After doing everything to get rid of fossil fuel producers, Governor Newsom has second thoughts.
Climate Focus Shifts in California
The Wall Street Journal reports California Wants to Halt Oil Industry Exodus After Years of Climate Focus
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office made its first-ever call to Chevron’s refining chief last week, days before state lawmakers passed a bill meant to stop more oil companies from leaving California.
Nathan Barankin, Newsom’s chief of staff, extolled the virtues of that bill, which could boost drilling in oil-rich Kern County, and touted the state’s decision to delay putting a cap on refiners’ profits.
“I said, ‘Yeah, Nathan, all those are good, but we’ve got a long ways to go,’” Andy Walz, who runs Chevron’s refining, pipeline and chemical businesses, said in an interview.
California policymakers who had tried to spur a transition away from fossil fuels are now working to entice fuel-makers to stay open, while polls show voter frustration with rising living costs. Gasoline prices in the state averaged $4.66 a gallon Wednesday, among the highest in the nation, and about $1.45 higher than the national average, according to AAA.
Policymakers this year have also discussed ways to keep Valero from closing its 56-year-old Benicia refinery, which has about 10% of the state’s oil refining capacity, political advisers said. Valero cites the state’s 20-year push away from fossil fuels for its decision to close the plant next April.
Rich Walsh, Valero’s general counsel, told analysts on a recent conference call that the company hasn’t changed plans. “There’s no solutions that have materialized, at least not from our perspective,” he said.
Last year, Phillips 66 said it planned to close a Los Angeles refinery that produces almost as much fuel as the Benicia site. The prospect of more California-pumped oil hasn’t changed its plans either.
Phillips 66 is moving forward with the property’s redevelopment, CEO Mark Lashier said in an interview. Redevelopment plans for the larger of the two tracts that make up its Los Angeles operations include shops and restaurants, ballfields, offices and industrial space.
Chevron’s Walz, who led a company campaign that laid blame for high gasoline prices on state legislators, said California needs to do more if it wants to be considered a friendly investment environment. He suggests the state roll back regulations that affect oceangoing vessels docked at California ports, among other things.
Walz said he has had productive conversations with the energy commission’s leadership. “But they’ve got to reverse 25 years of trying to put us out of business,” Walz said.
Just Deserts
Newsom hasn’t really changed. He’s just concerned high gas prices and his presidential campaign.
Hopefully all the refiners leave.
cali does not need to worry about earthquakes
the leadership there has done everything in its authority to decimate the economy and the society there before the quakes
the big one ….will simply help knock down the remaining ruins that are already well under way
cali voters of the last 2 decades…drove away everyone and everything that made it great before
doh !
Yes. California tried very hard to make it as difficult as possible for the oil and gas industry to survive in that state.
And they were successful.
See? Government can actually accomplish what they set out to do. Sometimes.
Trump is attempting the same thing as he tries his best to shut down wind and solar development throughout the country. Which will leave us short of electricity if he is successful.
What a show!
And people wonder why I don’t bother to vote.
I doubt that Trump could find his asshole with both hands and a mirror! At least Newsom has a sense of humor in his parodies of Trump and his minions.!
51 fewer oil rigs are drilling in the US than were last year at this time and over $500 million in CapEx spending has been cancelled by US drillers in 2025. US Production will not equal last years record amount. Costs are much higher and profits are down. Meanwhile, Canada is adding rigs and building new export facilities as fast as they can. So is Brazil.
Last week the US only exported 91 billion cu ft of LNG. This is down from 121 billion cu ft the week that the orange nitwit was re-treaded. It seems that our cargoes of LNG are being rejected by China and India in favor of Brazilian and Russian cargoes.
California’s oil industry is antiquated and un-needed.
The TACO’s meeting with XI should be as futile as his meeting with Putin.
South Park has been awesome this season. I never watched it much before, but season 27 is on point!
And let’s not forget that when Canada recently opened its west coast LNG export terminal it signed a 20 year contract with China for 100% of the off-take. That is gas that was anticipated to go to the California market…
Perhaps the TACO should have thought before spouting off about taking over Canada or breaking his own trade treaty?
Even Canada is telling the orange boy-child to pound sand. India literally told Trump to piss off and continues to import Russian Oil. China is getting ready to build yet another pipeline to Russia and Russia needs to expand production to keep up with demand. Trumps sanctions are ignored… 😉
Xi will insult trump and taunt him, but trump will not even get it!
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Trump must be banging your wife and mom considering how teed off you are at him. Do you dream about him, too?
I’m reading Trump is about to put a 100K fee (tariff) on each H1B visa application.
That would kill the H1B visas for all intents and purposes. Likely because the vast majority are going to people from India.
DEI for mediocre home and private-schooled white kids.
I imagine the goal of this is to reduce the number of h1b workers, promote domestic workers, and maybe raise some revenue.
However, will it accomplish those goals? Or will Big Tech just invest more overseas as a result? I see Big Tech just announced a lot of investment in the UK.
Charlie Kirk never attended college. He’s the new model for the high tech employees of the future in the United States. Un-indoctrinated by vile liberal math and science professors. Pure white.
