It's tempting to preface this by asking "...will the last person to leave California please shut out the lights," but by the time the last person leaves the once-Golden state, it seems pretty certain the lights will have already been out for some time. The once-Golden state is already seeing rolling blackouts; it seems like just one short step will turn out the lights for good.
California is already saddled with onerous energy costs. The highest gasoline and diesel prices in the country, the highest electricity costs in the country; the productive are already leaving, because of this, because of the high taxes, because of the astronomical housing costs, because of the excessive regulations and punishing business environment. Now, the impeccably coiffed Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a package of bills that will push the "Turbo" button on California's "green" energy programs.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a sweeping package of bills on Friday charting the state's continuing transition to green energy, which includes an extension of the state's landmark cap-and-trade program.
The slate of six bills seeks to address energy affordability, the stabilization of petroleum markets, and reducing air pollution as part of California's acceleration toward a green job-generating economy. A statement from the Governor's Office said California's action comes as the Trump administration continues "to gut decades-old, bipartisan American clean air protections and derail critical climate progress."
There's just one problem with this statement. It's utter codswallop.
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The trouble with all of California and Governor Newsom's "green" energy policies is that they make about as much sense as a soup sandwich. Every scheme the legislature has come up with, every new "green" energy idea, has raised energy costs to Californians. It's tempting to point out that increased energy costs fall hardest on those least able to afford them, and that liberal Democrats are always insisting that they are trying to make life better for low-income Americans. This package, and the "green" policies that came before it, do just the opposite.
Oh, California has finally started making some moves to increase drilling for oil and gas, but without increasing refining capacity, that won't make much difference. California will continue to have the highest gasoline and diesel prices in the nation. That (he wrote, belaboring the obvious) has an inflationary effect on every other thing Californians do - where they go, what they buy, where they live.
Electricity prices alone are already out of control in California. Watts Up With That's Anthony Watts had this to say:
If one wants concrete examples of where Californians already feel the bite, consider the price of electricity. As of mid-2025, average residential electricity in California runs about 33.52 cents per kilowatt-hour (¢/kWh)—among the highest in the nation, almost double the national average of around 17.47¢/kWh. Monthly bills are high too: many California households pay on average $186/month for electricity, depending on usage levels, which is about 29% higher than the U.S. average residential bill of roughly $144. For those using more—heat, air-conditioning, EV chargers, big homes—the numbers are steep.
Again, this cost lands hardest on a constituency that liberal pols claim to care for, that being low-income Americans. Liberal "green" policies are directly responsible for this. Add in that California is pushing to transition from high energy density sources, namely oil, gas and nuclear power, to low energy density sources, like solar and wind. Not only do those green schemes have the problem of being lower in energy density, but they are also unreliable and intermittent. This can lead to unpleasant situations - like blackouts:
High prices alone hurt. But when reliability falters, the costs are more than financial—they are socially destabilizing. California has suffered serious blackout events over the past decades, particularly in heat waves. One example: in August 2020, during a severe heat wave, hundreds of thousands of Californians experienced rolling blackouts due to shortages in supply by the California Independent System Operator. During the earlier 2000-2001 electricity crisis—fueled by market manipulation, droughts, and curtailed capacity—blackouts affected 1.5 million customers in a single event (March 19-20, 2001), with other events affecting hundreds of thousands more. These are not edge cases; they are consequences of pushing generation, grid expansion, and permitting through impossible timelines while expecting perfect outcomes.
This whole thing is a veritable fun house of smoke and mirrors. The "cap and invest" horse squeeze hands money from one hand to another, then back again. It will, in the end, be about as effective as another famous California boondoggle, the notorious "high-speed train" that has gone from nowhere to nowhere.
In the end, all of this will cost Californians more. More in fuel prices, more in electricity prices, more in everything.
Not everyone in California, of course, is sanguine about this deal.
Advocacy group Consumer Watchdog went further, calling the claims made by the Governor's Office "a sham."
"The truth is 90% of the 'solutions' will drive up costs for gasoline and electricity," said Consumer Watchdog president Jamie Court in a video statement. "Labeling this group of bills 'Landmark Clean Energy, Climate and Affordability Solutions,' is like calling a smog alert a breath of fresh air."
Everything in our economy depends on energy. Affordable, reliable energy. California is bending every effort to move away from that. And they continue to push forward, with all the dogged intensity of some massive, ancient beast crawling out of the ocean to lay its eggs. Meanwhile, the productive continue to flee the state.
It's not too late for California to start easing the way for nuclear power. But the "green" scolds in Sacramento won't do that, either. In California, as elsewhere, the advocates for "green energy" overlook this obvious answer to all their problems: Nuclear energy is clean, reliable, and very nearly emission-free.
What will it take to make California's government acknowledge reality?
