For years, energy policy in the Golden State has been marked by politicized chaos and willful ignorance. To shift course in 2025, here are four key facts policymakers should know.
On refinery capacity losses and the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, Sacramento chooses to pretend all is well. Californians paying ever-higher gas prices surely disagree.
Declining in-state production means more foreign oil tankers coming to California ports, but the Golden State may not have the infrastructure to meet gasoline demand with imported crude.
Economists criticize state energy policies and dismiss Newsom’s price gouging claims as “conspiracy theories inconsistent with economic logic and the available data.”
J.P. Morgan analysts say the U.S. has “achieved energy independence for the first time in 40 years.” Meanwhile, California has chosen the opposite path.
Instead of producing more of the oil its economy needs at home, the Golden State is choosing to import more than 875,000 barrels per day from overseas.
Amid rising prices and a severe affordability crisis, Sacramento should be looking for ways to provide relief to working families. But instead, the state’s energy policies are only making matters worse.