WorldAtlas recently ranked the “most adorable” small towns in Northern California, a list that includes coastal charmers, wine country towns and a Gold Rush-era burg.

On Nov. 8, three days after Election Day, the California Air Resources Board, a notionally independent agency whose appointees are controlled by the Democratic Party, is set to vote on stringent new fuel standards and apply them next year. CARB estimated this year that regulations similar to the ones being voted on Friday would raise the price of gas by 47 cents a gallon in 2025. The University of Pennsylvania’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy did its own analysis of CARB’s new regulations and found that a price hike of 65 cents per gallon was more likely.

The backlash against these estimates earlier in the year was so strong that CARB said it would reconsider the new standard, which it did, before rereleasing basically the same regulation. This time, instead of estimating how much the new regulations would raise prices for consumers, CARB claimed it had simply lost the ability to determine how much its regulations would affect prices.

“I don’t expect them to,” CARB Executive Officer Steven Cliff told reporters. “There will be additional impacts to costs to refiners,” but he said he doesn’t “think” those costs will be passed on to consumers. 

If only that were true.

Keep in mind that the new CARB standards are on top of new costs inflicted on refineries by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) anti-price gouging legislation, which forces refineries in the state to build new storage facilities to hold reserve gasoline in case refinery maintenance disrupts supplies.

The problem is that higher costs are prompting oil companies to shut down refineries. Phillips 66 is closing its Carson refinery, and since no sensible person would build a new oil refinery in California, it means California will have to import gasoline instead.

Most states pipe in extra gasoline whenever there is a temporary shortage. But not California. Its draconian environmental laws mean there are no gas pipelines into the state nor any pipelines connecting the northern and southern gas markets.

With gas refineries in California down to eight from 11 five years ago, imports from overseas are set to more than double from 8% of the total used to 17% next year.

California Democrats may pat themselves on the back for reducing carbon emissions by getting rid of refineries, but California drivers are not abandoning their gas-powered cars as fast as Democrats would like. There are still more than 25 million such vehicles registered in the state, 17 times the number of electric vehicles.

The oil must come from somewhere, and that somewhere is Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately for environmentalists, the tankers shipping oil from the Middle East to California use a heavy fuel oil that emits lots of carbon. When California Democrats calculated carbon emissions cut by ridding the state of refineries, they did not add the emissions from oil tankers.

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California could scrap its oppressive refinery regulations and keep more of them open. It could also reform its permitting process and build gas pipelines into the state. But California is also just sitting on the nation’s sixth-largest oil reserves. It does not need to import oil from Saudi Arabia. It just needs to pump it out from under Bakersfield. It would cut carbon emissions from oil tankers and avoid oil tanker spills.

But such commonsense solutions would never be allowed while the state is controlled by the Democratic Party.

By Charlie Spiering, Senior Political Reporter

Published: 21:18 GMT, 3 November 2024 | Updated: 21:30 GMT, 3 November 2024

Kamala Harris refused to answer when asked how she would vote on a measure to impose harsher sentences on criminals in California.

The vice president was taking questions from reporters in Michigan on Sunday when she discussed if she had cast her own ballot in the final hours of the race.

The Democratic nominee confirmed she’d be voting by mail and hoped it would get to her home state in time.

She was then grilled on how she voted on Proposition 36, a ballot measure that could be tough on crime. 

Harris is frantically campaigning across the swing states with less than 48 hours until what could be one of the closest presidential elections in history. 

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She received a boost in the polls over the weekend, with a New York Times poll showing her trailing in only two of the seven swing states and a stunning Des Moines Register surveys showing her ahead of Trump in the deep red state of Iowa.

Kamala Harris refused to answer when asked how she would vote on a measure to impose harsher sentences on criminals in California

‘So I have my ballot, it’s on its way to California, and I’m going to trust the system that it will arrive there, and I am not going to talk about the vote on that, because, honestly, it’s the Sunday before the election, and I don’t intend to create an endorsement one way or another around it,’ she said.

Prop 36 would strengthen penalties for certain drug and theft crimes and reverse progressive criminal justice reforms under Proposition 47.

It would upgrade crimes involving repeat shoplifting and fentanyl from misdemeanors to felonies and would crackdown on repeat offenders. 

The measure is unpopular among progressive Democrats and California Governor Gavin Newsom, it is overwhelmingly popular among Californians.

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Harris’ record on crime and her record as a prosecutor in San Francisco has been a frequent attack line used by Republicans during the campaign.

Trump and his allies have zeroed in on light sentences and criminals who have gone on to reoffend following their release from prison.

The vice president was taking questions from reporters in Michigan on Sunday when she discussed if she had cast her own ballot in the final hours of the race

Harris is frantically campaigning across the swing states with less than 48 hours until what could be one of the closest presidential elections in history 

The GOP have also linked the vice president to migrants who have committed violent offences after crossing the border.

Harris at the same time has used her time as California’s top law enforcement officer to prove she has the credentials to be President of the United States.

In October she was again evasive when asked about Prop 36.

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‘I’ve not voted yet and I’ve actually not read it yet,’ Harris told reporters ahead of a flight from Detroit to New Jersey, in response to a question about Proposition 36. ‘But I’ll let you know.’

Harris also avoided taking a stance on Proposition 47 when it was on the ballot in California in 2024.

The measure reduced the number of people serving prison sentences for nonviolent drug offences and sent millions to treatment and rehabilitation programs. 

It also called for anyone stealing goods valued at less than $950 to be charged with a misdemeanor.

As a result, retail stores were left relatively helpless when stealing from their stores.

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Walmart and In-N-Out Burger are among the companies financing the campaign behind Proposition 36.