Not surprisingly, with California having huge costs for electricity and fuels, the recent Public Policy Institute of America survey revealed that California’s “green” Governor Newsom is by far the MOST UNPOPULAR Governor in America !
Published July 1, 2024 at America Out Loud NEWS
Ronald Stein, P.E. 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.”
California’s emission mandates do an excellent job of increasing the cost of electricity, products, and fuels to its citizens.
In California, the economy depends on affordable, reliable, and ever-cleaner electricity and fuels. Unfortunately, policymakers are driving up California’s electric and gas prices, and California now has the highest electricity and fuel prices in the nation.
Governor Newsom remains oblivious to the fact that “Mandatory Emissions (just in wealthy countries) To Achieve Net-Zero Is A Fool’s Game”. The Governor also remains reluctant, or incapable, of participating in conversations about Basic Energy Literacy questions.
Simply put, in the healthy and wealthy countries, every person, animal, or anything that causes emissions to rise could vanish off the face of the earth, or even die off, and global emissions will still explode in the coming years and decades ahead over the population and economic growth of China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Tanzania.
China, India, and Indonesia are three of the largest emissions generators, the same countries that do not have the financial wherewithal or technical capabilities to reduce or capture anything!
A careful examination of the global supply chain needs for electricity, products, and fuels for the population trends strongly suggests that “net zero” is a delusion as the end of crude oil that is manufactured into all the products and transportation fuels that built the world to eight billion, would be the end of civilization as “unreliable electricity” from breezes and sunshine cannot manufacture anything.
Today, California imports more electricity than any other US state, more than twice the amount of Virginia, the second largest importer of electricity. California typically receives between one-fifth to one-third of its electricity supply from outside of the state.
- Over the last two decades, the state retired 11 coal-fired power plants that were providing continuous uninterruptible electricity.
- The San Onfre Nuclear Generating Station closed in 2013, that was also providing continuous uninterruptible electricity.
- Electricity prices have increased more than 98% over the last 15 years.
Texas and California have historically consumed the most gasoline in the United States. In 2021:
- Texas consumed 38.55 million gallons of gasoline per day, which was 11% of the country’s total.
- California consumed 33.31 million gallons per day, which was 9% of the country’s total.
Governor Newsom continues to support reductions in the supply of California’s special blend of fuel that is not manufactured in other states, while in-state demand continues to increase.
- Refinery owners do not control the market price of crude oil, natural gas, gasoline and diesel fuel.
- The price of a barrel of oil is set on the global market and subject to the fundamentals of supply and demand.
- Other factors in the price of gas include the competitive conditions in the marketplace; costs associated with fuel distribution; and local, state and federal taxes.
- In California, drivers pay over $1 per gallon in state taxes, fees, and greenhouse gas emission reduction program costs. Other states average just $0.32 per gallon.
- Most of the branded stations across the U.S. are owned and operated by businesspeople who independently decide what to charge for a gallon of gasoline.
- Today, CA fuel is about $2 MORE expensive per gallon than that in Mississippi.
- More people, fewer fuel producers, and anti-oil policies have contributed to fuel producers leaving California. When in-state oil production was at its peak, there were 45 refineries in the state. Today: there are 16 open refineries and 29 closed refineries.
- The state has one-third of the refineries it had in 1982. Meanwhile, California’s population has grown by over 60%, leaving the state susceptible to higher prices when the special fuel supplied by the state’s refineries is insufficient to meet demand.
- California consumes 1.8 million barrels of oil per day, while only producing 463,000 barrels per day. Thus, the State relies on foreign crude oil imports to run much of the States’ economy. 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 more than 60 percent today of total consumption. Last year, California spent more than$26 billion for foreign oil.
- Newsom, by continually decreasing in-state oil production, continues 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.
- California’s growing dependency on other nations for crude oil is a serious national security risk for America since the State is home to 9 International airports, 41 Military airports, and 3 of the largest shipping ports in America.
