This piece examines how Governor Gavin Newsom’s energy policies have driven up costs, hollowed out domestic production, strained refineries and pipelines, increased imports, and weakened military readiness — and why restoring permitting, drilling, and refining capacity is critical to California’s economy and national security.
When Gavin Newsom flew to Brazil to promote his clean energy image, Californians were left paying the bill for his policies. Families are staring at some of the highest gasoline and electricity prices in the nation because state leadership prioritized ideology over energy reliability. That affordability gap is not abstract — it hits wallets and threatens our ability to act in a crisis.
Since 2018 more than 360 energy companies have left the state, a direct response to crushing regulations and a hostile permitting environment. New oil drilling permits plunged roughly 95 percent after Newsom took office in 2019, shrinking the pool of domestic producers. The result is a steep drop in in-state production and growing dependence on foreign sources.
California has produced nearly 128 million fewer barrels of oil over the past five years despite sitting on the fifth-largest petroleum reserves in the country. Back in 1982 less than six percent of our crude was imported, but state data now show over 60 percent of California’s crude comes from abroad. Today Brazil accounts for about 20 percent of our imports and Iraq supplies roughly 21 percent.
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Refining capacity in the state is unraveling at the same time production is sliding. Analysts expect California to lose nearly 20 percent of its remaining refining capacity by early 2026 if current trends continue. That shrinking capacity will create a higher risk of blackouts, fuel shortages and severe price spikes for millions across the West Coast who depend on California’s energy network.
Many of our pipelines require about 90,000 barrels a day to stay financially viable, yet bottlenecks and reduced production have pushed throughput down toward 50,000 barrels a day. Pipeline operators are facing millions in monthly losses and are forced to consider idling or shutting lines that keep the system moving. When pipelines falter, refineries and distribution hubs feel the pain quickly.
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Crimson Midstream, which runs one of the state’s largest crude networks, is struggling to sustain operations amid uncertainty driven by Sacramento’s policies. The San Pablo Bay Pipeline now faces the real possibility of shutting down in the new year, a move that would further destabilize refinery logistics. These are not hypothetical threats; they are immediate financial and operational realities.
The policy outcome is a manmade shortage that forces California to import more refined product at higher prices, sometimes even buying back supplies from offshore reserves. Working families pay the cost at the pump while state leaders talk about political milestones and photo ops overseas. Meanwhile the energy chain that supports everyday life and commerce grows more fragile.
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There is a national security angle that often gets lost in the climate debate. California hosts numerous U.S. military bases tied to Indo-Pacific operations and those installations depend on specialized aviation fuels refined here. In 2024 California’s military facilities consumed about 10 million gallons of gasoline, and recent refinery closures are estimated to cut jet fuel production by at least 600,000 gallons a day.
No amount of out-of-state travel or press releases can erase the fact that we are hollowing out a critical part of the defense industrial base. When domestic refining and fuel supply shrink, the logistics of deploying forces quickly become more complicated and expensive. That weakens our posture in regions where readiness matters most.
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If California keeps choking its own production and strangling pipelines, the ripple effects will extend beyond state lines to the entire West Coast. The solution starts with restoring confidence for producers through a dramatic increase in permitting, expanding drilling capacity, and redeploying advanced recovery techniques to boost output. We need policies that place energy security and affordability ahead of political theater.
Sacramento should be aligned with federal leaders in Washington to rebuild domestic energy capacity, not sabotage it for headlines. Working with Congress and the administration to expand production and revive refining will lower costs, keep pipelines solvent, and protect the fuel supplies the military depends on. The choice is between continued scarcity and a return to practical energy independence for California and the nation.
