Commentary
It never made any sense for a businessman named Gavin Newsom, now California’s governor, to come out against profits—in this case, for the oil companies. In calling a special session of the Legislature last November, he branded it “price gouging” by “Big Oil.”
Hearings last week in the Legislature showed even his fellow Democrats are skeptical. Said Sen. Steve Bradford (D-Gardena): “In our pursuit to address gasoline prices, we must ensure our actions that we take first [do] no harm to consumers.”
Sen. Dave Min (D-Irvine) last month introduced Senate Bill 599, which would ban offshore oil drilling in California. But even he said at the hearing, “There is clearly a belief out there among many people that oil companies were profiting off the backs of Californians. At the same time, we don’t really have a smoking gun as far as I can see, that shows intentional collusion.”…