FOX Business Correspondent Kelly Saberi reports on California’s divisive energy policies that are degrading what was once a powerful state in ‘The Bottom Line.’
Energy Secretary Chris Wright has warned that insufficient energy production in California could pose a national security risk as President Donald Trump tries to reduce the state’s dependence on foreign oil.
Wright criticized California politicians, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, for making California an energy-deprived island by excluding oil and gas imports from places like Iraq and Brazil, even though resources can be developed in the state.
“President Trump is rightly concerned about the security of military operations here in the state of California,” he told FOX Business’ Kelly Saberi. “This is also the launching point where we have to supply our goods across the Pacific Ocean … But by strangling California, [Newsom] it’s not only hurting California, it’s hurting America’s national security.”
The energy secretary said the Golden State’s high electricity prices were a “political choice” and accused the leadership of undermining the once-powerful state.
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Chevron’s president wrote a strongly-worded letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom about the proposed energy regulations. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images / Getty Images)
“When I started working in California, in the oil and gas industry 30 years ago, California was one of the top three oil producers in the United States,” he explained. “It has a long history as a major oil and gas producer.”
“It is recent political decisions that have decided to strangle this industry.”
California has the highest gas prices in the country, with a gallon of regular gas sitting at $5.93 as of Wednesday, according to AAA — a price fueled by the state’s tensions.
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Wright said there is “no justification” for rising energy prices and regulations in California given the state’s abundant natural resources.
“Why do Californians have to pay over 50% higher gas prices? Why do they have to pay almost twice as high as electricity?” he asked.
Wright said the administration is open to working with California leadership to revitalize the state’s energy production.
Oil rig pumps pump out waste from the Wilmington Oil Field near Long Beach, California, on July 30, 2013. (REUTERS/David McNew/File Photo/Reuters)
“The Trump administration wants to work with Gavin Newsom and anyone else in California who sees these threats to national security, to the national economy, and most importantly to the lives of Californians,” he said.
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However, Newsom’s office expressed displeasure with Wright’s plans, saying in part in a statement sent to FOX Business: “We wish Chris Wright the American taxpayer-funded fuel in his quest to drag America back to the Stone Age.”
“We hope he doesn’t suffer the same fate his big oil shilling is forcing Americans to – asthma, toxic exposure, black lung and other devastating costs,” the statement continued.
