SACRAMENTO – Today, Senator Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) denounced the Governor’s actions to attack California workers by eliminating gas-powered vehicles by 2035 and committing to work with Legislative Democrats to end fracking.
Senator Grove released the following statement:
“Californians have had enough with these extremist policies that have forced rolling blackouts, shuttered thousands of businesses, fueled catastrophic wildfires, killed the freelance economy, and beyond. Perhaps Governor Newsom should spend less time pursuing headlines and spend more time on real solutions. How about keeping Californians safe from wildfires, having an unemployment department that doesn’t have a 1.6 million claim backlog, or having a reliable energy grid that allows us to turn on the AC in 110-degree weather?
“The fact is that Californians cannot survive without oil and gas or petroleum byproducts. These products are not just the gas in our cars, they are the asphalt on our roads, the plastic holding together electric vehicles, medical equipment vulnerable patients rely on, footballs our children play with, telephones, toothpaste, trash bags, and so much more. Instead of producing it under the strictest environmental regulations in the world, our state will be doing more business with foreign regimes that have abysmal environmental and human rights standards.
"If the Governor's going to talk about the environment then he needs to be upfront with all of the facts. Catastrophic wildfires can emit as much particulate matter in a single week as all of the cars on the road in California for a year. The Governor should be using his time to protect our communities at risk from wildfire by managing our forests and vegetation instead of banning cars that everyday Californians use to provide for their families."
Senator Grove authored an Op-ed about the attack on the oil and gas industry as published in the Bakersfield Californian. Click here to read it.