You lost me. What’s your point?
They want to defund higher education. They want high tech companies to hire the products of mediocre private Christian schools and mediocre home schools.
I see. I doubt that tech companies will hire anyone who can’t do the job. If they cannot find skilled workers here, and they cannot bring them in from elsewhere, then they will simply set up shop in countries where they can find the skilled workers. That’s been the model for most businesses for the last 50 years.
While I realize that many Asian countries have begun taking in Canada LNG, I have not heard of the 20 year China contract you speak of. Any links for that please?
It is ridiculous to try to get rid of California’s oil industry. It is definitely needed. From a search:
🏭 Economic Impact
• The oil and gas sector supports over 536,000 jobs statewide, with $23 billion in annual wages
• It contributes a staggering $338 billion to California’s economy
• Refineries and related operations generate billions in tax revenue that fund schools, infrastructure, and public services
⛽ Energy Supply & Infrastructure
• California imports about 75% of its crude oil, mostly from Alaska and overseas, due to limited in-state production and the absence of interstate oil pipelines
• Refineries are critical for processing this imported crude into gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel—especially for a state with high transportation demands.
⚖️ Policy vs. Reality
• While California is implementing strict environmental regulations (like SB 1137 and AB X2-1) to reduce health risks and stabilize fuel prices the transition to renewables is gradual.
• The state still depends on petroleum products for transportation, manufacturing, and even electricity during peak demand.
So, while the long-term vision is a greener California, the oil and gas industry remains a cornerstone of the state’s economy and energy infrastructure—at least for now.
For most of my adult life the United States has been losing refineries. The oil industry always makes it sound like it’s a loss when it is actually a gain.They’re closing junk in the news and they’re in a closet quietly modernizing a black gold mine. Except BP. Theirs will probably blow up.
Hi Frosty,
You must be a industry insider ? I mean all of those stat’s >> Impressive
for cut and paste, I’d bet my next week’s SSI check, your a Public Pension
recipient ? of retired educator ?
I doubt you ever developed any callouses, maybe paper cuts?
You are deludedly shilling for the system that oppresses the American people.
Because you’re implying that we can only vote for Democrats or Republicans and no one else. FALSE.
Only if Americans voted en masse for ANY other political party, we’d get rid of the traitorous members of the Israel-firster Uniparty and save our country.
Democrats = Republicans
BUT the problem is the American people themselves: the 90 percent have internalized the depravity and corruption of the Democrats and the 10 percent the depravity and corruption of the Republicans.
When you ARE the problem itself; when you continue to vote for politicians who violate the very US Constitution they swore they’d uphold and protect; then there is no solution.
I’m glad I’m not a young person anymore.
The global situation is worse than at the time of the scourge of the Mongol invasion that shook the civilized world. But the “Mongols” work for us now. Do you realize we just enthroned a muslim terrorist who tortured and killed thousands as the head of state in Syria? A monster on whose head we had placed a 10 million dollar bounty ourselves? And we continue to sell F-16s to the Turks and eventually the Azeris who committed genocide on the first Christian nation of the world?
We have seen the enemy and it’s us.
Enjoy the time you have left with your families and loved ones.
The human race has embraced the fate of the dinosaurs.
“ When you ARE the problem itself; when you continue to vote for politicians who violate the very US Constitution they swore they’d uphold and protect; then there is no solution.”
Lol! I don’t vote. Try reading it again.
The point is you should vote for some other party, otherwise you have no right to complain nor a reason to boast about not voting when you have the privilege to do so — a privilege your ancestors gave their lives in order to pass on to you. You think you can stave off a hord of zombies with a single rifle and some stored food? Your kind depresses me.
I have stated many times here that I consider voting a waste of my time. When you come up with a credible party and platform that will inspire me to vote: then I will vote.
In the meantime: I have the right to not vote; and I have the right to complain about whatever I want.
“ You think you can stave off a hord of zombies with a single rifle and some stored food? Your kind depresses me.”
Hahahaha! That’s hilarious! Where did THAT come from?
What a dumb f*ck.
Don’t vote then that’s what you or your children will have to deal with. Already we have cities normal people don’t dare to go into. I could already watch a horror movie when I took a train ride during my visit to Philadelphia. Miles of abandoned dilapidated houses…my pal speeding past streets only a few blocks away from downtown. We all read about Baltimore. Downtown LA is in shambles. I don’t understand how my fellow citizens put up with this nonsense and continue to vote D or R still.
ANY other party would put a stop to the lawlessness and help us change direction.
And you’re calling me names for stating the obvious.
People with your attitude are the reason we are where we are. It’s stupid and suicidal to presume that you will be able to avoid trouble forever.
Lol! This is so amusing. You make a lot of interesting assumptions.
First, everything that’s wrong in America is MY fault because you thought I voted D.
Then you tell me it’s all because I don’t vote.
Then it’s because you mistakenly think I am a prepper and survivalist waiting for a zombie apocalypse.
Now it’s all my fault because I “put up with this nonsense “ and I have a “bad attitude.”
And everything would be better if only I voted for some third party that would magically fix all our problems.
