Gavin Newsom’s Energy Hypocrisy Strikes Deep into the Rain Forest

In the golden glow of California’s self-proclaimed climate leadership, Governor Gavin Newsom has positioned himself as a champion of green energy, touting aggressive policies to phase out fossil fuels and embrace renewables. From banning new gas-powered cars by 2035 to pushing for a carbon-neutral grid, Newsom’s rhetoric paints a picture of a state leading the charge against climate change. Yet, beneath this veneer lies a stark contradiction: California’s voracious appetite for oil extracted from the heart of the Amazon rainforest, where indigenous communities are fighting tooth and nail against environmental devastation. This hypocrisy not only undermines Newsom’s environmental credentials but also exposes the state’s reliance on foreign fossil fuels that fuel deforestation, human rights abuses, and ecological harm thousands of miles away.A recent declaration from indigenous nations in Ecuador and Peru underscores this disconnect.

On August 19, 2025, leaders from groups like the Binational Achuar Coordination, the Sápara Nation, and the Shiwiar Nation rejected a cross-border oil deal between state-owned companies Petroperú and Petroecuador. The agreement aims to link Ecuador’s southern Amazon oil blocks to Peru’s Norperuvian Pipeline—a conduit with a notorious history of spills that have poisoned rivers and ravaged ecosystems. Indigenous leaders decried the deal as a blatant violation of their right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) under international law, vowing legal and social resistance to prevent further deforestation and climate emissions in one of the world’s most biodiverse regions.Their message was pointedly directed at California and Newsom himself: End the imports of Amazon crude. California’s refineries are the largest U.S. consumers of this oil, processing hundreds of millions of barrels annually, primarily from Ecuador.

This demand echoes ongoing campaigns, including a California Senate resolution (SR 51) introduced after a delegation of indigenous leaders visited the state, urging an official review of these imports and an end to complicity in Amazon destruction.

As Kevin Koenig of Amazon Watch put it, expanding drilling flies in the face of global efforts to ditch fossil fuels—yet California’s demand keeps the taps open.

California’s Foreign Oil Addiction: The Numbers Don’t LieTo grasp the scale of this hypocrisy, consider California’s oil imports. In 2024, foreign suppliers provided nearly two-thirds of the crude oil refined in the state, led by countries like Iraq, Brazil, Guyana, and Ecuador.

Based on data from the California Energy Commission and other sources, California imported approximately 285 million barrels of crude oil from foreign sources that year (calculated from an average of about 780,000 barrels per day multiplied by 365 days).

Ecuador alone accounted for roughly 16.9% of these foreign imports, equating to about 48 million barrels—much of it sourced from the Amazon basin.

This represents a staggering 75% dependency on imported oil overall, with foreign sources dominating as in-state production dwindles.

These imports aren’t just numbers; they’re tied to real-world harm. The Norperuvian Pipeline’s spills have decimated indigenous lands, and California’s role as a top buyer perpetuates this cycle.

Newsom’s administration has celebrated California’s renewable progress, but the state’s energy hypocrisy runs deeper when you examine the full energy mix.

California’s Energy Mix: Green on the Surface, Fossil-Fueled Below

California’s electricity generation tells a partial success story. In 2024, renewables—including hydroelectric power and small-scale solar—supplied 57% of in-state electricity, with natural gas at 34%, solar at 19%, and hydropower at 12%.

Overall, about 54% of the state’s electricity came from renewable or zero-greenhouse-gas sources, far outpacing the national average of 40%.

But this masks the bigger picture: Petroleum still accounts for over half of California’s total energy consumption, powering transportation and industry.

Natural gas, meanwhile, plays a massive role, fueling nearly 45% of electricity generation and 31% of industrial needs.

California produces only a fraction of its gas domestically, importing a whopping 93% via pipelines from the Southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, Texas), the Rocky Mountains, and Canada.

This interstate and international dependency highlights how California’s “green” grid relies on fossil fuels extracted elsewhere. Electricity imports add another layer. The state imports between one-fifth and one-third of its power—about 25-32% in recent years—from neighboring regions.

Sources include hydropower from the Northwest (Oregon and Washington) and a mix of coal, gas, and renewables from the Southwest (Nevada, Arizona, Utah).

While some of this is clean, much comes from fossil fuel-heavy grids, allowing California to outsource its emissions while claiming progress at home.