- Years after the governor’s order, California is finally set to ban oil and gas fracking. The state’s most recent move was a decision by California’s Geologic Energy Management Division to deny new hydraulic fracturing permits on oil and gas wells. Then, in September 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation to ban new oil and gas wells within 3,200 feet of any occupied structure—a restriction so likely to kill the industry.
- Determined to save the world from climate change, California, with 0.5% of the world’s population, continues to shut down its oil and gas industry, to set an example for the 99.5% of the world’s 8 billion that do NOT live in California, the State remains focused on MANDATING the world’s strictest emissions controls on vehicles, including a regulation that phases out new sales of gasoline-powered cars by 2035 regardless of cost to its residents.
The California assault on oil and gas has been unrelenting. In September 2023, California attorney general Rob Bonta sued Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and BP for allegedly causing climate change-related damages and deceiving the public.
- Suing the ONLY supply chain source for the products and fuels DEMANDED by California’s 40 million residents is financial stupidity!
- The California Attorney General is oblivious to reality: Never bite the hand that feeds you, without a replacement to support the products demanded by our materialistic society.
All the above “accomplishments” by Governor Newsom have resulted in raising the cost of electricity, fuels, and products made from fossil fuels. Not surprisingly, the recent Public Policy Institute of America (PPIC) survey revealed that Gavin Newsom is by far the MOST UNPOPULAR Governor in America.
California’s climate warriors may succeed in their quest to eliminate fossil fuels in the state, but it will come at a grievous cost to their fellow residents, and it’s an example that the world cannot possibly emulate, especially for the 80% of humanity in Africa, Asia and Latin America who still live on less than $10 a day – and the billions who still have little to no access to electricity.
Please share this information with teachers, students, and friends to encourage Energy Literacy conversations at the family dinner table.
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I wonder if I am still voting in California. I did leave the state in 2005, but . . .
If you’re A Democrat, you should be getting your mail in ballot in early October you and all your dead relatives
Don’t forget to vote in the state you live in. …………
It’s a tossup. The SoS is really bad about pruning the voter registration rolls, and not good at change of address. So there is a distinct chance that some number of your former CA addresses are receiving mail-in ballots. If the mail for those addresses is picked up by a conscientious citizen, then no. Otherwise, the buyer will probably vote Democrat for you.
Unlike some other states, it’s not the dead vote, but the illegal and moved vote they are interested in. You have over a million illegals counted as residents, many of whom were given DLs and automatically registered to vote by DMV clerks who know which side of the bread the butter’s on. (There’s a check box for registration, but the clerks can “fix” it if it’s not checked.) Once the ballots are dropped at a mailbox, there is no chain of custody to indicate who actually filled out the ballot, and the only true scrutiny a voter signature receives is on a “conservative” initiative petition.
Multiple counties in California, including Los Angeles, have more registered voters than eligible voters.
The usual advice in California is to vote early and frequently.
Yet he prevailed in the recall election that was held about 3 years ago. It would have been great to get rid of him, on the right hand, but it probably would have had no actual results because the rest of the government organization, on the left hand, would still have been in place.
Lack of an alternative, plus it might have threatened all the free stuff.
“Yet he prevailed in the recall election.” And you believe it was a legit count?
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/
EMs comment…
Some notes on Gov. Nuisance:
Nancy Pelosi’s nephew, he has been groomed to become POTUS his whole life by The Democrat Machine. Installed as Mayor of San Francisco, he set in motion all the crap that turned San Francisco from Tourist Destination and Business Mecca, into “crap in the streets city” with some of the most iconic properties in the WORLD ruined.
Alioto’s and Fisherman’s Grotto, two long thriving restaurants on Fisherman’s Wharf (Alioto’s since 1929 so even the Great Depression could not kill it…) have both closed. Gone. There’s a guy, Metal Leo?, does walk around videos showing the miles of closed store fronts in Downtown San Francisco.
https://www.youtube.com/@LeoMetalTraveler
He then was installed as Gov. of California. We The People tried to recall him 3 times, but the petition review process was jiggered to block as many signatures as possible (so IF any bit of your signature touched the tiny box lines, it was rejected; as one example). He’s given us a $Billions “train to nowhere”, mandated a $20/hr minimum wage for “fast food workers” that has resulted in well over 10,000 of them laid off and hundreds of fast food restaurants closed (along with the $15 big Mac meal and $4 Breakfast Jack). BTW, you must now ASK (they are forbidden to offer) for any “single use” condiments or things like napkins and straws, salt and pepper….