Which party is that anyway? And what is their plan to fix everything?
Oh. The Libertarian Party. Ok I will vote for them and everything will get fixed. Thanks.
Unfortunately, your criticisms apply universally to western democracies – we are too fat and lazy to do the heavy lifting that our predecessors were all too familiar with. These days, we can’t even let a little discomfort disturb us and we’re far more concerned with what may offend us than getting the job done. I fear papadave is deceiving himself when he thinks he’s found Utopia. There is no escape.
What Utopia did I find?
Funny how a second reader can “cement” a misreading.
Fortunately , here it’s a harmless micro example of something that happens constantly in all forms of communication, including the “news” on matters involving life and death.
Yep.
I agree with you that it’s too late to save our western societies. Most people even refuse to acknowledge what we are saying, even the smart ones.
People hate reality — which is the same thing as truth.
Take care.
Lol! If it’s too late, why do you want me to vote?
I, too, noticed you misread PD’s statement regarding his voting. But, +1 to you for everything else.
He’s implying that we can ONLY vote D or R because all other votes don’t count. No misreading here. I’m only stating the obvious extrapolation itself subscribed to by most people these days.
Consider the worst party other than Ds and Rs. Bringing them to power = kicking Ds and Rs out of power
Nope. Wrong again. You’re batting zero so far. But keep trying. It’s kind of amusing.
Sadly the US electorate was wasn’t spoilt for choice was it.
Correct.
https://lp.org/
https://lp.org/
Much of newsom’s fate depends on how terrible main street feels under Trump economic policies. California is doing fine thanks to AI. One of my customers runs a data center on full hydroelectric energy from Pacific currents.
China built a hydroelectric dam that is allowing them to turn off all other sources of power including solar, which is also bad for the environment.
We’re doing fine. 1/2 the kids in CA public schools can’t read or write at grade level and nearly 2/3 can’t do math at grade level, but sure.
Hey, at least we let 18k homes and apartments burn up to demonstrate that our public safety nimrods are 15 watt bulbs, too.
Sigh.
That’s a fun statistic. Now tell me about the statistics for Texas and Mississippi. Or better yet, the one for our nation overall that shows 54% of people can’t read above sixth grade. Give me a partisan spin on that.
Crickets!
You’re such a coward. You’re no better than the most orange trump fan. You’re exactly the same.
Rather than dealing with CA failing mostly poor and minority kids, you want to point out how other states fail too?
This is a win to you? Amazing.
Here’s another stat to chew on. LA county has 1.3 million people living below the poverty line.
CA leaders like to brag about being the 7th largest economy in the world. Not sure it’s much to brag about if that number of people are poor and have crappy schools.
But you do you, bruh.
Yeah “bruh” because it’s a national failing due to Bush’s crappy No Child Left Behind act. Here’s an idea: instead of making school dumber for all kids so the slow ones can choke by, let’s go back to making school require skills other than being able to answer multiple choice questions on the ACT!
There’s an actual solution, which I know damn well you can’t offer. Further, why don’t we get rid of the ACT and SAT entirely since their entire purpose was just to keep black kids out of white schools and replace it with a test that measures real world skills and attitudes? Measure kids on situations that might actually occur in their lives, actually require an essay portion so we know kids can read and write beyond a kindergarten level. Instead of asking for a list of every US President ever, how about we ask kids what the first amendment guarantees and why that’s important?
The answer: nobody cares enough to put more than a red cent into education. Every time someone tries, dumbass Americans from all walks of life moan about “muh budget” and “muh big gubmint!!” So kids get dumber while their barely smarter than them parents actively wreck the country.
I don’t know the “history” between the two of you. But since RC was replying to a comment specifically about CA, I didn’t think it “wrong” for him to limit his comment specifically to that state.
Not like your question about the other states isn’t relevant. It is. But you kinda escalated your tone prematurely…unless there is “history”.
Anyway, I’m being a partial hypocrite. My emotions often get the better of me and contribute to my sometimes being a dick.
I don’t have a history other than that he’s been making obnoxious replies on every post with the same tone and got one back. Respect can be earned and lost, and everyone starts with it from me.
As for expanding the scope, it’s because it’s not California’s fault. It’s the federal government’s for being completely dead set on making sure kids only do multiple choice standardized testing and nothing else. So states started teaching kids to take the tests to get into college instead of actually teaching them things like reading, writing, science, ect. The instruction they get on those topics is entirely structured around how it will show up on the tests, not in real life.
This is also why colleges have degraded badly. Nowadays, every crop of freshmen basically has to be taught from 8th grade up to college by the college because most of them don’t know things that any adult should know.
Tl;dr schools have become prisons and colleges have become glorified preschools due to a stupid bipartisan federal policy that effects all states.
Schools performed a whole bunch better back when states gamed the holy crap out of the ratings system.
Nope. China’s dams are not meant to replace solar. They just add to total power produced. Though they may eventually replace some coal. In 2024, China added 277 GW of new solar and 80GW of wind. Which dwarfs hydro.
