Nick Pope
Contributor
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom is asking a state regulator to try to keep oil refineries in business in the state after Democrats spent years targeting the industry with aggressive regulation.
Newsom wrote to California Energy Commission (CEC) Vice Chair Siva Gunda on Monday to urge that Gunda and the CEC “redouble” their efforts to keep fuel refiners in the state on the heels of Valero’s announcement that it will be taking at least one of its California refineries offline by April 2026. In the letter, Newsom attempts to characterize the state’s dwindling refining presence as part of a wider national trend, but analysts have warned for years that California’s hostile regulatory environment is what is truly driving the fossil fuel industry’s retreat from the state.
“I write to direct you to redouble the State’s efforts to work closely with refiners on short- and long-term planning, including through high-level, immediate engagement, to help ensure that Californians continue to have access to a safe, affordable and reliable supply of transportation fuels, and that refiners continue to see the value in serving the California market, even as demand for fossil fuels continues its gradual decline over the coming decades,” the letter states. “Further, I am directing you, as my Administration’s lead representative on this issue, to reinforce the State’s openness to a collaborative relationship and our firm belief that Californians can be protected from price spikes and refiners can profitably operate in California — a market where demand for gasoline will still exist for years to come.” (RELATED: What Has California’s War On Fossil Fuels Actually Accomplished?)
Valero announced on April 16 that it intends “to idle, restructure, or cease refining operations at Valero’s Benicia Refinery by the end of April 2026.”
Patrick De Haan, a gasoline analyst, noted in an April 16 post to X that Valero’s announcement will leave only seven refineries in California by April 2026. For comparison, the state had 20 refineries as of 2000, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
California’s “cap-and-trade” program, as well as its tax environment and push to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars in the state by 2035, are frequently cited as examples of hostile regulation driving refineries out of the state. Meanwhile, Newsom and other California Democrats like Attorney General Rob Bonta have ripped the fossil fuel industry for years, often characterizing it as a malignant force in society or a collusive industry committed to misleading consumers.
A spokesman for Newsom said that “the Governor’s letter speaks for itself.”
California has the highest average per-gallon price of gas at the pump of any state in the country, according to AAA gas price data. Meanwhile, California regulators have proposed to more deeply involve the state in the management of refineries, including the prospect of state-owned refineries.
Andy Walz, president of Chevron Americas products, described California as a “tough place to do business” in August 2024 after his company decided to move its headquarters out of the state earlier that year. Walz specifically identified California’s “cap-and-trade” rules and the gas-powered car ban as specific headwinds that helped lead Chevron to its decision to move its center of gravity elsewhere.
“For well over two decades now, politicians like Governor Newsom have hammered California’s conventional energy producers, both large and small, with excessive taxes, regulations, and threats of profit taking,” Tom Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, previously told the DCNF. “Many companies have already moved out of the state, along with hundreds of thousands of residents as a result of these and other harmful policies … like a cap on profit margins, that hurt consumers by making conventional energy investments uneconomic. These types of policies have outsourced jobs to other states and increased California’s reliance on oil and electricity imports — all with little or no environmental benefit.”
In the letter, Newsom pointed to the recent closure of the LyondellBasell refinery in Houston and the Trump administration’s trade policies to support his argument that refinery closures are part of a broader national trend. When LyondellBasell announced that the refinery would close in January, the company said that it is getting out of the refining business altogether and focusing instead on low-carbon energy.
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Perhaps this episode qualifies as a new text book example of “CHUTZPAH”
The previous such example was the child on trial for the murder of his parents asks the court for leniency because he’s an orphan.
That language fits right in.
Yeah, they do — negative value.
Like the tree-climbing team exercise my company sent us through was to reinforce that we were the team and they cracked the whip.
A little late for the first, and evidently the second is no longer true.
It’s hard to imagine anyone dictating that or typing it with a straight face.
OT but your comment made me think of a real trial going on locally to me where the owner of a kennel who was shutdown for cruelty to the dogs is petitioning to be allowed to have an “emotional support dog”.
I would allow it, as long as the dog is allowed to have an emotional support submachinegun.
The “regulators” are Democrat appointees, so the party is responsible for them. Cars cannot run on unicorn farts and fairy dust.
Ol’ Gavin’s path to the Presidency depends on his being able to pass himself off as a pragmatic ‘centrist’ in a party that is rapidly careening further to the Left. Unfortunately for him, his fingerprints are all over the idiotic energy policies put in place by his rubber-stamp CA legislature and judiciary.