Oh, and gas in California was running about $5.80 to $7 / gallon when I was there a few weeks ago.
The List Of Horribles would go on for several pages… Now they are banning Diesel Train Locomotives. Never mind that there is NO alternative. The cost to electrify the freight lines would be prohibitive so they would close (it was tried once decades back on a stretch somewhere in the northern plains States). Batteries are NOT going to cut it. (Also note that California electric supplies survive only due to a big load of imported power from Palo Verde Nuclear Plant in Arizona AND a DC intertie from Washington State… not things you can increase overnight…) So expect trains in California to also fail in a few years when the law hits.
HE is largely the reason I’m now in Florida, not California. Got out just in time, too, as they are pushing an “exit tax” on folks trying to escape…
I urge every California Escapee to tell your friends, neighbors, and strangers at the Gas Station that they ought to never, ever, vote for Gov. Nuisance.
Unfortunately, I suspect that the same buggered voting system that installed him as Governor has now been used on the National level.
IF he gets sElected POTUS: Make sure you have a 2nd passport, and have set up banking offshore somewhere. You will only have a year or so to escape…
“The List Of Horribles would go on for several pages… Now they are banning Diesel Train Locomotives. Never mind that there is NO alternative.”
The same craziness is involved when they try to electrify the long-haul trucking industry.
If you want to ruin an economy, do what Newsom and the other loony Democrats are doing in California.
Radical Democrats like Newsom live in a delusional mental state. They may be more lucid than Biden, but they are just as delusional.
Biden is trying to ruin the U.S. economy, and Newsom is doing his part by trying to ruin the California economy.
Radical Democrats, divorced from reality, are trying to run us into the ground with their stupid, destructive policies. Voters need to wake up before it’s too late.
“California, with 0.5% of the world’s population, continues to shut down its oil and gas industry, to set an example for the 99.5% of the world’s 8 billion that do NOT live in California”
What countries, if any, have been influenced by Californias example?
To set an example does not imply success.
All of us serve a useful purpose. Some of us serve as a bad example.
Onshore, the economics of natural depletion. Offshore, poor pipeline maintenance. That’s about it…..
Newsome wants to do to the entire U.S.A., what he did to California.
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Maybe you could post a cartoon that illustrates what that would look like (-:
Not what I had in mind, but probably more to the point.
California has the fifth-largest economy in the world. Says a lot about the world.
Mostly it says that most countries are pretty small and/or have small populations.
fifth-largest economy in the world
I see that said a lot. What, exactly, does it mean?
Didn’t Iraq have the 5th largest army in the world? (Before Desert Storm, of course.)
Democrats have three BIG 2024 problems.
Biden is obviously cognitively impaired and that can no longer be gaslighted.
Harris is a giggling incompetent mess who thinks that she is entitled to be the nominee (half black woman) if Biden steps aside.
And Newsom thinks he should be next in line despite having ruined California. No matter what transpires, the election will be a disaster for them.
SCOTUS just ruled sensibly on presidential immunity—absolute for core functions, presumptive for all official acts, none for unofficial acts— and that means Smith’s J6 case goes down in flames, the NYC ‘felony’ sentencing is postponed until Sept because inadmissible evidence was used, the MaL records case is in bigger turmoil, and Georgia’s Fani Willis will get removed for lying under oath in her Georgia RICO case. Lawfare under Biden tried and has now failed four times to take Trump down.
And their green new deal simply doesn’t work. See California.
I quit the Republican Party in 2008 when they nominated McCain. I remain a Florida NPA (no party affiliation, the official term here for an independent), but admit that after some initial doubts, have become an ardent Trumplican.