China has recently launched construction and completed phases of several major hydroelectric projects, reinforcing its position as a global leader in renewable energy infrastructure. While the Yarlung Tsangpo mega-dam in Tibet is still under development; and won’t be operational till 2030; it will provide 60 GW of power. In the last 5 years China added just 34GW from hydro.
🏞️ Recent Major Hydropower Developments in China
1. Baihetan Dam
• 📍 Location: Jinsha River, on the border of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces
• ⚡ Capacity: 16 GW (second-largest in the world after Three Gorges)
• 🏁 Status: Fully operational as of 2022
• 🌍 Impact: Supplies clean energy to eastern China and reduces carbon emissions by over 50 million tons annually
2. Wudongde Dam
• 📍 Location: Jinsha River, upstream of Baihetan
• ⚡ Capacity: 10.2 GW
• 🏁 Status: Completed in 2021
• 🌱 Role: Part of China’s West-to-East power transmission strategy
3. Lijiang Hydropower Cluster
• 📍 Location: Yunnan Province
• ⚡ Capacity: Multiple dams totaling over 8 GW
• 🏁 Status: Several units completed between 2020–2023
• 🔌 Purpose: Supports regional grid stability and industrial development
These projects reflect China’s dual strategy: expanding hydropower while simultaneously investing in solar and wind.
In china coal power plants have priority over other generation methods which means in case of overacapacity it s renewables that get their production curtailed instead of coal power plants.
Imagine this guy as president.
A homeless encampment under every bridge, $6 dollar gas even in a recession, and no plastic straws!
While I think trump’s economic policies will hurt the republicans in next year’s election, clowns left of the isle will build a pretty sterling case showing why they are not a desireable alternative.
Don’t forget about the $23 billion they can’t track back to homeless spending. The corruption of CA Democrats cannot be overstated.
Funny how .5% of the population, like the old French nobility of the cloth and today’s uniparty lawyer Newsom, rule the animal arm. What’s the difference between lawyers and road apples? Lawyers don’t require a horses’ tail getting soiled on while killing millions for justice and green energy and Mr. Malthus, or Mr. Marx, Mao, or Mohammad in their one dimensional worlds. In 1800 the life span at birth for males was 29 years. Thanks to petroleum and real science, not political consensus games, it’s now 75 for males and 81 for females. .
Mao was the George Washington of China. Arguably more noble, since GW really wanted to help himself to a big slice of native territory and needed a revolution to get it.
Imagine the USA revolution occurred after industrialization and 20x (?) the population density as in 1776. And imagine France and Russia didn’t help USA revolutionaries but fought alongside Britain in trying to supress the USA revolution. How many casualties? And do you blame the casualties on GW/Mao or the occupying foreign powers?
To the contrary of the crotchety old people moaning so far in these comments, I don’t think the problem is pushing away oil because oil is a losing game in the long run. Everyone else out produces California in it, they’re never going to be an oil state, and oil itself is increasingly looking like it’ll be on the decline in 10-20 years.
The problem is that corporate Democrats (and the financial elite of both parties) simply can’t commit to stuff because weasels like Newsom are turncoats to the core. He stands for nothing at all while extolling the virtues of social justice (or family values if he’s wearing a red tie today)… Over a glass of wine with a white supremacist, that is. For every old level head like Pritzker/Massie and next generation firebrand like Mamdani, the nation has 10 Gavin Newsoms/Donald Trumps who will gladly sell their souls for another Malibu beach house.
Want to get rid of oil? Have something to replace it! You think that would be simple, but Democrats found themselves once again hamstrung by the fact that they’re the the Republican-Democrat uniparty of the 1% first and the party of “liberalism, progress, and social justice” (if you believe this you are a moron) second. The price of gas wouldn’t be an issue if people could buy a $10,000 BYD EV and be done with it, but China BAD! China SCARY! China make our manufacturers actually be competitive!
Can’t have that now can we? We’ll simply have to tariff everyone else and build everything ourselves in what looks an awful lot like North Korean Juche ideology when you put the two side by side. A poll by AP this morning shows that only 24% of people think our country is going in the right direction (Trump’s disapproval rating is topping 60% too unsurprisingly), and the majority is spot on. This country isn’t going to be here by the end of the decade if we keep letting the place be run by either spray painted Kim Jong Un or a gelled up baboon who thinks we need to euthanize the homeless.
The message we’re sending to every single industry, especially after the fiasco with Hyundai, is that if you’re a company you have zero reason to be anywhere in the US if you’re not trapped in already.
Come on down and invest in America’s McGolden age™ today! We’ve got:
If this were a game of Tropico, we’d be on the verge of losing.
did you write this in crayon first?
That’s your witty comeback?
Your observations are devoid of rational thinking. Rather than addressing them each, it’s just better to insult your intelligence in a broader sense.
So you’re butthurt but too retarded to make a real comeback. Got it!
If your basic points are all wrong or handed to you by partisan douchebags, what’s the point? People like you torpedo progress no matter where you go.
Wrong how? Go ahead and explain it. And “well uhhh guy I don’t like also said dat!” isn’t a valid argument beyond elementary school. So please, explain to me why a foreign business would want to invest here. Tell me what economic incentive they have to pay more money to get less value. Mish has pointed this out a million times, is he also a partisan asshole now?
