California Gov. Gavin Newsom spent the last four years provoking the Big Oil boogeyman. Now, it’s haunting him.
Newsom’s casting of Big Oil as the villain behind the state’s perpetually high fuel prices signaled the industry’s waning influence in Sacramento. But the plot took a dramatic turn for the governor and his party when two refineries in the state announced closure plans.
“Refineries all across the globe are struggling,” Newsom said last month in unveiling a suite of proposals to keep refineries solvent, including holding talks with potential buyers and offering incentives to boost in-state oil drilling. “We’ve got some challenges, and so just require some new considerations.”
The about-face is emblematic of Democrats’ course correction on cost-of-living issues in the wake of the presidential election — and provides a real-time demonstration of the political risks of pursuing an aggressive transition away from fossil fuels.
