California Gov. Gavin Newsom seems hellbent on destroying his state. During his over seven years in office, we’ve seen homelessness explode, the cost of living skyrocket, billionaires and their tax dollars heading for greener pastures, and new levies proposed seemingly daily by the far-left legislature.

Golden State residents already face gas prices that are always at the top or near the top of the highest in the nation. They’re averaging $4.81 a gallon right now, about $1.60 more than the national average. In June 2022, California prices shot to $6.44, and I vividly remember it costing more than $100 just to fill my tank.

But it could get worse — potentially much, much worse — if the state continues on its collision course with reality, the Chevron company wrote to Newsom in a letter Tuesday.

Republican state Senator Shannon Grove posted the letter to social media:

I've warned for YEARS: Sacramento's radical anti-oil policies are only going to further increase energy costs for Californians.

Unfortunately, Chevron's recent letter to California leadership only confirms my concerns.

CARB's Cap-and-Invest plan will:
• Spike gas prices… pic.twitter.com/2b9YtlWWRx

— Senator Shannon Grove (@ShannonGroveCA) March 4, 2026

Her tweet continues

CARB's Cap-and-Invest plan will:

• Spike gas prices >$1/gallon by 2030
• Put 536,000+ jobs at risk
• Threaten fuel supply, military readiness & national security
• Major refineries are already gone (Phillips 66 LA, Valero Benicia). CA must reverse these disastrous policies NOW!

It’s all got to do with California’s ludicrous carbon emissions policies, which have driven multiple refineries out of the state and threaten to end the oil business here entirely:

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is aiming to make companies cleaner by aggressively lowering the cap on how much total pollution is allowed in the state. Specifically, the board is proposing to pull 118.3 million allowances out of the state’s market between 2027 and 2030 and has more recently increased its carbon reduction target to 90% by 2045.

MORE: California's Losing Oil Refineries, and Guess Whose Fault It Is?

The Hidden Cost Californians Pay for Flawed Energy Policies

Chevron’s Andy Walz, whose title is President, Downstream, Midstream and Chemicals, said in the missive that the policy would be a nightmare for California residents. (I should say, as one of those residents, even more of a nightmare):

This regulation will increase transportation and aviation fuel prices for consumers. It will risk significant job losses, including many high-paying union jobs, while reducing funding for essential public services.

It will upend California’s fuels market and threaten critical energy and national security assets.

Chevron Warns of Irreversible Harm to California’s Economy and Energy Security in Letter to gov. Newsom.

Democrats and Gavin Newsom stubbornly cling to carbon taxing – not because they are true believers – because it’s a revenue-generating tax.@CaliforniaGlobe pic.twitter.com/4uYI6JOIFJ

— Mike Netter (@nettermike) March 4, 2026

Walz had more, saying that the measure wouldn’t just financially crippple working families, but it would nuke hundreds of thousands of jobs. He also noted that such outcomes pose a threat to the nation as a whole because the refinery closures increase “risks to military readiness and national security.”

As if that wasn’t enough, Walz had this dire warning:

"The California energy industry’s economic, industrial, environmental and national security benefits have been the foundation of a healthy, prosperous state and nation. Adversarial policies at local, regional and state levels have eroded that foundation," Walz said.

"These proposed regulatory changes threaten to destroy it. Chevron urges policymakers and regulators to reconsider and revise the proposed regulation before it causes lasting and irreversible harm to California’s economy and energy security and broader vital American interests," he concluded.

Whoa.

Newsom’s presidential aspirations have taken somewhat of a hit lately due to a series of gaffes. 

This should be the nail in the coffin of his fever dreams. I wish I were hopeful that he would listen to Walz, but the exquisitely coiffed governor has shown on all too many occasions that he doesn’t care about the state — or the people suffering in it.

Editor’s Note: Gavin Newsom wants to turn America into one big version of California - a failed, overtaxed, dystopian nightmare.

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