Most Democrats in California are window lickers. They are obedient automatons voting for the same garbage every 2 years. Karen Bass, Gavin and the merry band of bystanders in Sacramento caused this problem. Their incessant greenwashing of themselves and the woke crap they’ve championed has pushed CA to this point.
Until CA voters grow a spine and throw these imbeciles overboard, this will continue.
Here in Washington it’s much the same except the locus of insanity is Seattle not the state as a whole.
I have heard. The state as a whole seems fine, but Seattle is an absolute dumpster fire.
Well i consider ca move to green energy is a bit aggressive. Considering everyone is not wealthy. .
Im all for more sources of energy. Brings security to the nation and keeps cost down for consumers. Hey if it helps the environment thats a bonus.
My thoughts are maybe the refineries that are closing are not competitive or obsolete. In combination with policies and politics. There is not much competition in the energy market here. and usually the cost of ca s policies are passed to the consumers. Maybe a bit of a fu to the man on the way out.
To me the gas tax seems to be middle class targeted. Since part of the tax seems to find its way back low income residents.
Seems to me the board that adds the taxes to ca gas has to keep cost of gas higher than the cost of electricity so people will buy electric cars.
Mish i would rather see a politician change their mind about something because its not working and they are worried about being reelected than have a politician call up states and get districts gerrymandered .so they can get reelected because their policies do not work.
I heard an interview with jerry brown prob 10 years ago. Policy wise. A little to the left a little to the right and try to keep things straight down the middle. Is probably where things need to be. .
Electing maggots like Gavin means electing sociopaths unwilling to admit when they’ve failed. Not admitting problems means you keep making them. Just like CA voters.
there will be blood, film sums it up. one of my pals is from old CA oil money. another is from one of the conquistadors of CA. the western USA has great history. called it home for 25 years.
These jerks in control of California have created the issue , and the result will be more economic chaos . Good bye Cali , no longer the “Golden State” ! One party control of 50 plus years proves they are embolden , and corrupt.
What did they think was going to happen. You break it you own it.
50 year old refineries are simply not competitive with newer technology units and require major rehabilitation to be brought up to current standards. Maintenance has been deferred and old systems are ready for full replacement.
Plus the rest of the world is awash with oil as we see new FSPO’s being deployed all over the world. New areas of production are literally popping up everywhere and in the US the tariffs on steel casing pipe drive well costs up so far that it is un-economical to drill and try to compete with global markets.
The US has 51 fewer rigs drilling for oil than last year at this time (down 10%). Oil drillers in the US have shed over 23,000 jobs since trump took office.
I see the problem in California as short lived. Solid state batteries are right around the corner and fast charging, longer range cars are right around the corner. The new SS batteries last over 1,000 charges and only degrade by <5% so they are good for 150,000 ~ 300,000 miles. Far less fire prone and far more recyclable. The new SS batteries are anode-less and have no cobalt, graphite or other difficult to recycle materials.
QS is leading the charge in this area.
Expect the by 2030 the world will be adopting Solid State batteries for automobiles and all sorts of electrical storage needs.
It’s a game changer!
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Solid state batteries are not “around the corner”. They might be available in a few expensive high end vehicles in 5 years. Working people will continue to suffer with ever escalating transportation costs thanks to current policies.
If actually interested, read into it and see what is actually going on!
https://www.quantumscape.com/
Three giga factories are under construction in Germany, Spain and Canada that are holding space for production lines. Commercial production for various applications in @ three years.
Some humans are pretty friggin smart!
The greatest threat to the environment is disposal of the batteries. The jerks pushing this are delusional.
In CA. They have a certain style to Fix Problems. They create another problem, not nearly as big, but just as annoying. They then push the new so called disaster throughout the MSM.
Once this takes hold, the Old Problem suddenly appears Gone throughout the MSM. If it’s not in the Press, it’s no longer an issue to have to see and deal with, and besides you’ve been Diverted to the new issue that has you pissed off!
Hey, It Works for them!
The old batteries are absolutely dangerous to the environment. They never should have been introduced.
As we crawl out of the dark ages of todays Lithium Ion batteries and go anode-free lithium metal/ceramic technology, times are quickly going to change.
It’s ok with me if people do not get it right now. In fact, people are generally not that smart and ~ hard to convince when it comes to new technologies. I’ve been waiting on this for many years and it is actually closer than most can conceive.
As an aside, I’m making money hand over fist on this emerging technology.
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Nope. EV batteries are re-purposed as grid storage batteries once they reach the end of their useful life in vehicles (typically 10 years and 70% capacity). They then last another decade in grid storage till they are then recycled.
Several companies have started up recently to recycle these batteries. Their biggest problem has been getting enough batteries because they are lasting much longer than expected.
Not much of threat to the environment yet.
There have been some feeble attempts at recycling and thus far it is pretty messy. Sadly, the cobalt in the standard EV battery is difficult to separate and recover. It is also exceptionally toxic to humans.
As to your point regarding storage and buffering? Yes, they are perfect for that when no longer useful for automobile use.
