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Gavin Newsom and California Have the Worst Energy Policies in the Country
Don’t look now, but two weeks before the midterm elections, the 2024 presidential race is already in full swing. While the lion’s share of the attention is on the Republican field, the rumor mill is also speculating about potential successors to President Joe Biden, who turns 80 next month. High atop any pundit’s list is California Governor Gavin Newsom.
In many ways, he is the ideal candidate for a party searching for its next leader. Tall, handsome and with an enviable head of hair, the 55-year-old Newsom is a relative baby compared to his party’s aging infrastructure. He has beaten back a GOP recall effort, and as governor of the nation’s largest state, he presides over the world’s fifth largest economy with a $3.4 trillion gross state product.
But above all else, Newsom is the embodiment of the green energy that courses through the veins of Democratic party faithful. In fact, his candidacy would represent the most aggressive, radical environmental record, even when stacked against the likes of Washington Governor Jay Inslee, California Senator Kamala Harris, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who all boast credible environmental bona fides.
Like Biden, Newsom’s actions as Governor have been nothing short of declarations of war on fossil fuel and traditional energy solutions. To wit:
He invoked orders to consider climate change when making investment decisions for California pensions in 2019. In 2022, he declared that all new passenger vehicles sold in California by 2035 be electric, and just last week, continued his war on oil companies by calling for a windfall profits tax.
The results haven’t been pretty. Californians pay the highest cost per-gallon for gas in the nation (averaging over $6.15 per gallon, versus the U.S. average of $3.90 in mid October). This is part of an intentional plan by Newsom and eco groups to make the cost of transitioning to electric vehicles look palatable. With an average EV costing north of $60,000, it isn’t an easy sell. A proposed high-speed rail development from San Francisco to Orange County, championed by Newsom since his days as San Francisco mayor, is a decade behind schedule – with over $10 billion already spent – with no go-forward plan in sight, and a cost estimate jumping from $33 billion to $110 billion for the megaproject.
Newsom’s presidential campaign would also no doubt attempt to initiate additional clean air and clean water standards. In 2020, he and his state sued the EPA for delaying state-driven standards for clean air, all designed to punish Californians who contributed to the ‘climate crisis’ with personal vehicle use. Simply put, to Newsom, if you drive a gas- or diesel-powered car or truck, you’re a problem that should be eliminated.
Should Newsom try for the White House, and bring his extreme environmental beliefs with him to the campaign trail, Americans would be wise to summarily reject both. Especially in rural America, including my home state of Alaska, much of our transportation is in areas without superhighways or near mega-cities and their mass transit systems. Newsom’s war on gas-powered autos would likely mean rural areas could find all-terrain vehicles, motorcycles, snowmachines and tractors next up on the chopping block.
Newsom has attempted to make California the shining example of a green-energy-powered state. However, in the face of high temperatures and low-wind weather, Newsom turned tail and re-engaged natural gas and diesel-powered plants to add capacity to the grid. Newsom knows wind and solar won’t exclusively cover his state’s needs, but that doesn’t stop him from forcibly phasing out traditional energy solutions.
America is learning the hard way the consequences of demonizing and vilifying traditional energy producers. Biden and team have put our national security in the hands of OPEC and other hostile foreign nations. In California, things are even worse, and its citizens are fleeing in droves – the state’s population has declined year over year. This trend could be Newsom’s undoing. Transporting California values on the rest of the nation is hardly a winning campaign message, and the misguided green agenda lies at its core.
Rick Whitbeck is the Alaska State Director for Power The Future, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for American energy jobs. Contact him at Rick@PowerTheFuture.com and follow him on Twitter @PTFAlaska.
https://www.realclearenergy.org/art...st_energy_policies_in_the_country_860893.html
Gavin Newsom and California Have the Worst Energy Policies in the Country
Don’t look now, but two weeks before the midterm elections, the 2024 presidential race is already in full swing. While the lion’s share of the attention is on the Republican field, the rumor mill is also speculating about potential successors to President Joe Biden, who turns 80 next month. High atop any pundit’s list is California Governor Gavin Newsom.
In many ways, he is the ideal candidate for a party searching for its next leader. Tall, handsome and with an enviable head of hair, the 55-year-old Newsom is a relative baby compared to his party’s aging infrastructure. He has beaten back a GOP recall effort, and as governor of the nation’s largest state, he presides over the world’s fifth largest economy with a $3.4 trillion gross state product.
But above all else, Newsom is the embodiment of the green energy that courses through the veins of Democratic party faithful. In fact, his candidacy would represent the most aggressive, radical environmental record, even when stacked against the likes of Washington Governor Jay Inslee, California Senator Kamala Harris, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who all boast credible environmental bona fides.
Like Biden, Newsom’s actions as Governor have been nothing short of declarations of war on fossil fuel and traditional energy solutions. To wit:
He invoked orders to consider climate change when making investment decisions for California pensions in 2019. In 2022, he declared that all new passenger vehicles sold in California by 2035 be electric, and just last week, continued his war on oil companies by calling for a windfall profits tax.
The results haven’t been pretty. Californians pay the highest cost per-gallon for gas in the nation (averaging over $6.15 per gallon, versus the U.S. average of $3.90 in mid October). This is part of an intentional plan by Newsom and eco groups to make the cost of transitioning to electric vehicles look palatable. With an average EV costing north of $60,000, it isn’t an easy sell. A proposed high-speed rail development from San Francisco to Orange County, championed by Newsom since his days as San Francisco mayor, is a decade behind schedule – with over $10 billion already spent – with no go-forward plan in sight, and a cost estimate jumping from $33 billion to $110 billion for the megaproject.
Newsom’s presidential campaign would also no doubt attempt to initiate additional clean air and clean water standards. In 2020, he and his state sued the EPA for delaying state-driven standards for clean air, all designed to punish Californians who contributed to the ‘climate crisis’ with personal vehicle use. Simply put, to Newsom, if you drive a gas- or diesel-powered car or truck, you’re a problem that should be eliminated.
Should Newsom try for the White House, and bring his extreme environmental beliefs with him to the campaign trail, Americans would be wise to summarily reject both. Especially in rural America, including my home state of Alaska, much of our transportation is in areas without superhighways or near mega-cities and their mass transit systems. Newsom’s war on gas-powered autos would likely mean rural areas could find all-terrain vehicles, motorcycles, snowmachines and tractors next up on the chopping block.
Newsom has attempted to make California the shining example of a green-energy-powered state. However, in the face of high temperatures and low-wind weather, Newsom turned tail and re-engaged natural gas and diesel-powered plants to add capacity to the grid. Newsom knows wind and solar won’t exclusively cover his state’s needs, but that doesn’t stop him from forcibly phasing out traditional energy solutions.
America is learning the hard way the consequences of demonizing and vilifying traditional energy producers. Biden and team have put our national security in the hands of OPEC and other hostile foreign nations. In California, things are even worse, and its citizens are fleeing in droves – the state’s population has declined year over year. This trend could be Newsom’s undoing. Transporting California values on the rest of the nation is hardly a winning campaign message, and the misguided green agenda lies at its core.
Rick Whitbeck is the Alaska State Director for Power The Future, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for American energy jobs. Contact him at Rick@PowerTheFuture.com and follow him on Twitter @PTFAlaska.
https://www.realclearenergy.org/art...st_energy_policies_in_the_country_860893.html
