Gavin Newsom and his band of authoritarian thug regulators at the California Energy Commission (CEC) delivered another masterclass in progressive governance this week. On Monday, the CEC unanimously approved sweeping new rules that will phase out the sale of replacement tires failing to meet the state’s arbitrary “energy-efficiency” standards on rolling resistance.
By 2033, this could wipe out roughly 70 percent of the tires currently available to California drivers. Officials claim it will save motorists a billion dollars a year in fuel costs while cutting emissions. Reality suggests something far less rosy: higher prices, fewer choices, thinner tires on the nation’s worst roads, and yet another layer of cost piled onto families already crushed by the Golden State’s self-inflicted affordability crisis.
This is classic Democrat politics in its purest form.
Step 1: Literally create the highest gas prices in the country via stupid policy choices and taxes. California’s unique blend mandates, sky-high fuel taxes, and relentless war on refining capacity have long ensured drivers pay a substantial premium over the national average. Newsom and his predecessors didn’t stumble into this outcome, they intentionally engineered it.
Step 2: Blame a bogeyman for the problem they created - in this case, Donald Trump. Newsom’s office couldn’t resist framing the tire rules as a win against “MAGA,” as if the former president somehow forced Sacramento to impose the nation’s most punitive energy policies. Never mind the decades of Democratic control that produced the mess.
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