One fun thing about the Solid State batteries is they last far longer ~ after over 1,000 full cycle discharges they retain over 95% of their original capacity. The gold standard for a Tesla battery is 80% retention of charge after 700 cycles.
After the dark ages of Trump, we will find them in the US storing power for the grid in many areas where nighttime excess generation can be utilized. Other countries with smarter leaders are at it already.
Europe is already setting up for this. The south of France is putting many storage facilities in place.
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We have been working on solid state batteries for over 30 years now. The best we can do so far is “semi” solid state, which is still good.
Newer EV batteries with the new battery management systems are already expected to last 15-20 years and over 200,000 miles before dropping below the useful 70% capacity level. In other words, they will outlast the car in many cases.
Solid state batteries, if achieved, will last so long that they might be transferable to another vehicle as they will outlast the original vehicle.
My main point is that today’s batteries are already so good that there is no rush to get to solid state batteries.
This might be the dumbest thing you’ve typed, and that’s saying something.
You have no idea what you’re talking about.
Take your ritalin, eat your jello and get back to watching re-runs of General Hospital.
It’s OK that you do not understand or take the time to learn.
You only limit yourself when you do not consider changing/evolving technology.
How is that horse and buggy treating you?
😉
You’re just so ignorant of what you speak. That’s why I taunt you.
Do tell…
😉
The drillers are indeed getting efficient. Not as many people are needed.
“The days of the mud-soaked rig hand with a cigarette in his mouth are behind us,” said Dan Pickering, founder and chief investment officer for Pickering Energy Partners consulting and research firm. “The hardest and riskiest jobs are getting gradually replaced with technology. They can’t all be completely replaced, but it’s happening.”
The transformation is just over a decade in the making, but now it’s supercharged by AI. In industry parlance, the AI-controlled rigs can now use ‘autonomous geosteering’—drilling many thousands of feet underground without human involvement. Oilfields are overseen remotely, requiring fewer people and resources onsite—cutting costs and saving valuable time. “You basically sit back in the chair, take it easy, have a cup of coffee, and you watch what is happening on the screen,” said Rakesh Jaggi, president of digital and integration for SLB, the world’s largest oilfield services firm.
https://fortune.com/2025/09/13/roughnecks-staple-oilfield-vanishing-ai-data-crunchers/
Agree with this in part, but not in whole. US production is going down a bit as well from last year record levels.
AI directed tools are fantastic and being deployed all over the world by drillers and that is why there is so much oil available. Heck even Brazil will produce 400,000 more barrels per day in 2025 and another 1.2 million barrels in 2026 to take them into the 5+million barrels per day production levels.
Many nations are producing from newly deployed FPSO’s all over the world and it is significantly increasing global production and making various nations “oil independent”.
The same concept of AI directed mining tools and equipment are making mining companies more efficient as well.
Despite all the bitching we are improving at many things.
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Again I remind people to familiarize yourselves with Tony Seba.
One of his predictions: By 2030 no will want to buy an ICE car.
CATL is making that a reality with Sodium-Ion batteries.
10% the cost of NMC Lithium-Ion, operating range -40C to ++40C
Yes we’ll still need refineries for chemicals but many fewer.
Now I know how Cassandra felt.
Californias refining facilities are dinosaurs and if they were profitable, they would be upgraded and kept alive.
Crime, poverty, terrible public education proficiency levels, homelessness, high taxation, excessive business regulations, bullet train to nowhere. How can any level headed person support a chameleon like Newsom?
Here, the coastal areas have most of the population and most vote Democrat. Orange County used to be staunch conservative and has shifted over time, to Democrat. Even so, SF and LA got rid of their Soros DA’s, as even Democrats woke up to the crime issue, which also affected them.
You have to treat Cal progressivism as a religion. albeit non-traditional.
The Dems have supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature and essentially do what they want with the state.
Newsom is positioning himself for a presidential run; hence: Prop 50, gerrymandering CD maps, even though Newsom is a state official.
Newsom is quite like Harris, mostly devoid of analytical skill sets in econ, empirical studies and stats. He flunked beginning stats class (likely for lib art majors) 3X and suffers from dyslexia so badly that he has trouble reading teleprompters. Yet, he wishes to remake the entire state and somehow feels quialified to lead the nation along the same lines.
If you engage a Cal prog and inquire as to policy outcomes, measuring those outcomes, what data variables are used, analyzing costs vs. benefits, incorporating multiple stage effects and actually adjusting policies for outcomes to date, you will get mostly silence.
With the drop in traidtional religion association, we now have political alliances as a replacement. Hard to use reason, econ arguments and stats with true believers.
newsom is a phony baloney asshole. like trump. democracy works. they both are epitome of amerika and amerikans. democracy works. hat tip to republic by plato. read it and learn.
Unfortunately, this is now effecting AZ since our fuel comes in from Kalifornia refineries. Gas has gone up $.80 since the first of the year.
Not quite as bad in the midwest, but regular has gone from $2.95 on Election Day to $3.45 today in farm country… Thank tariffs on Canadian oil as our refineries are old here and dependent on the heavy stuff from our former allies.
