Doc7505
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- Feb 16, 2016
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“When a company takes a billion dollar loss just to leave, you know something is seriously broken.”
Valero Eats $1.1 Billion Loss to Escape Newsom’s Toxic California
'When a company takes a billion dollar loss just to leave, you know something is seriously broken.'
legalinsurrection.com
Before handing Gavin Newsom the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028, Democrats may want to pause and consider his long record of failure in California. From his mishandling of the January wildfires to his coddling of illegal immigrants, his poor governance has led to a collapse of public confidence and a mass exodus from the Golden State.
But buried beneath the broader criticism is an often overlooked central failure: Newsom’s policy decisions have made California an increasingly hostile state in which to conduct business. And few industries have suffered more under California’s regulatory assault than fossil fuels, where relentless overreach has driven companies out of the state. The latest major corporation to join the stampede is Valero Energy. The company is so determined to flee California’s overregulation that it was willing to absorb a staggering $1.1 billion loss to get out. Valero will shutter operations by April 2026.
Because other energy companies have already left California, Valero’s exit will put even greater upward pressure on gasoline prices in the state, which are already among the highest in the nation.
~Snip~
Unlike other states, California’s special fuel blends cannot be imported from major U.S. oil-producing states such as Texas, Oklahoma, or Louisiana when inventory runs low. Instead, supply comes largely from a shrinking number of in-state refineries or from a handful of foreign refineries — primarily in countries like South Korea, India, and Singapore — that have the specialized equipment needed to produce CARBOB fuel.
The long-distance transport, exposure to global supply-chain disruptions, and added logistical costs all drive prices higher — costs that are first borne by corporations and ultimately passed on to California consumers at the pump.
Valero is taking a $1 billion dollar loss just to get out of California by April 2026
The company will not comply with Gavin Newsom mandates and instead is willing to lose a billion dollars to leave
“When a company takes a billion dollar loss just to leave, you know something…
Leslie Eastman has reported frequently on the flight of energy companies out of California over the past couple of years. She covered Chevron’s departure here and here — as well as Valero’s initial announcement of its decision to shutter its Benicia refinery.
Leslie also wrote about Newsom’s approval of an order to force energy producers to stock pile gasoline, a measure that led Phillips 66 to announce it would end “operations at its Los Angeles-area refinery in the fourth quarter of 2025.”
Needless and ill-considered policies like this are driving energy companies out of California, one regulation at a time.
But the exodus has not been limited to energy companies. Below is a list of other corporations that have left to escape California’s unfriendly business climate in recent years.
~Snip~
These corporate departures are not abstract losses — they are steadily hollowing out California’s tax base. In a state where the top 1 percent of taxpayers generate nearly half of all income tax revenue, the flight of high earners and major employers carries severe fiscal consequences.
Those consequences are now impossible to ignore. Just last month, CalMatters projected an $18 billion deficit for the 2026–27 fiscal year, the fourth major shortfall in as many years. The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office has warned that California faces “potential structural deficits of $15 billion to $35 billion annually through 2028–29,” a sign not of temporary turbulence, but of deep and persistent mismanagement.
This is the legacy of Gavin Newsom’s governance: a state hemorrhaging businesses, eroding its revenue base, and lurching from one budget crisis to the next. California was once an engine of growth and opportunity. Under Newsom, it has become a cautionary tale.
If this is the model of leadership Democrats intend to export to the nation, voters should ask a simple question: why would anyone entrust the presidency to the man who helped drive the country’s largest state into fiscal and economic decline?
Commentary:
The loss of Valero in California will also affect the states of Arizona and Nevada...
Newsom's list of failures is long and his areas of incompetence are vast.
But he has nice hair, and chicks dig him.
Newsom has without a doubt is destroying California. Just think of the damage he could do as president...
Newsom hasn’t “coddled” illegals, they’re his entire voting base.
The question is, will Trump administration to strike a deal with Valero to keep the site open exclusively for military fuels, and provide Valero with the legal exemption it would need from California law?
Like the Soviet Union, California is a one-party leftist government and it can not reform itself, until it collapses.
Do Californians deserve to suffer under the iron boot of Democrats who've stolen elections and placed them under one party rule?
People don't understand there are millions of conservatives in California that never vote for Democrats or any of their terrible, self serving schemes. This could happen to you in your Blue states too, in fact, it's exactly what the Democrats have planned for you.
All you have to do is look at what is happening in Illinois and New York