“redouble” their efforts
Now that’s funny. Twice a negative number is a bigger negative. 😉
Newsome is just positioning himself so that he can proclaim that he did everything in his power to keep the refinery from shutting down, after it closes down and consumers are upset about price spikes.
Yesterday’s most-overlooked news also pertains to the Golden State:
“In recent years, irresponsible policies have left our forests overgrown and vulnerable to devastating wildfires—like those seen in California—that have destroyed millions of acres, displaced families, and taken countless lives. That is why I took action to promote active forest management, clearing hazardous fuels, thinning dense forests, and ensuring well-maintained landscapes.”
— Presidential Message on Arbor Day, 2025 [ The White House April 25, 2025]Source: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/04/presidential-message-on-arbor-day-2025/
Alas, Liberation Day has yet to come to the (once) Golden State.
But all the premonitory signs are flashing bright yellow-orange, its downfall long foretold:*
“Comparing the achievements of the settlers in Utah and California, who were building their civilisations at the same time, one feels that Utah achieved greatness while California had greatness thrust upon it.” — Freeman Dyson, excerpted from a letter to England, dated 26 August 1948
Just in this past year, one has learned that the citizens of ever-growing Utah are #1 (of 50 states) by two significant measures:
(1) highest median household income (or wealth), taking into account the cost of living; &
(2) lowest income inequality (or highest income equality).
Both of which are conducive to a harmonious social and industrial order.
Meanwhile, California ranks absolute bottom (below even Mississippi) in so many indices that matter. If only they had a category for ‘most feudal State’ …
Of course, the California Exodus has contributed mightily to the recent growth of the Intermountain West, and beyond, extending even to Texas. It seems that these out-migrations have not been wholly beneficial to the Bear-Flag Republic.
But in our dreams, their children will return to aid in the rebuilding of their ancestral homeland. One bridge-highway-mine-well-refinery-dam-farm-factory at a time.
Signed, a hopeful native (5 generations) of the American Southwest
*P.S. Yes, this Freeman Dyson is the same young englishman who was later called the ‘Gentle Heretic’ of the climapocalypse dogma. For a first-person account of California’s historic decline, I’d recommend ‘Where I was from‘ by the late Joan Didion.
Wait…what? Hasn’t the California government been working to ban fossil fuels for decades? Now they’re getting what they wanted, suddenly they don’t want it anymore? But fossil fuels are still bad!
This is the best example I ever hear of for “Be careful what you wish for…”
What does stop oil now think? They made a press release, right?
Given that history, why ever would you imagine that what they say they don’t want is actually what they don’t want?
Is there a whole department in the California Democrat administration charged with producing double speak? I have seen and read a couple of articles this past day where Newsom is clearly refining his ability to speak for periods using long sentences, that convey absolutely no real meaning but tick the woke demand for obfuscation perfectly.
I hope the refinery bosses sent a letter to Newsom when they had made their closure decision reminding him of their willingness to meet his and his party’s desire to cease use of fossil fuels.
Dear Gavin,
Just to let you know we are shutting down this refinery. Only 19 more to go and you will have achieved your stated ambition.
Best regards
The fossil fuel team.
It seems to me that this is happening across the entire net-zero movement, the public and politicians are happy to go along with any and all anti-CO2 policies so long as the costs are unclear, and far off into the future.
Now the costs are here, job losses and loss of economic activity due to over-regulation of the oil/gas industry, sky high energy prices thanks to renewables, loss of choice thanks to EV and heat pump mandates, and guess what, the public don’t like it and the politicians are starting to notice.
“You are disgusting, filthy and dirty and killing the planet, and we hate you”.
“Wait! Where are you going? We still need you.”
“Come back!”
Can some folk from US tell this Australian why people continue to vote for a person who had openly damaged their standard of living?
What really is the fundamental appeal? Is it that many voters still fear that global warming is a real nam0made threat that only a strong leader can fix?
Geoff S
Two reasons:
Trump Derangement Syndrome is real, and on both sides of the aisle. Look at the last election — Trump vs a non-entity who hadn’t won a single primary vote in either 2020 or 2024, who spoke gibberish, representing wokism, DEI racism, higher energy prices, inflation in general, and had just come off 4 years of pretending Joe Biden was in top-top shape. It should have been a landslide, yet Trump only won by 1.5%. There are that many people who will vote for anybody but Trump.
