A new advertising campaign in California is targeting the state’s dependence on foreign oil, including Russian oil, in protest against the policies of Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who has tried to restrict local oil and gas production due to climate change.
The campaign, launched by the Job Creators Network (JCN), a small business group, includes four billboards in Bakersfield, the seat of oil-rich Kern County, as well as one traditional billboard and one mobile billboard in Sacramento, the state capital.
The campaign highlights the fact that 75% of the state’s oil supply comes from abroad, including 6% from Russia, prior to the Biden administration’s decision — under pressure from critics — to stop importing oil from Russia due to the Ukraine war.
One billboard reads: “HEY GAVIN: Why do you prefer getting oil from Putin rather than California?” It features a winking Russian President Vladimir Putin, hated by Democrats ever since he was blamed for Donald Trump’s surprise 2016 win.
California has long been an oil-producing state, but environmental concerns have limited offshore drilling and, increasingly, onshore drilling. Last year, Newsom announced his aim to “end oil extraction” and to stop issuing fracking permits by 2024.
Yet the state remains dependent on fossil fuels, both for energy and transportation. After solar and wind energy fell short in a 2020 heat wave, causing blackouts, Newsom warned that the state needed to “sober up” about the prospects of green energy.
As natural gas plants are being mothballed in Los Angeles in service of local “Green New Deal” policies, the state is also closing nuclear power plants. And last year, the state’s largest hydroelectric plant closed down due to an ongoing drought.
Thus California remains dependent on oil and gas. But it must bring fossil fuels in from other states or from abroad. In the absence of pipelines, it is forced to use rail transport, which itself burns fossil fuels and has higher environmental risks.
In a statement, the JCN cited a recent letter by a bipartisan group of state lawmakers to Gov. Newsom, urging him to increase oil and gas production in the state as gas prices continued to soar, partly due to the effects of the Russian war in Ukraine.
The JCN ad campaign is aimed at pressuring Newsom to change course. “The California small business community is calling on Gov. Newsom to DRILL HERE and DRILL NOW so state residents and Main Street alike PAY LESS,” the JCN said.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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