Newsom’s green agenda does not meet California’s fuel demands

California Governor Gavin Newsom's energy policy centers on:

• Accelerating California's transition to 100% clean electricity by 2045.
• A zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandates an energy policy that will require all new passenger cars and trucks sold in the state to be 100% zero-emission by 2035.

Reality

While California aggressively mandates zero-emissions within the State of 40 million residents, 99.5% of the 8 billion people on Planet Earth do not live in California.

The state's own refining and supply situation shows why the Governor's policies are more fantasy than reality. The state functions as an energy island. The Sierra Nevada blocks pipeline connections to the rest of the country, making large-scale shipments of refined products from Gulf Coast refineries effectively impossible. Despite this geography, California's economy-the fourth largest in the world-still demands roughly 58 million gallons of transportation fuel every day.

That transportation fuel demand total breaks down as:

• 37 million gallons of gasoline for more than 36 million vehicles
• 11 million gallons of jet fuel for the state's major military installations and international airports,
• 10 million gallons of diesel for trucking and construction.

In addition, ships calling at the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland require about 5.2 million metric tons of bunker fuel annually. The Port of Los Angeles alone saw almost 1,900 vessel arrivals in 2025; Long Beach handled over 10 million container units; Oakland adds further significant cargo and cruise traffic.

But planes, ships, trucks, and cars do not run on raw crude oil. They run on fuels that are refined from crude oil and are produced by the nation's refineries. Those refineries also turn crude oil into thousands of other essential products demanded and purchased in the Golden State (and around the nation).

With in-state refineries in California continuing to close, how will the State support the supply chain demands?

• For 11 million gallons of aviation fuels per day for the State's 30 military airports and 9 international airports?
• For the 10 million gallons of diesel per day to support trucks, construction equipment, and agriculture machinery?
• For the bunker fuel demands to support merchant ships for 3 of the busiest ports in America at Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Oakland?

Yet policies such as California's low-carbon fuel standard are forcing refineries like the Martinez and Rodeo facilities to shift to biofuel production. Phillips 66 ended operations at its Los Angeles complex in late 2025, and Valero idled its Benicia refinery in 2026. These closures and conversions have reduced the state's refining capacity by almost 20% in roughly the past year.

California only has 7 remaining refineries. With Phillips 66 Rodeo now a Renewable Energy Complex, only 6 are processing crude oil.