The second reason exists in Australia too, and Europe, and probably everywhere, but I don’t read that much global news. People keep voting for the same green woke crowd, the ones who are destroying the economy, raising prices, raising taxes, and pretending men can be women. I don’t know what the actual reason is, but my best guess is the green propaganda media machine has been spouting the same lies for so long that people figure it’s better to be safe than sorry, not realizing how expensive it will be.
I don’t know what the actual reason is
Generally, the media that most people get their info from has succeeded in painting the right as bad and downplaying the damage the left has done, and most people don’t care to spend the effort needed to learn anything more. Put more simply: most people don’t bother to research.
Re: “tell this Australian why people continue to vote for …”
(1) Feudalism works, for many: the Lords (& Ladies), at the top; their loyal Serfs,* at the bottom. Then who needs the yeoman Middle-Class minority (~ 40%)?
(2) The coastal-enclave urban ‘elites’ insist that the USofA should be (re)turned into a vast depopulated Nature-Park, for their recreational purposes; herding the displaced populace into tight suburban quarters* is just a necessary evil on the road to their idea of Paradise.
(3) Others (dissenters) tend to ‘vote with their feet‘, i.e. they migrate out of Calif (39 million) into the Intermountain West (AZ, NV, UT / Idaho, even as far as Texas, 31+ million). This distillation inflates the influence of [see #1. above]
(4) Election integrity is also questionable in a single-party state. Even so, they say that nearly 40% voted against the incumbent party in the recent federal election. 40% of ~ 40 million is a lot of dissenters. Despite the poor odds, it’s not quite over yet. [ Please pray for them. ]
I hope this suffices. Maybe some of it applies also to Australia (NSW)? IDK.
Sincerely yours,
— as compiled by a native (5th generation) of the American Southwest, who bears witness from his tenure (’85-’94) in West-L.A., when the above (1-4) was evident if not openly admitted.
*P.S. If one flies low (small airplane) into one of the famously wealthy coastal cities, one can view miles of mobile-home parks (manufactured housing), where the servant class enjoys its few-hundred sq-ft of California Paradise, but are otherwise out-of-sight to tourists.
When you look at the population demographics of California, it becomes clear that 4 counties out of the 58 elect all statewide offices. All the other counties could sit home and not vote at all and the results would not be different.
It’s the result of democracy. The California state legislature has been controlled by democrats since 1958, so any complaints about the results of their legislative activities are fully owned by them.
Too big. Should be 3 states minimum.
It is the fault of the US Supreme Court, which removed the distinction between the upper and lower houses of state legislatures. It is all just popular vote now, so the absolute lowest common denominator rules. Democracies always self destruct.
Well, you know, it’s hard to put someone out of business when they leave the state.
A simpler solution would be for the California legislature to mandate car owners cutting holes into cars’ floorboards so that they can run on Flintstone’s energy.
LOL!
Haven’t you been paying attention? Gavin the Bold has always been for everything good and reasonable.
I wholeheartedly agree that Newsom needs refining, and a lot of it.
LOL!
Typical one party state edicts from CA. With no push back from the legislature they get everything done their way, and they’re proud of it. Boasting the 4th largest economy in the world makes them think they’re doing everything right when in fact it’s in spite of them.
Maybe this is part of the problem: California requires a special fuel blend unique to California, often referred to as California Reformulated Gasoline (CaRFG). It is less polluting but requires more refining so is more expensive.
Oil companies think is it worth prducing for just one state especially if refineries need updating.
Once a refinery is closed, it will never be reopened. A new one will have to be built.
Try that in California
If you need more examples of the effects of a one party state on businesses, California has many more to offer.
https://youtu.be/CtYx6OeFUkc?si=GlquKM1CnRizclWy
There are several reasons why the refinery is contemplating closing, one is due to the reduced gasoline demand in California since 2004 a consequence of higher gasoline prices of the time. Here I separated out the influence of higher fuel economy vehicles since 2003 and electric vehicles a minor component. I expect my article “Running on Empty: The Decline in Gasoline Demand in California” will be release next week with greater details.
Too few state governments control the West Coast. Needs political diversity.
California brings these problems on themselves, I don’t feel sorry for them.
Hey Gav – aint you gonna give us your nice shoulder jig?
Left-right-left-right?
Like you did when celebrating all those Palisade fire deaths?