California is home to 9 International airports, 41 Military airports, 3 of the largest shipping ports in America, as well as more than 30 million registered vehicles, all of which cannot operate without imported foreign oil from other nations like Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Iraq, Columbia, and Russia. Thus, California is a serious national security risk for America.

In his nearly six years in office, Governor Gavin Newsom has aggressively moved to shut down oil production in California. Statewide production has fallen by more than one-third under his watch.

Because California is an isolated energy island market with no incoming oil pipeline connections from other states, Newsom’s shutdown agenda has increased dependence on waterborne crude imports – sourced primarily from foreign countries like Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Iraq, Columbia, and Russia.

The West Coast gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuels market is isolated from other supply/demand centers as California is an energy island isolated from the States East of the Sierra Mountains. The Sierra Mountains are a natural barrier that prevents the state from pipeline access to any of that excess oil from fracking. As such, the West Coast is susceptible to unexpected outages of West Coast refineries as it is unable to backfill an unexpected loss in supply by quickly supplying additional products from outside of the region.

Newsom’s policies continue to force California, the 5^th largest economy in the world, to be the only state in contiguous America that imports most of its crude oil demands from foreign countries. That dependence has increased imported crude oil from foreign countries from 5 percent in 1992 to 60 percent today of total consumption.

Newsom’s administration policies and combative approach have led California to a precarious position as the world’s fifth largest economy now exists in a perpetual supply crunch for crude oil, aviation, gasoline, and diesel fuels, leading to high costs, price volatility, and an increased risk of shortages.

California’s aggressive shift towards unreliable solar and wind for electricity, coupled with its move away from fossil fuels, has made the state more vulnerable to fuel shortages and blackouts. This not only affects the daily lives of Californians but also impacts critical infrastructure and industries that are essential for national security.

California uses 1.45 million barrels of oil each day, or well over 520 million barrels of oil per year, for the aviation, gasoline, and diesel fuels manufactured from crude oil, as well as the oil derivatives manufactured from oil that are the basis of more than 6,000 products in our society.

California transportation fuel demands have staggering numbers:

• With all its airports, California is the largest consumer of jet fuel in America.
• For its 30 million vehicles, California is the second-largest consumer of motor gasoline among the 50 states, just behind Texas.
• Diesel fuel is the second largest transportation fuel used in California, representing 17 percent of total fuel sales behind gasoline.

California continues to reduce in-state oil production, which grows its dependency on other nations for crude oil for its shrinking in-state refinery capabilities to meet the in-state demands for aviation and vehicle transportation fuels. With a reduction of California refinery capabilities, the State is heading in the direction of growing its importation of manufactured aviation fuels, diesel, and gasoline, and for the oil derivatives that are the basis of virtually every one of the more than 6,000 products in our society.

Governor Newsom continues his personal mission to have renewables of wind turbines and solar panels to replace fossil fuels. Newsom remains oblivious to the fact that renewables ONLY generate electricity, as they are incapable of making any products or manufacturing any aviation, gasoline, or diesel fuels, or making any of the oil derivatives that are the basis of virtually all the products being used by humanity.

• Renewables are incapable of making aviation fuel for commercial, military, and private planes.
• Renewables are incapable of making any gasoline for the States’ 30 million vehicles.
• Renewables are incapable of making diesel fuel, the second largest fuel used in California.
• Shockingly, renewables themselves cannot exist without the parts and components that are made from the oil derivatives manufactured from crude oil.

In October 2024, Phillips 66 announced that it would close its Wilmington-area refining complex this year, which will further reduce the state’s gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuels production capacity, wiping out more than 8% of the state’s crude oil processing capacity. Losing another 1.3 billion gallons in annual gasoline output will only worsen the state’s supply challenges. With the upcoming closure of the Phillips 66 Refinery in California in 2025, the state will obviously be importing less crude oil, but instead, will be importing fuels manufactured in China.

Asia is the region with the greatest number of future petroleum refineries. As of 2021, there were 88 new refinery facilities in planning or under construction in Asia for manufactured gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuels used by every transportation infrastructure, and the military, as well as the manufactured oil derivatives that are the basis of most every product being used by mankind.

Importantly however, California may not have the necessary port capacity, coastal storage, pipelines, or refinery facilities to support a continued shift in the gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuel supply chain toward imports, and that would exacerbate California’s port pollution problems. Herein lies a massive flaw in Newsom’s crusade to shut down in-state oil production: California may not have the infrastructure to meet demand with imported fuels. Californians should be alarmed. After all, Newsom is demanding a dramatic shift in the fuels supply chain, but we may not have the necessary port capacity, coastal storage, pipelines, or refinery facilities to execute it.

Fuel prices in California are quickly getting out of control. The California Energy Commission warned in August 2024 that the state lacked the refining capacity necessary to meet fuel demand. When you restrict supply and prices go up, the people who are hurt the most are low-income.

At the end of December 2024, a gallon of gas in California cost $4.46 on average. Of that total, Californians paid $1.20 in state and local taxes and fees.

In 2025, amendments to the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) approved by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) come into effect. The LCFS amendments will increase gas prices by 47 cents next year. By 2040, the added cost to the price per gallon could be $1.80.

California Governor Newsom remains unavailable to participate in conversations about Energy Literacy and the educational points to remember that crude oil (products and fuels), renewables (weather dependent generation of electricity), and nuclear power (generation of continuous and uninterruptable electricity) do different things.

If continued, Newsom’s shutdown agenda toward oil production and refinery capacity could leave California with no way to process adequate amounts of crude to meet in-state demands for Saudi aviation fuels, gasoline, and diesel– leading to more supply shocks and price spikes that Californians can’t afford.

California is a crucial and dynamic part of the United States with immense contributions to the nation, but its current trajectory in energy policy to eliminate fossil fuels, without a replacement to support the supply chain demand for products and fuels made from oil, and focus on “renewables” that only generate electricity, could pose risks that impact not just the state but potentially the broader national security landscape.

Illustration created with the assistance of OpenAI’s DALL·E.