Ivanpah Solar Power Plant in Wheaton Springs, California

California is gas and energy starved. But this is not due to drought or a lack of resources. For while the state’s population has grown, the state government has willfully shut down and shrunk our energy supply. From the closures of the nuclear power plants at San Onofre and soon at Diablo Canyon, to the closure of two major oil refineries – the Phillips 66 in Wilmington and the Valero in Benicia – California politicians have left California with only six operating facilities. These closures will reduce the state’s oil refining production by up to 20%.

California refineries were recently closed due to high operating costs resulting from strict environmental rules, market shifts resulting from the conflict in Iran, the high cost of needed upgrades, and industry consolidation making California’s refined fuels less competitive against the cheaper imported fuels and leading operators to seek better returns elsewhere.

California’s political push away from gasoline vehicles (AB 32), carbon taxes, and lower profit margins have played additional roles in the closures.

Those in the state capitol, backed by donors in the environmental lobby, have been pushing a “green energy agenda” of “alternative resources.” But this too is a farce!

Take a drive through Altamont Pass or through Tehachapi, locations of two of the major windmill farms in this state. The majority of those windmills are always turned off! Why? The answer state officials will never (publicly) admit is that they are not efficient and have short operational lifespans. Hence the dismantling of the windfarm at San Gorgonio Pass. Another reason not regularly talked about is that animal-rights groups have sued the state because the windmills pose a danger: Birds often fly into propellers of the windmill blades, including some endangered species.

The most commonly given answer is curtailment. The utilities will ask the wind farm to turn off the machines when supply from the other producers (gas, coal, hydro, wind, solar) is greater than demand – which would lead any longtime California resident to ask: If California is producing a surplus of energy, then why the “brown-outs”? The state has a voraciously high demand for energy and during the summer months puts a strain on the antiquated electrical grid. Yet has no one thought to modernize the grid or construct enough power storage facilities for the excess energy that is generated?

Solar has been touted as the future. California has the largest desert in North America. However, this too is a red herring. As it turns out, the noise and pollution levels have made the plants unsafe for nearby desert residents. In fact PG&E terminated its contracts with the Ivanpah facility because it failed to meet energy goals, required natural gas to operate, and had high maintenance costs. Closing Ivanpah was one of the few things both the Biden and Trump administrations agreed on!

Oh, and the birds get burned alive by the solar mirrors.

In reality, petroleum is the life blood of modern Western Civilization: The automobiles to move us from place to place. Vehicles on sea/air/land support the supply chain. The stable flow of electricity powers our communities. It is the base product enabling the manufacturing of all our modern technology. Even the makeup on people’s faces and the capsules for daily medications that are consumed. Oil is everywhere.

This is why President Trump’s actions to reopen the oil drilling in California is not only good for the nation, but an absolute necessity for the state. As gas prices continue to climb, California must drill its own oil as a critical component of becoming energy independent.

While the U.S. uses very little Middle East oil, America has been a net exporter of oil for the last six years. With the Iran war affecting shipping routes in and out of the Persian Gulf, countries dependent on Middle East petroleum have been forced to go elsewhere for their oil needs, causing prices to go up globally.

Yet instead of taking care of our own needs, as a majority of Californians favor, the Golden State is being forced to import oil from the Bahamas! This has not done anything to bring relief to consumers at the gas pump, and unfortunately Sacramento leaders have vowed to fight the federal government on in-state drilling. But several Democrat gubernatorial candidates began calling on the state legislature to suspend the state’s gas tax, a position the Republican candidates have supported.

For now, however, California’s green energy projects are on life-support, the state is trying to get away from nuclear as fast as possible, and the oil market is going to continue to take a beating as long as the bombs continue to fall. With no indication as to when fuel costs will begin to come down, California’s refinery capabilities continue to constrict.

All of which has the world’s fifth largest economy stuck in “neutral.”