Fortunately , just a 10% tariff on the 4.7 million barrels per day of Canadian oil that our refineries need to import.
Somewhat surprising it isn’t higher than 10% considering Trump says we don’t need any Canadian oil.
Fires at Martinez Refining Company (February 2025) and Valero Refinery, Benicia (May 2025) didn’t help either. Martinez doesn’t produce gasoline but does make renewable diesel.
In the land of the oblivious
Unexpected, also….
“I’m disappointed that I came to Canada — a Canada that it is very, very difficult to find Canadians who are passionate about the American-Canadian relationship,” [US Ambassador to Canada, Pete] Hoekstra said at an event hosted by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/us-ambassador-to-canada-disappointed-anti-american-campaign-1.7637534
What ever could have happened?
Strange. I think many Canadians have become VERY passionate about the US-Canada relationship. To the point that many are deliberately avoiding travel to the US, and checking the labels of everything they purchase to make sure it wasn’t made in America.
That perfectly describes my 89 year old dad. He’s checking labels and avoiding US products.
I’m headed to Canada for a visit tomorrow for a week so I’ll try and get a feel for how Canadians in Ontario feel about things.
Good for your dad! 89 is a great age to reach. Enjoy your trip.
Based on what I have been reading, Canadian visits to the US have dropped around 25% and still haven’t recovered. Same for Asian travellers. European visitors have dropped 17%.
Cali is a mixed bag when it comes to this stuff. I lived in LA for two years and a coworker lived literally a few hundred yards from an active well with a pump which was basically hidden with fake trees.
I assume those are grandfathered in somehow. i forgot the neighborhood he lived in, but he was a lawyer and it was a solid neighborhood… with oil wells. he moved out as soon as his wife got pregnant.
much of Calis steps n the last few decades are a reaction to runaway pollution and toxic dumps. it’s always a pendulum, swings from extreme to extreme. conservatives go ballistic everytime dems suggest some reasonbale step. warning the sky will fall. I remember the uproar when catalytic converters were required on cars. it would end the US car industry they said no one would buy a car. now there’s more cars than ever. anyone who wants to know what a car without one is like: it’s the car on the highway with a busted converter with white smoke coming out of the tailpipe that makes you cringe 300 yards away. all cars used to be like that.
Now we have MAHA which wants to fix things but Kennedy only has the greenlight to fix stuff MAGA is on board with, namely anti-vaxx, which the food chain and ag toxins side of it and environmental pollution (which unlike vaccines actually IS a big problem) goes unchecked because MAGA views those concerns as leftist .
The problem in Cali is that only a tiny area is affected by smog (LA mostly) due to mountains. But the rest of the state has to pay high gas prices because LA needs a ‘special blend’ that costs so much that they had to mandate it all over Cali to get everyone to pay for this special blend. The reality is the the rest of the state could be using the same cheap gas the rest of the country is without any undue smog issues.
Ironically if all the Cali refiners leave, the price of gas will go down by default because Cali will then be force to use the same gas that the rest of the country uses.
Catalytic converters were made with platinum. Twenty years ago it cost $2K to replace them. Car mechanics feast on them.
A large university in Texas has 1 catalytic converter stolen every 2 days on the main campus.
Vaccines are a big problem. Henry Ford Health did a study of 18,000 children, then refused to publish the study, as the result didn’t support the CDC narrative. The truth is being suppressed, which is why there is such fear among vaccine supporters, of new independent gold standard studies being performed on vaccines.
Polio vaccine = good. Covid vaccine for children = retarded.
The general rule of thumb is if you need to get a shot more than once it’s not a vaccine.
Newsom rob the poor and the middle class in the pumps. It will get worse. Fires burn CA cities, blackouts, the highest gas prices and the highest RE prices in the country. Newsom must shape CA before the Los Angeles Olympics in July 2028.
Can he do it: yes, with some help from Trump !
Olympics – where’s Frank’s gold and Don’s bronze, 1976?
CA 8% income tax kicks in at $56k taxable income. Income tax goes as high as 12.3%.
CA is also light years ahead with EV adoption. Something like 25% of new vehicles sold in CA each year now are full electric. Every electric car owner never needs to stop at a gas station again. As an EV owner myself I don’t even pay attention to gas prices any longer. My state has the highest priced electricity in the nation and it’s STILL cheaper to drive my EV than even the most miserly small gas vehicle.
ev cost more. $4,000 min/$4 per gal = 1,000 gal. 1,000 x 30 miles/gal = 30,000 miles.
CT traffic is clogged. Get a bike !
Even if those numbers are correct (and 30 miles to the gallon is unlikely unless you are always highway driving) at an average of 12K miles driven a year the EV passes the ICE vehicle sometime in year 3. More realistically (24 MPG = 24000 miles) it will be by the end of year 2.
For me, 30 MPG implies a hybrid.
It doesn’t cost more, I wish you would post less dumb stuff here, it gets cluttered
You can’t ship gas over a wire when you need it from someplace else. Electricity ships instantly, and if you have solar panels, it literally falls from the sky.
Gas cars are dumb.
But they can sound sooo cool.
