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California’s high gas prices are Gavin Newsom’s fault — and a gift to China

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California’s absurd energy policy makes sure that its residents pay the highest gas prices and nearly the highest electricity prices in the nation. And it’s not oil companies that benefit most. It’s China.

As soon as the Strait of Hormuz closed closed during the current war with Iran, gas prices raced toward $6 a gallon, with Gov. Gavin Newsom attempting to shift blame to oil company “greed,” market “speculation,” and global turmoil. He refused to take any responsibility for the role his own policies played.

Over the past two decades, Californians watched our refinery count fall from 20 to 11, as facilities shut down under burdensome regulations and costs. At the same time, state officials required that gas stations sell a boutique recipe used by almost no one else in the country. This meant that supply from the Gulf Coast or Midwest could not be rerouted to the West Coast in an emergency. 

When Phillips 66 walked away from its LA-area refinery last year, and Valero announced the closure of its Benicia facility this year, California lost roughly 17 percent of its refining capacity in under two years.

Thanks to Newsom, a state of nearly 40 million people is backed into a corner. California burns more gasoline than it can refine, and must import a growing share of that fuel by sea from Asia. The Institute For Energy Research recently noted that California is now importing 20% of its gasoline from Asian refineries, and imports of refined products are up 36% this year.  

It’s not exactly........

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