SACRAMENTO, California — California Gov. Gavin Newsom is trying to get his state off oil and gas — but the path is littered with political tripwires.
The Democrat’s plan to manage gas prices has drawn attacks from the National Republican Congressional Committee, criticism from neighboring governors and pushback from Democratic moderates at home.
The state is transitioning quickly to electric vehicles as it pursues a 2035 deadline to phase out sales of new gas cars — but combustion engines will be on the roads for decades to come, and Newsom is acutely sensitive to prices at the pump that cleared $6 per gallon each of the last two Septembers and are once again climbing.
His new plan to prevent price spikes by requiring oil refineries to keep more gasoline on hand is alarming neighboring governors. Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat whose state gets nearly half of its gas from California, teamed up with Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, a Republican, last week to tell Newsom in a public letter that it could drive up prices. The exchange got the attention of a Newsom nemesis, The Wall Street Journal editorial board, giving it more election-season oxygen.
