Newsom’s avoidance of addressing powerful power coverage questions will expose his restricted power literacy over the subsequent 4 years of economic torture upon those who voted for him.
Printed November 9, 2022 at https://www.cfact.org/2022/11/09/update-re-elected-governor-newsoms-energy-literacy-will-be-challenged-over-the-next-4-years/
Ronald Stein is an engineer, senior coverage advisor on power literacy for Heartland, and co-author of the Pulitzer Prize nominated e-book “Clear Vitality Exploitations.”
The continual exodus of residents from the state has resulted in a lack of a consultant in Washington for the primary time in its 171-year historical past. Departing residents are being adopted by giant firms and privately owned companies which have moved their headquarters out of California in 2021 at twice their fee in each 2020 and 2019 and at three instances their fee in 2018.
California has a historical past of getting the very best gasoline costs within the nation. Why? For one, the West Coast fuels market is remoted from different provide/demand facilities as California is an power island. The Sierra Mountains are a pure barrier that stops the state from pipeline entry to any of that extra oil. As such, the West Coast is inclined to surprising outages of West Coast refineries as it’s unable to backfill an surprising loss in provide by shortly supplying further merchandise from exterior of the area.
Newsom is emphatically complaining that the oil corporations are making outlandish income, however he could also be out of contact with actuality as two California refineries have shut down beneath his present watch and two extra could also be closing in his new time period.
Beneath Newsom’s watch in the previous few years, two of California’s refineries have just about shut down and are not manufacturing gasoline, aviation fuels, or any oil derivatives. These two, Phillips66 at Rodeo and Marathon at Martinez, at the moment are solely specializing in renewable diesel.
Extra monetary unhappy information might happen beneath Newsom’s subsequent time period with the everlasting closure of two extra California refineries, the Chevron Refinery at Richmond and the PBF Refinery at Martinez. If the courts uphold the 2021 Bay Space Air High quality Administration (BAAQMD) rule 6-5 for an extra discount in particulate emissions, each have acknowledged that they’ll shut down earlier than spending one billion {dollars} to retrofit their refineries to adjust to additional particulate emission reductions.
The world has seen the impression on Germany and Britain with their dependency on Russia for many of its power, however for the 4th largest financial system on the planet, in California, Newsom already has the State greater than 56 p.c depending on imported crude oil, however repeatedly seeks additional reductions of in-state oil manufacturing that locations higher dependency on international international locations.
California’s rising dependency on international international locations is a nationwide safety threat for all of America. Does Newsom anticipate a greater final result than what Germany and Britain skilled by not controlling extra of its power future calls for?
I’m positive that Newsom had an opportunity to view the 2006 film “Blood Diamonds” starring Leonardo DiCaprio that portrays most of the comparable atrocities now occurring in pursuit of the “Blood Minerals” i.e., these unique minerals and metals to help the “inexperienced” motion inside rich international locations that proceed selling environmental degradation to landscapes in growing international locations, and imposes humanity atrocities to residents with yellow, brown, and black skinned employees being exploited for the inexperienced motion of the few rich nations.
Regardless ofthe Biden administration’s declaration that EV battery supplies from China could also be tainted by little one labor made with supplies recognized to be produced with little one or pressured labor, Newsom continues to help subsidies to acquire EV’s and construct extra wind and photo voltaic when these subsidies are offering monetary incentives to the growing international locations mining for these “inexperienced” supplies that promotes additional exploitations of poor folks in growing international locations. I personally thought that Newsom had larger ethical and moral requirements that may cease him from exploiting the poor in growing international locations.
Newsom appears to be oblivious to the fact that every part that wants electrical energy is produced from the oil derivatives manufactured from crude oil, however Newsom continues to help wind and photo voltaic that solely generate intermittent electrical energy however can not manufacture something for society. Newsom has but to determine a alternative for the oil derivatives which might be the premise of greater than 6,000 merchandise and fuels for our varied transportation infrastructures, and the financial system.
Life With out Oil is NOT AS SIMPLE AS NEWSOM MAY THINK as renewable power is just intermittent electrical energy from breezes and sunshine as NEITHER wind generators nor photo voltaic panels can manufacture something for society. Local weather change might impression humanity however being mandated to stay with out the merchandise manufactured from oil will necessitate existence being mandated again to the horse and buggy days of the 1800’s and might be the best risk to civilization’s eight billion residents.
In Newsom’s all-electric world, Newsom’s weird power insurance policies replicate his believes that every one the infrastructures developed in lower than two centuries, from the merchandise manufactured from crude oil, are NOT wanted by future societies, equivalent to medical, electronics, communications, and the numerous transportation infrastructures equivalent to airways, service provider ships, cars, vans, army, and the area applications.
In response to the U.S. Vitality Info Administration (EIA), California’s excessive value of electrical energy is already fifty p.c larger than the nationwide common for residents, and double the nationwide averages for industrial, and are projected to go even larger.
California is the nation’s high producer of electrical energy from photo voltaic, geothermal, and biomass, however the incapability to interchange the closure of repeatedly uninterruptable electrical energy from nuclear and pure fuel energy vegetation with intermittent electrical energy from renewables is inflicting the state to import extra of its electrical energy.
Once more, beneath Newsom’s watch, the EIA says that California imports extra electrical energy than another US state, greater than twice the quantity of Virginia, the second largest importer of electrical energy.
Newsom’s insurance policies proceed to drive California to be the one state in contiguous America that imports most of its crude oil power from international international locations. That dependence has elevated imported crude oil from international international locations from 5 p.c in 1992 to 56 p.c at this time of complete consumption.
At at this time’s worth of crude oil approaching $100 per barrel the imported crude oil prices California greater than $150 million {dollars} a day, sure, day by day, being paid to oil-rich international international locations, depriving Californians of jobs and enterprise alternatives, and drivers to pay these premium costs for gasoline.
Richer international locations now have larger gasoline costs, whereas poorer international locations and international locations that produce and export oil have decrease value for fuels. A evaluation of international petroleum gasoline costs per gallon in U.S. {dollars} exhibits the worldwide intelligence and tendencies of gasoline costs of the rich international locations which have opted to go “inexperienced” at any value, in contrast with poorer international locations and international locations that produce and export oil.
One other challenge that Newsom won’t focus on is funding for future street upkeep. Newsom has mandated no gross sales of inside combustion engine automobiles after 2035 however seems incapable of acknowledging that heavier EV’s contribute nothing for street upkeep and repairs. California has nearly 400,000 miles of roadways which might be closely depending on street taxes from fuels that contribute greater than $8.8 billion yearly, the identical tax base that additionally funds the environmental applications that might be diminishing within the many years forward.
Perhaps Newsom will produce a plan within the subsequent 4 years to finance the billions of {dollars} for the roads being utilized by EV’s or simply move that downside on to his predecessor.
California voters had an opportunity to recall Newsom in 2021 however selected to help his weird and costly power insurance policies. Following the failed recall, Newsom was simply re-elected by the voters which might be keen to simply accept the very best power prices in America. Voters help his avoidance of addressing these powerful power coverage questions that may expose his restricted power literacy over the subsequent 4 years of economic torture upon the working class that voted for him.
Ronald Stein, P.E.
Ambassador for Vitality & Infrastructure
http://www.energyliteracy.internet/