You can leave one unattended for months, start it up at -15F and drive it wherever you want (with the heater on) for 400 miles without stopping.
Like many Americans, I don’t leave my car unattended for months, nor does the temperature where I live reach -15. And in both cases, I am able to do both those things with an EV. If I want to travel long distances, I need to stop and charge it at some point- like a gas car really. Ranges are growing quickly with battery tech.
people like you making excuses for the failures of this state is the problem. you have no courage. please leave. you won’t be missed.
I don’t really care one way or another about CA oil refining frankly. It seems like a boring topic. But like I said, I drive an EV, and also I live thousands of miles away from there. However I am impressed with the speed of ev adoption in CA, and I am an EV convert after driving.I don’t ever plan on buying a gas car again. The EV experience is far superior.
The truth is, there are no easy solutions. Oil looks bad because of climate change, but for now we’re stuck with it because the entire infrastructure of transportation, worldwide, demands it.
A similar dilemma happens with nuclear power. With disasters like Chernobyl, it looks iffy, but by and large in responsible countries it’s safe. And more important, it’s one of the few economically viable options in an energy-starved world. Because of the climate change panic, nuclear plants are getting a good long hard second look. Activists and politicians alike are beginning to see that nuke plants may be worth the investment.
Before you condemn something, you have to look at your options. Marriage is a good example of this. Plenty of women divorce their husbands because they’re dissatisfied with them, but if they only thought it through, they would stay with them and accepted a few small negatives as the cost of what is basically a good life. But when you feel entitled — whether to a pristine environment on the globe or a personal life that satisfies you in every venue — you make bad decisions and it costs you.
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dark . sport . blog Is my website — why not drop by and read some more by me
I always tell my clients. “Your competitors can take market share from you but the government can put you out of business tomorrow if it wants to”
Finally.
This is what happens when you bite the hand that feeds you !
The next exodus should very well be Wall Street from NYC in protest of an expected communist winning the mayoral election. It would take a generation or two for NYC, NJ, and CT to recover from taxes revenue losses coupled with high debt.
yeah, except we’ve heard this story before. the pandemic exodus was going to wope out NY forever. banks and hedgies were moving to florida etc.. Except it didn’t happen.
the mayor isn’t that important. the city council’s been socialist forever.
correct. boro presidents and nyc council are strong. mayor of nyc is a very weak position. after 9.11.01 and after covid all the haters thought nyc would roll over. ever since governor dewitt clinton built the big ditch.
Yeah, they’ll have a great time in a red state hellhole where the only entertainment is a run down titty bar and a cineplex.
What a show!
Tell that to all of the firms relocating to South Florida. Miami ain’t exactly a hellhole.
Most of the financial companies are coming to West Palm/Boca Raton, not Miami. The big / old school money is here, not in Miami.
It’s also far less costly than Miami, has an airport you can get in and out of in under 10 minutes etc.
He is a Muslim Bros candidate. He might be elected bc he wants to arrest Bibi. He will arrest criminals, instead. He will deliver fresh veggies to poor areas bc the union supermarkets rob the poor and the middleclass. He will open more Mosques to teach small children Islam. He will beef up the police with honest Muslims cops that don’t take bribes.
Wall Street and Corporate America had a big hand in the current status. Cage them all in together.
…and make them fight to the death for our amusement.
The romantic dream of San Francisco produced visionary amazements, and nightmares.
SF used to be an awesome city. Now they have to hire people to wash away the dookie left by homeless, the mentally ill, and gavin when he’s on cocaine.
Misgovernance. Fortunately in CA I long implemented the strategy of being physically near everything and everyone (walkable to food and healthy recreation, short drive to extended family, work and health care). Hot day today, just open windows. Similar in winter, opposite, add a blanket. This took strategizing across decades, but pays serious value and serenity every day.
Opening the windows hasn’t worked since about 2015.
Need new sash ropes and weights?
need cool air outside
unless you’re downwind from where people drop dueces on the sidewalk.
The fantasy land some of you live in is remarkable.
How many wind turbines can be placed on Mr. Newsom’s vineyards?
Democrats, please come up with a sane, relatively normal, reasonably capable, non-sociopath presidential candidate for 2028 if you can find one.
What a menu, to be facing.
… and watch him get hauled off by ICE goons.
Pritzker and Jacob Frey coming right up.
Do you mean Josh Shapiro – the reasonably popular governor of Pennsylvania? He does seem to meet the criteria I’d laid out. Jacob Frey is the mayor of Minneapolis – and was when large swaths of the city were burned to the ground (including the 3rd police precinct) by crowds he and Tim Walz (friend of school shooters) let run wild for days. That’s normal to democrats, I guess.
At this moment in time based on what’s happening with Israel I highly doubt a Jewish person would be able to win the nomination much less the presidency.
Lots can change in 3 years of course but today, not a chance.
I agree. From what we hear about Shapiro, at least he doesn’t seem to be a lunatic who puts tampons in boys’ bathrooms and says things like “pregnant person”.
Lol, they’ll trot out Headboard Harris and Gavin and brag about how smart CA democrat politicians are.
Second thought is not possible since I don’t think he has ever had a first thought.