Governor Newsom could benefit from a few takeaways about energy literacy that he, and others in America’s ruling class and the media refuse to discuss. Let’s list some of the more important ones:
- The potential for nuclear fusion for unlimited zero-emission electricity is exciting. In the decades ahead, it has the potential to wean the world from coal and natural gas for electricity generation. But this is still a long way in the future.
- But fusion (and fission, used in today’s nuclear power plants), wind, solar, and hydro, ONLY generate electricity. None can manufacture any products or fuels for transportation infrastructures needed by the growing population on this planet.
- Crude oil is never used for generating electricity AND is virtually useless until it’s manufactured into usable products via the seven hundred refineries around the world.
- Again, and this cannot be over-emphasized, more than 6,000 products are made from the oil derivatives manufactured from crude oil, and the 50,000 merchant ships and 50,000 jets, militaries, and space programs are powered on fuels manufactured from crude oil.
- We may have long-range plans to generate electricity from wind, solar, and nuclear fusion, but no plans to replace crude oil that is manufactured into everything in our daily lives.
California’s growing dependency on other nations, some not particularly friendly to America, is a serious national security risk for all of us. It also deprives Californians of jobs and business opportunities and forces drivers to pay premium prices for fuel.
Economists and experts have consistently pointed to the same fundamental factors driving high gas prices in California: high taxes and fees, expensive environmental mandates on fuel manufacturers, and policies that limit refining capacity. All these factors create a tight market for transportation fuels.
Back in 2018, Senator John Moorlach and the senior author of this article testified in support of Senate Bill 1074, “Disclosure of government-imposed costs.” The bill would have required gas stations to post near each gas and diesel pump a list of all cost factors, all taxes, as well as the costs associated with the state’s numerous environmental regulations being imposed on the manufacturers. This transparency would help Californians understand why they are paying more than a dollar a gallon for fuel more than the rest of the country.
Newsom’s Democratic party controlled the 2018 committee considering the issue, and they clearly did not want the public to see all these costs included in the posted pump price. So, they killed the Bill from future consideration.
Today, we are hearing the same concerns that Senate Bill 1074 would have remedied. So, the Newsom energy dance continues, and Californians continue to pay the piper.
To discuss all this, during a captivating and candid 58-minute Podcast discussion, we invited California-based engineer and author Ronald Stein to be our guest this week on
The Other Side of the Story on America Out Loud Talk Radio on Saturday, January 7, and Sunday, January 8, at both 11 am and 8 pm Eastern each day.