Gavin Newsom should be kissing Donald Trump\u2019s feet.<\/p>\n
Not only now can Newsom possibly do what political operatives thought would be the impossible \u2014 deflect blame for California\u2019s high gas prices on to anyone besides himself, the mask-less man of French Laundry fame \u2014 but his green dream may also come true.<\/p>\n
Sound nuts?<\/p>\n
So does $4 a gallon gasoline.<\/p>\n
I know, I know. Gasoline right now is averaging $5.89 in California.<\/p>\n
But hold your thoughts about what you\u2019d view as great news as a California driver.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s look at the big picture first.<\/p>\n
Regardless of what you think about Trump, Newsom, or the need to contain Iran\u2019s threat to world stability and the global economy \u2014 perceived or otherwise \u2014 the President has given the Governor a potential get-out-of-the-doghouse with money pinched voters.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s everywhere you look.<\/p>\n
Anytime you drive by a gas station, you can see people\u2019s daily fears posted in big numbers.<\/p>\n
Better yet, it\u2019s a commodity that almost all households buy between once and three times a week.<\/p>\n
Social media, politicians, and pundits don\u2019t have to point out the price of gasoline. It\u2019s part of the daily life of voters.<\/p>\n
Whatever Newsom did indirectly through his oil refinery polices and climate change policies to give California\u2019s the national foremost nosebleed prices that everyone one of potential presidential foes \u2014 Republicans and Democrats alike \u2013 could use against him, is being vaporized like a high priority military target in Iran.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the political gift even better than serial brow-beater and leading candidate for the Boss from Hell honors Katie Porter received this last week from Eric Swalwell in California\u2019s primary race for governor.<\/p>\n
Unless the bottom falls out of oil prices in less than five months, inflation drops close to zero, and the Grand Old Party cures cancer and AIDS simultaneously, the Republican Party is cruising full speed ahead into a political iceberg in the mid-terms.<\/p>\n
Of course, this is 2026 which has turned out to be even wackier and more disconnected than 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2000 \u2014 you name the year. Anything can happen.<\/p>\n
But as things are going now, the odds are prices at the pump are going to be like pouring gasoline on the fire in the upcoming elections.<\/p>\n
Now for the fun part.<\/p>\n
Gas hitting $6 a gallon in California is not going to cause a panic.<\/p>\n
The reason is simple. <\/p>\n
Adjusted for inflation, a $5.89 average per gallon price Californians were paying Monday is a bargain compared to October 2012.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when the California statewide average gas price reached $4.67 a gallon.<\/p>\n
Apply the 42 percent overall rate of inflation since 2012, and Californians would be paying almost $6.70 a gallon today.<\/p>\n
That, of course, was six years after green policies such as greenhouse gas emission \u201ctaxes\u201d and oil refinery restrictions were put in place by Sacramento.<\/p>\n
And it was all in a concerted effort to kill off fossil fuel use in California.<\/p>\n
Green economists back then were tossing about $7 to $8 a gallon gasoline as what it would take to start a major stampede to electric vehicles that the state has been subsidizing for years via tax credits before the federal government jumped in \u2014 and then exited \u2014 the game.<\/p>\n
Even if Californians grasped the fact inflation-adjusted gas prices should be $2 higher than they are right now, it\u2019s not going to turn the Golden State red anytime soon.<\/p>\n
Nor are Californians going to stop blaming Newsom, whether he deserves all the blame of not, for higher gas prices.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why what Californians think of gas prices won\u2019t be changing the makeup off Congress.<\/p>\n
Not so anywhere else.<\/p>\n
People in Texas were having a cow bellowing on social media and in TV interviews when gas passed $3 a gallon earlier this year.<\/p>\n
Gas at $3 a gallon is nostalgic in California when you talk to the grandkids about the good old days.<\/p>\n
As of Sunday, gasoline was averaging $3.80 in Texas as opposed to $2.60 in October 2025.<\/p>\n
Imagine what $4 a gallon would do to Texas drivers.<\/p>\n
They\u2019d be having coronaries at the pump.<\/p>\n
In California, $4 a gallon gasoline would have drivers dancing in the streets.<\/p>\n
And guess who a lot of people will be blaming in the United States outside of California for $4 a gallon gasoline?<\/p>\n
Hint, it won\u2019t be Gavin Newsom.<\/p>\n
People do indeed vote with their pocketbooks.<\/p>\n
But wait, there\u2019s more.<\/p>\n
Gasoline at $6 a gallon in the Golden States will likely drive more Californians to electric vehicles.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t bet the farm that $4 a gallon in gasoline will get Texans \u2014 or a lot of people in states between the Pacific Coast and East Coast \u2014 to ease their death grip on the steering wheels of vehicles powered by the ancestors of Jurassic Park\u2019s main attractions.<\/p>\n
Of course, there are other wild cards.<\/p>\n
The United States was the No. 1 producer of crude oil in 2025 be a wide margin.<\/p>\n
But due to various variables such as crude grade, access (pipelines et al)l and such, the United States imports 30 to 35 percent of the oil it refines with Canada being the source for roughly 60 percent of the total.<\/p>\n
The California Energy Commission in 2025 reported 22.9 percent of the oil refined here originates within the state, 16 percent from Alaska, and 61.1 percent from other countries.<\/p>\n
Back in 2015, it was 36.2 percent in-state, 11.8 percent from Alaska, and percent from foreign nations.<\/p>\n
Canada is not among those countries that supply oil to California. The main hitters are Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Columbia, and Ecuador.<\/p>\n
The fact Californians depend heavily on Middle East oil and some proposed climate-related regulation in the queue in Sacramento is what gives credence to the possibility of $7 to $8 gasoline in the Golden State that some economists are predicting.<\/p>\n
That said, the likelihood of a gasoline trigged red tidal wave \u2014 or even a drip \u2014 in California elections in at least the next few years is about as likely as Bernie Sanders leading an effort to change the constitution so Trump can seek a third term.<\/p>\n
And the fallout is likely to push Californians toward embracing costly green policies that more than a few have started to question and absolve Newsom in Peoria of blame for high gas prices.<\/p>\n
If and when that happens, it will undo Trump\u2019s efforts \u2014 at least in 12 percent of the United States better known as California \u2014 to prop up old school energy industries.<\/p>\n
This column is the opinion of editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Bulletin or 209 Multimedia. He can be reached at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gavin Newsom should be kissing Donald Trump\u2019s feet. Not only now can Newsom possibly do what political operatives…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267075,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-267074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}