Chutzpah. Perhaps the best definition is someone who murders his parents and pleads for leniency because he’s an orphan. A close second is California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has led the one-party state in driving oil companies and refineries out of California, and then blaming them, and of course, Donald Trump, for astronomically high gas prices. How bad is it? This bad:
Read more What is really driving electricity (in)affordability?
Graphic: X Post
At Legal Insurrection, Leslie Eastman adds additional detail:
For example, Gavin Newsom signed into law a measure ordering energy producers to stockpile gasoline, despite pushback from industry. Then, the oil companies began to see the handwriting on the wall and made a strategic retreat.
Phillips 66 terminated operations at its Los Angeles-area refinery in the fourth quarter of 2025. Chevron moved its headquarters to Texas, citing high taxes and burdensome regulations. Valero Energy Corporation, which announced plans to close its Benicia oil refinery (located just northeast of San Francisco, in 2026), has just been fined for “air quality violations” to the tune of $3.25 million.
Like the petty tyrant he is, Newsom stamped his little feet, shaking grease from his hair, and tried to strike back at Chevron:
Graphic: X Post
Oil companies have, for the most part, avoided engaging politicians, spending billions instead fending off lawsuits. Chevron has changed that:
Graphic: X Post
However, Chevron has taken a new approach… this time directly targeting the regulators and politicians who view its firm as evil and a cash cow deserving to be pilfered.
Drivers across California, including here in the Central Valley, may be noticing new signs posted at some Chevron gas stations pointing the finger at Sacramento for high gas prices.
The signs carry messages like: “Sacramento policies did this. Now, you pay more.”
Others saying, “California has the highest gas taxes and fees in America.”
The signs also include a QR code customers can scan for more information.
Chevron says the campaign is meant to explain why Californians are paying some of the highest gas prices in the country.
And so has the US Oil and Gas Association:
Graphic: X Post
The US Oil and Gas Association President also told the California Post:
“It’s interesting how the politicians who are picked up every morning by a black SUV are experts on gas prices but always fail to recognize the impact their bad decisions actually have on gas prices,” Tim Stewart said.
Read more American Thinker Takeaways, May 26, 2026
The group had been referencing Newsom’s taxpayer-funded drivers, who ferry the governor between events across the state and leave him out of touch with everyday commuters.
“Chevron works hard to help educate Californians about Sacramento’s energy and tax policies. These adversarial policies have resulted in California losing nearly 18% of its refining capacity in less than a year,” a Chevron spokesperson told The California Post.
“Most Chevron-branded gas stations in California are independently owned and operated. Attacking California’s small businesses like this is deeply unfair and irresponsible. We urge Sacramento to take energy policy seriously and stop making life expensive for California drivers,” they added.
At the pump, Californians are already approaching $7.00 per gallon and aren’t in the mood to be lectured on pretty much anything by Gavin Newsom, who will soon be term-limited out of office. Losing around 20% of refining capacity is no small matter, but California’s politicians and regulators are perpetually in “who do they think they are?” mode. Used to having their way, they elevate their effete noses and double down on the lunatic policies driving residents and businesses out of state in record numbers.
Even more stupidly, they’re driving the people who make the fuel that drives California’s economy out of state, and all they can think to do is blame those people, and of course, Donald Trump.
Democrats are fond of saying they can’t incarcerate their way out of the rampant crime problem they’ve created. They can’t regulate and tax their way out of the economic disaster they’ve created, either. They’re not smart enough to understand that until they drive California into complete economic collapse. Probably, not even then.
Become a subscriber and get our weekly, Friday newsletter with unique content from our editors. These essays alone are worth the cost of the subscription.
Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.
Read more Supergirl blames Christian men for her inevitable failure