Every one of these ripples traces back to the same structural failure. California’s energy policy rests on two assumptions: that reducing domestic production reduces global emissions, and that global energy markets are stable enough to supply the gap. Both assumptions collapsed in 2026. Domestic production drops. Imports rise. California went from 6% crude imports in 1982 to 60% today. Brazil supplies 20%. Iraq supplies 21%. Then Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz. Eleven million barrels per day vanish from global markets. The largest supply shock since 1973. The state eliminated its furnace, and now the heating oil isn’t arriving.
This should end well.
>Every one of these ripples traces back to the same structural failure. California’s energy policy rests on two assumptions: that reducing domestic production reduces global emissions, and that global energy markets are stable enough to supply the gap. Both assumptions collapsed in 2026. Domestic production drops. Imports rise. California went from 6% crude imports in 1982 to 60% today. Brazil supplies 20%. Iraq supplies 21%. Then Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz. Eleven million barrels per day vanish from global markets. The largest supply shock since 1973. The state eliminated its furnace, and now the heating oil isn’t arriving.
This should end well.