Driven by climate-focused agendas, California policymakers anticipated that gasoline consumption would drop rapidly as electric vehicle adoption increased. Based on this assumption, they implemented policies that led to refinery shutdowns, prevented new facility construction, and introduced additional regulations—all predicated on the belief that the public would embrace their skepticism toward fossil fuels and traditional combustion engines.

However, actual outcomes diverged from projections. Millions of drivers continue to depend on gasoline daily, and by reducing supply more quickly than demand decreased, these policies resulted in a precarious, vulnerable infrastructure.

Californians are now being cautioned to prepare for the consequences of this situation—the FAFO cycle.

People living outside of California should not dismiss the state’s energy troubles as merely a local issue resulting from voter choices. Instead, California’s energy situation as a self-inflicted crisis with far-reaching national implications for the economy and security.

By shutting down refineries, restricting oil production, and granting broad authority to the California Air Resources Board (CARB)—an unaccountable bureaucracy—state leadership has weakened the nation’s energy independence and resilience. The loss of domestic refining capacity will not only inflate fuel prices but also expose the entire country to foreign supply shocks and manipulation, a vulnerability California created entirely on its own.

The only solution is federal intervention, specifically urging the Trump administration to prioritize curbing CARB’s power before California’s policies negatively impact the rest of the nation. The U.S. cannot allow climate alarmism to compromise the fuel infrastructure essential for the economy, industry, and defense.

Implementing stricter measures to prevent vote fraud could alter the political landscape in California, potentially leading to different policy decisions in the future.