I must be living under a rock, that’s the
first time I’ve seen the term “Trumplican”
I invented it to describe my present party affiliation. NPA except when Trump is the Repub presidential nominee. Still never a registered Republican. Only downside is that FL is a closed primary system, so don’t get a vote on which clowns they run in the primaries.
Trump may go back to being a Democrat is the price is right, he’s changed parties 6 times already. I’d rather have two different candidates.
I’d rather have two better choices, but that is not going to happen.
In 2008 I was set to vote for McCain. Walking into the precinct I saw a McCain van. The message was, a vote for McCain is a vote against Obama.
That message goes against my vision of what an election should be.
I voted for Obama just because of that.
Reports are that undecided voters were screaming at the TV during the debate. They did not want to see bickering over the past. They wanted to see visions for the future.
When Trump faced off with Clinton in 2016, I was in a dilemma. I could not vote for Clinton as I saw her as a criminal (Benghazi, email server, etc.). I could not stand Trump and his ego and especially his unfiltered thoughts demonstrating to me a lack of statesmanship. I did not vote.
In 2020, I voted for Trump being the lesser of 2 evils. Biden scared me then and he scares me today.
I do not know how many times Trump changed parties and that number is irrelevant. Why he changed parties is of much more interest.
In 2008 Trump was advising Clinton on her campaign. He switched parties in 2009 after Obama was elected due to Obama’s economic policies. Clinton has acted since then as a woman scorned, in my opinion.
Biden really has nothing new. He is simply an extension of Obama’s policies. It is that simple.
Although Biden’s apparent sun-downing mentally is cause for concern, the greater concern is his stamina. If he can not go through a 90 minute debate, how could he handle a Cuban Missile crisis or similar.
I perceive Jill Biden has taken the role of Eleanor Roosevelt. The similarities are striking.
Now some are suggesting Michelle Obama run on the blue ticket. That scares the hell out of me.
We really have no good choices, so we best go with the lesser of two evils, which is Trump. If Trump continues publicly to present himself as he did in the debate, all will turn out fine.
Apparently Dr. Jill has ambitions to progress to the role of Edith Wilson.
I must say, I’m really enjoying the Democrats running around with their hair on fire over Joe Biden’s obvious mental problems. This is almost as good as the aftermath of the 2016 election, when the Democrats screamed at the sky after losing to Trump. That will be good practice for the upcoming 2024 election.
I’ve started tuning in CNN and MSNBC to enjoy the radical leftists whine and lash out in every direction. They are in Big Trouble no matter what direction they take. Trump is steadily putting Biden farther behind him. Trump is up by two points in New Hampshire, a Blue State, and that’s not the only Blue State Trump is competitive in, and he is leading in all the seven Battleground States and if he wins four of them, he’s the next president.
Trump may be close to being right: He says Joe Biden is so bad, he, Trump, may win all the States. That’s probably not going to happen, but I’ll bet Trump picks up States that surprise people.
The Democrats just about have to go with Kamala Harris, if Joe Biden bows out. To do otherwise would seriously fracture the Democrat Party. Kamala actually runs a little better against Trump in the latest polls, but that’s before Kamala and Trump have a debate. Then it will be all over for her, like it is all over for Biden now.
I think there is going to be a lot of pressure on Biden to drop out of the race. Of course, he has to volunteer.
It will be interesting to see what the Democrats end up doing. Nothing they do will help them in the upcoming presidential election.
Now, who will be Trump’s vice president? I think Senator Tim Scott would make a very good vice president, as would Rep. Byron Donalds. I like both of them, but the only drawback is Tim Scott is a U.S. Senator and we need all the Republican Senators we can get. The numbers are crucial to killing the socialist agenda of the Democrats.
The good thing about the Republican Bench is there are several dozen very good, qualified people that Trump can call on. An abundance of riches.
We need to get the United States back on track by electing Trump. He will get us back on track. He knows just what to do because he did it before.
Let me see what’s on CNN. I need a good laugh! 🙂
The Democrats have so wedded themselves to identity politics that if they choose anyone other than Harris as their next candidate, they will offend radical feminists and blacks.
They are already losing both groups, and radicals in general due to their failure to completely support Hamas and its demands to eliminate Israel and most Jews.
