing countries to CONTINUE their unabated emissions, humanity atrocities to citizens of yellow, brown, and black skin, and environmental degradation to their lands, again “unseen by California eyes!!!!

• AB32 section 38562 (2) states: “Ensure that activities undertaken to comply with the regulations do not disproportionately impact low-income communities.”

1. Back in 2021, the Pulitzer Prize nominated book “Clean Energy Exploitations – Helping Citizens Understand the Environmental and Humanity Abuses That Support Clean Energy.  The discusses the lack of transparency to the world of the green movement’s impact upon humanity exploitations in the developing countries that are mining for the exotic minerals and metals required to create the batteries needed to store “green energy”. In these developing countries, these mining operations disproportionately impact low-income communities and exploit child labor and are responsible for the most egregious human rights’ violations of vulnerable minority populations. These operations are also directly destroying the planet through environmental degradation.

• One year later in 2022, President Biden provided validation to the books’ message when the Biden administration declared October 4, 2022, that batteries from China may be tainted by child labor, a move that could have upended the electric vehicle industry while giving fresh ammunition to critics of the White House’s bizarre climate policies. However, our government leaders believe that zero emissions at any cost is more important than the environmental and humanity abuses that support “clean” electricity.

• AB32 section 38562 (8) states: “minimize leakage”.

1. Newsom, by continually decreasing 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 refineries from foreign countries. That dependence, via maritime transportation from foreign nations for the state’s crude oil energy demands, has increased imported crude oil from 5 percent in 1992 to almost 60 percent today of total consumption.

• Since 1995, California’s crude oil demands have been increasing year over year, except for pandemic years. But given that maritime transportation is one of the greatest contributors of GHG emissions, the state continues to “leak” emissions to others outside the California clean air bubble.

• Rather than drill for oil in California or access the oil offshore via “slant drilling” techniques from land, in 2021, imported foreign crude oil approached 300,000 barrels per year. It took 150 Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) oil tankers, each with 2 million barrels of crude oil, which were required to meet the demands of California. Just another example of “leaking” emissions to others just to keep in-state emissions low.

• More to the point, why aren’t we drilling in California? Won’t our drilling practices be more environmentally responsible? And won’t it benefit the environment to not have dozens of oil tankers perpetually belching bunker fuel exhaust off the coast of Long Beach, and that only after they’ve belched their way across the Pacific Ocean?

Is it ethical for the California Governor to blatantly not abide by his own laws and violate his own states’ legal framework to set his personal emissions policies?

His actions have raised concerns among legal experts and environmentalists, as they conflict with the state’s existing legal framework statutes which prioritize the affordability of products over their international environmental impact.

President Joe Biden and California’s Governor Newsom continue to support subsidies to procure products from locations around the world that have minimal environmental regulations, when those subsidies are providing financial incentives to increase worldwide emissions by manufacturing offshore to countries where there are no environmental regulations and emissions are rampant.

I personally thought that President Biden and California Governor Newsom had higher moral and ethical standards that would stop them from financially encouraging developing countries from continuing their exploitation of the poor with yellow, brown, and black skin, and further environmental degradation to the landscapes in those distant developing countries, and uncontrollable emissions “over there” just to support clean air in “our backyards”!

Ronald Stein P.E.

Ambassador for Energy & Infrastructure, Co-author of the Pulitzer Prize nominated book “Clean Energy Exploitations”, policy advisor on energy literacy for The Heartland Institute, and The Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, and National TV Commentator- Energy & Infrastructure with Rick Amato.

Ronald Stein, P.E. is an engineer, energy consultant, speaker, author of books and articles on energy, environmental policy, and human rights, and Founder of PTS Advance, a California based company.

Ron advocates that energy literacy starts with the knowledge that renewable energy is only intermittent electricity generated from unreliable breezes and sunshine, as wind turbines and solar panels cannot manufacture anything for the 8 billion on this planet.