ENB Pub Note: This article was first run on America Outloud by Ronald Stein and Mike Ariza. We highly recommend reading and following them.
California, the 4th-largest economy in the world, is increasing its dependence on transportation fuels produced from refined crude oil at foreign refineries, a trend that is becoming a national security risk for America.
California has closed 2 refineries, and more closures are imminent as the California Air Resources Board (CARB) tightens emissions regulations, which may drive the remaining 7 refineries in the State to EXIT California.
The following subjects and logical questions are intended to provide television and podcast moderators interviewing candidates who hope to lead—whether as Mayor, Governor, House of Representatives, the Senate, or President ⎯ who are aspiring to be leaders to articulate thoughtful responses so voters will have a clearer sense of whether that person possesses the level of Energy Wisdom needed for national leadership:
Question: Why is there pressure to stop exploration, production, and the use of raw crude oil?!
(2) Crude oil: Crude oil by itself is useless black tar, unless you build a multi-billion-dollar refinery to break it down to produce various types of transportation fuels like jet fuel for planes, diesel fuel for trucks, gasoline fuel for cars, and bunker fuel for ships, and the oil derivatives that are the basis of more than 6,000 products in our materialistic world. With California being the world’s fourth- largest economy in the world, it continues to consume a gargantuan 48 million gallons of transportation fuels DAILY (these include jet fuel for 40 military airports and 9 international airports, three grades of gasoline for its 30 million vehicles, and diesel for the trucking and construction industries). Currently, the state of California has three letters in its possession from Chevron, Marathon, and PBF. All three letters state that these oil giants are seriously considering shutting down their refineries and leaving the state. This is unprecedented in history. It will cripple the state.
Question: Why is the governor’s office and unelected air board continuing to pressure these companies with egregious regulations so egregious that they finally drove these oil corporations to write these unprecedented letters and why is there pressure to overregulate the seven remaining refineries in California to the point that they are ready to leave the State?
(3) California Refineries: California is the 4th largest economy in the world and an “ENERGY ISLAND that is separated from the other 49 States by the Sierra Mountains. There are no pipelines over those prestigious mountains. As more in-state refineries close, the state must import its transportation fuel demands for aviation, diesel, gasoline, and bunker fuels for the ships entering 3 of the busiest shipping ports in America at Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Oakland from overseas Refineries. The refineries located in foreign countries do not have the same stringent emission standards as the clean-running refineries in California. In fact, some of those overseas refineries would be classified as “GROSS POLLUTERS in California. Once the transportation fuels have been produced, they must be transported across the Pacific Ocean in GROSS POLLUTING tankers, some taking as long as 45 days to transit the ocean. Once in California, these tankers will remain in our ports for anywhere from 3 days to as much as two weeks. Up to two weeks, the whole time their smokestacks are running into the air. Our state governing bodies make the claim that they want to promote zero emissions!
Question: Why has California abdicated our fuel production to these GROSS POLLUTERS and why the pressure to overregulate the cleanest refineries in the world to the point that they are seriously considering leaving the State of California?
(4) Electricity: Electricity came about AFTER oil! Today, the 6 ways to generate electricity are by coal, natural gas, hydro, nuclear, wind, and solar. ALL the components for generating electricity, such as wire, insulation, computers, etc., are MADE FROM fossil fuels.
Question: Why is there pressure to rid the world of crude oil, as it would eliminate electricity and we’d be back in the 1800s?
(5) Products MADE from oil: The world populated from 1 to 8 billion in less than 200 years, not from that black tar we call crude oil, but FROM the more than 6,000 products and transportation fuels MADE from fossil fuels. Today, we live in a materialistic society. Wind and solar CANNOT make EV’s, or any of the products or fuels that get made from fossil fuels that support such as: Hospitals, Airports, Militaries, Medical equipment, Telecommunications, Communications systems, Space programs, Appliances, Electronics, Sanitation systems, Heating and ventilating, Transportation – vehicles, rail, ocean, and air, Construction – roads and buildings, and Nearly Half the World’s Population Relies on Synthetic Fertilizers Made from Fossil Fuels. With the help of hospitals, doctors, and medications, life expectancy increased from 40 to 75+ during those 200 years.
Question: Why the pressure to eliminate the exploration of crude oil and the elimination of refineries, as that would set us back to the pre-1800s?
(6) The Defense Production Act: The Defense Production Act (DPA) of 1950 confers upon the President a broad set of authorities to influence domestic industry in the interest of national defense. The authorities can be used across the federal government to shape the domestic industrial base so that, when called upon, it can provide essential materials and goods needed for the national defense.
Question: With California refinery closures placing the State in a position to import more jet fuel from refineries in foreign countries to support the demands of the 40 military bases in California, do you support the President in implementing the Defense Production Act?
(7) Transportation: Planes, ships, trucks, and cars do not run on electricity generated by wind turbines or solar panels, NOR do they run on raw crude oil, they run on transportation fuels manufactured FROM crude oil by multi-billion-dollar refineries. In addition, for the more than 6,000 products now used in our society, it’s the refineries that manufacture oil derivatives FROM raw crude oil that are the basis of the products in our materialistic world.
Question: Why is there pressure to overregulate the cleanest refineries in the world that are still operating in California to the point that they are seriously considering leaving the State?
(8) The word ENERGY: Coal and natural gas are used for the generation of electricity, but crude oil is never used to generate electricity. Crude oil by itself is useless black tar, unless you build a multi-billion-dollar refinery to break it down to produce various types of transportation fuels like jet, diesel, gasoline, and bunker fuel for ships, and oil derivatives that are the basis of more than 6,000 products in our materialistic world. Wind turbines and solar panels ONLY generate electricity.
Question: Since wind and solar do different things than crude oil, why do you support the use of the word ENERGY from wind and solar when they only produce electricity, but make no products or transportation fuels for our materialistic society?
(9) Clean Energy Exploitations: The Pulitzer Prize-nominated book “Clean Energy Exploitations” describes the human atrocities among folks with yellow, brown, and black skin, and the environmental degradation occurring in poorer developing countries like China and Africa for such exotic lithium and cobalt to build EV batteries so that the wealthy countries can go green.
Question: Do you believe it’s unethical and immoral to financially encourage China and Africa to continue exploiting their people with yellow, brown, and black skin, and inflict environmental degradation on those developing countries, just so wealthy countries can go “green”?
All the above “logical” questions are the ones that California political leaders avoid answering to the 40 million citizens of the State, as it would expose their lack of energy and wisdom for the directives that they continue to support.
Please share this information with teachers, students, and friends to encourage Energy Literacy conversations at the family dinner table.
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