If you think Gruesome Newsome is unpopular now, just wait till the Democrat Machine replace Biden with Him for the 2024 ballot
Personally, I’m all for Gavin Newsome as the Democrat candidate for President in 2024 so long as he is required to step down as CA State Governor to run for the big chair…the sooner the better.
And Oh what a slap in the face that would be to Biden’s 25th amendment Insurance Policy…Kamala Harris
I kamala isn’t the candidate, that will further offend many on the far left, especially far left blacks.
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In 2022, Newsom was elected to a second term, so CA voters certainly knew what he was all about by then. Which says they voted for him in the primary or all their dead relatives did. He won the general election with 59% of the vote. Wasn’t there some east coast democrat who told his father, I just need to win, I don’t need a land slide.
He won in a one-party state of uninformed voters who like the free stuff.
He won in a statewide election that only requires a plurality in 4 of 58 counties in order to be elected. California’s population distribution ensures that if 54 counties did not vote at all, it would still not make a difference to the outcome of ANY statewide election.
Those are the numbers. LA county alone has 10 million people, a quarter of the population. That’s why they can steal water and all have green lawns while living in a desert.
Yes, they seem to prefer that people instead of acreage votes.
What would happen if “People Who Own Land” were the only ones with suffrage?
When the government rents a person land in the form of property taxes, and when that tax is based on some formula that includes “market value” then it does several things – it pretty much guarantees that the voter is eligible and creates a huge incentive for government and those eager to vote to have more domestic citizen owners, fewer renters. (too bad Black Rock).
It would be optional to drop the Resident requirement since those who hold real estate in California suffer California’s dysfunctions and should have a Right to representation.
Read this over and over. Middle ear problem? Sovereign Citizen? The only take away I can get is some sort of Bizarro claim that “land owners” should get weighted suffrage. We started our progress away from that well over 200 years ago.
Moved away, yes.
Progress, debatable.
And once again Bob demonstrates that he prefers ideology over reality.
Acreage never voted. There was a time when people had to be land owners in order to vote, but it was still one vote per person.
Back then, almost all taxes were land based, so land owner also meant taxpayer.
As such it was a good system, where those who were actually paying for the system got the most say in how it was run.
Want a say in how government is run, become a taxpayer.
According to gasbuddy.com regular gas at a AM/PM mini mart in Anaheim CA is $5.09 gal.
My local gas station in the mountains 35 miles west of Denver Colorado is $3.13
That’s one reason why I left California after I retired.
And yet Colorado could be much better as it’s becoming California light. We’re down to a single refinery and dems are doing everything they can to push oil producers out.
I blame mail-in voting. It’s too easy for dems to cheat.
I agree and unfortunately after CoVid we now have mail in voting nationwide.
Last time I drove through Colorado west to east on I70 IIRC I think I saw at least 4 refineries sitting idle beside interstate. For MILES there were oil and gas infrastructure.
During TRUMP! those refineries were allowed to operate without the made up EPA penalties for “climate change”. The FIRST DAY in office, Brandon ended TRUMP”S! waiver of the penalties and forced the owners to repay those funds.
Yep, Democrats really care about people. Of course now Brandon has again released oil and refined gasoline from the Political Petroleum Reserve. Because Strategic is all about getting Democrats elected. It was a big surprise to me, NOT, just like he did before the 2022 midterms.
Newsom believes that one day the knuckle draggers will wake up and realize he is saving the planet, even if much of is destroyed in the process.
Today, California imports more electricity than any other US state, more than twice the amount of Virginia,
The hypocricy is hilarious – the State is so fixed on virtue signaling that it simply outsources all the fuel refining ‘to others’, and beams its air-conditioned satisfaction in all directions while soaking its citizens for the extra costs of the refining AND the delivery.
Regrettably, owing to California’s “special” status, we refines all our gasoline in California – no one else wants it.
Climatistas have convinced hundreds of millions of people — mostly in a handful of wealthy but blinkered countries — that biting the hands that feed you is a moral imperative.
The rest of the world, and even a few in the wealthy countries are wising up to this self-destructive fantasy.
“Not surprisingly, with California having huge costs for electricity and fuels, the recent Public Policy Institute of America survey revealed that California’s “green” Governor Newsom is by far the MOST UNPOPULAR Governor in America !”
I read the link twice, and missed any mention that he is “by far the MOST UNPOPULAR Governor in America !””
But I was curious, and found this.
https://abcnews.go.com/538/americans-love-governors/story?id=109382897
I downloaded the graph and it ranks his net approval rating at #29. I’m sure he’d like to be up there with Carney, Beshear, Moore, Shapiro et. al., but I don’t think you can back this up. Or is my evaluation of the first sentence in the post just more nitpicking?
Infinitely more thumbs than responses. Not even the usual, “Hey, **** YOU, man!!” variety. Since I expected this, I’ve girded up for the heartbreak….
Very nice. Once again this is a government issue, get the government out of the energy producing and distribution business and this whole mess goes away. California is an example of really bad government and they are going to pay dearly for it. It won’t be pretty
A LOT more than that. The earliest PG&E bill I have a PDF of is from April 2007, at 11.430 cents per kWh. The most recent April 2024 bill is 48.843, off-peak.
California electrical rates are $.488 kWh off peak and $.588 kWh on peak, which is from 4PM to 9PM every day. Be sure to dry your clothes and charge your EV while you are sleeping.
HELPFUL TIP: do not place noisy items in your dryer while sleeping, or wear ear plugs to bed.
> Governor Newsom continues to support reductions in the supply of California’s special blend of fuel that is not manufactured in other states, while in-state demand continues to increase.
The special blend is no longer necessary but remains as bribe to the remaining refineries.
The special blend also reduces the energy content of every gallon. If you inject air into ice cream you get arrested. If you inject ir into gasoline you are applauded and rewarded with higher profits.
On top of all the other taxes and fees applied to CA gasoline don’t forget to account for every California gallon having nearly 10% less energy content.
It is estimated by Bloomberg’s Green Energy Research Team to cost $US200 trillion to stop warming by 2050.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-07-05/-200-trillion-is-needed-to-stop-global-warming-that-s-a-bargain
Figuring there are 2 billion households in the world and 90 percent can’t afford anything additional the 200 million that can pay will have to pay.
That means $1 million per household in developed countries in electricity costs and or taxes.
Almost every household would rather have $1 million in the bank and a degree or two of warming.
The problem in much of the developed world is that too many politicians have lost touch with reality and allowed themselves to be pressured by environmentalists into making saving the planet a major priority. Such an effort translates into higher prices for unreliable energy sources, a classic lose-lose situation. Meanwhile in the developing world, the primary goal is economic growth and poverty alleviation, so its countries don’t worry about saving the planet but about improving lives. Californians and other jurisdictions with elected leaders of Newsom’s ilk had better go to the polls as soon as possible and get rid of these dreamers before they wreck their economies and bankrupt their residents.
The problem is, in California at least, the electorate consists of dreamers.
When will those evil oil companies come around and just quit supplying their harmful product to any state that sues them for harm?
That should end all of those suits within a few days.
In Australia, we now pay 49.6 c/litre in excise duty. On top of that there is a 10% GST, which is also applied to the excise duty so it is a tax on a tax. Currently, diesel is around $2.00/litre so the tax take is close to 34%.
I fail to understand why Exxon, Chevron, BP etc still supply oil to California if the Californian AG sues them for damages?
Just Stop Oil ! I am sure it would not be too long before Newson is on the phone making deals not to sue them anymore.
As a patriotic Brit it is amusing to watch a serious business competitor cripple itself but the effect on an increasingly insecure world of an impoverished USA probably outweighs the benefit.
We are doing our best to cripple ourselves, something likely to accelerate after the election despite Starmer’s claims of “lower energy bills from GB Energy”.
Title to the above article:
“Governor Newsom’s unpopularity might have something to do with his extreme mandates that make life unaffordable.”
Then again, there’s a higher probability that most people with an IQ above room temperature simply see him as the manicured poser that he is.