California in Crisis — But You Can Help Fix It!

Last Thursday night, an oil refinery just south of LAX exploded, sending shockwaves across California’s already fragile energy market. And as if that weren’t enough, the federal government shut down, which affects our state in more ways than you might think. But among all the chaos, I have good news for you about one very practical step you can take TODAY to make positive change in our state!

The Ongoing Oil Crisis Made Worse

Last Thursday at 9PM an explosion at Chevron’s El Segundo oil refinery, located just south of LAX, caused a massive fire to erupt that took hours to fully extinguish.[1] The exact cause of the explosion is still unclear, but it appears that the blast originated in the ISOMAX hydrocracking unit[2] – which is a system that uses hydrogen and high heat to turn heavier oil into jet fuel and diesel. When a pipe, valve, or reactor in this system fails, hydrogen can ignite explosively.

This is a huge deal, because this refinery is the second largest refinery in California, and the second largest Chevron refinery across the United States.[3] It’s responsible for 20% of California’s gasoline[4] – 20%! That is not a small amount. An entire fifth of our state’s gas supply is completely offline due to the damage. And this doesn’t only impact gasoline, but the refinery also supplied 40% of the jet fuel used by surrounding Southern California airports.[5]

When it comes to the impact this will have on Californians, early estimates cited an expected 30 to 90 cent per gallon increase in gas prices.[6] And of course, this comes in the wake of the announcement of two refinery closures scheduled for the end of this year and early next year – closures I mentioned a few months ago which were already on track to increase gas prices in our state. 

What led to this, who is at fault, and was this preventable? Chevron has a documented pattern of safety and environmental violations at this refinery. Over the last 5 years, it’s received 46 notices of violation from the South Coast Air Quality Management District, and OSHA has cited it for 17 safety violations.[7] This clearly shows us there were systemic operational and maintenance failures that let to this event, rather than it being a one-off accident. Ultimately, Chevron bears the primary fault for maintaining equipment that regulators have already flagged as unsafe multiple times.

However, I think it’s fair to dig deeper into why they were allowed to continue operating when they had 46 major violations. When I read that Chevron had 46 violations and kept running, I honestly couldn’t believe regulators didn’t step in sooner. After all, what good are inspections and violations if nothing changes? How it works is the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which is a California state agency, issues what are known as “notices of violation” – or NOVs.[8] But an NOV doesn’t shut a facility down; instead, it typically leads to fines (which can be negotiated down), compliance deadlines, and ongoing monitoring. Even repeat violations won’t shut a refinery down unless regulators prove immediate danger or willful negligence.

One major reason why stronger action wasn’t taken against this specific refinery is because of how heavily our state relies on it. As I mentioned earlier, this refinery accounts for 20% of our state’s gas supply. Imagine a regulator shutting down a fifth of the state’s gas supply – even just temporarily to address safety issues. They have no incentive to do that! It would only make the public mad because it would temporarily increase prices, and it would feel like for little gain given the public generally doesn’t care about violations until they result in something like an explosion and fire. This is why competition, and an abundance of resources is so important – so that if one refinery needs to close for repairs that there is plenty of supply coming from other sources. But in California, because of the burdensome environmental regulations and policy that majorly disincentivizes oil refineries from operating here, we only have 13 operating refineries, including the two slated to close. We used to have 40 refineries in the 1980s, so that is significant decline.

This has created a severe problem with concentrated market power. In 2024, the California Energy Commission cited that 98 percent of all gasoline refining capacity in our state was controlled by just 5 companies. With the two refinery closures by next year, that will drop to just three companies controlling more than 90 percent of refining capacity.[9] This means that there is no competition between private companies to ensure that prices stabilize, that consumers get fair prices, and that consumers are protected from major price swings.

Because of our climate change initiatives, California has placed an overreliance on such a small number of refineries, which means we end up moving from crisis to crisis and reacting to negative shifts in the market rather than proactively ensuring that the Californian people have adequate access to the resources they need without major prices swings. Regardless of the details for this explosion, California’s policy priorities have led to an environment where we are not prepared to prevent or respond to accidents like this. 

Now, speaking of the details, the investigation into the root causes of this explosion will be handled by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Mitigation Board – which is a federal government agency. But this agency is currently hobbled by the federal government shutdown, leaving California without full investigative capacity. Which leads me to the next point of crisis in our state!

Federal Government Shutdown & State Impacts

You may have heard that the federal government shut down last Wednesday on October 1st, and you may be wondering what exactly that means and if or how it impacts states like California.  

So, let’s start from the beginning. So, what actually causes a government shutdown?

Congress is supposed to pass twelve funding bills every year – one for each part of the federal government. But when lawmakers can’t agree on how much to spend or what to fund, they usually pass something called a “continuing resolution,” or CR. A CR is basically a short-term Band-Aid that keeps the government running at last year’s spending levels while Congress argues about the new budget. When even that temporary deal fails, the government “shuts down.”

For example, the last government shutdown was in 2018 when Congress disagreed on funding the border wall. President Trump wanted to allocate $5.7 billion to building a border wall. At the time, Republicans controlled the Senate and Democrats controlled the House of Representatives, and Democrats refused to approve the spending. It lasted for 35 days before President Trump removed the spending provision for the border wall.[10]

This means hundreds of thousands of federal employees stop getting paid, national parks close, and states like California start feeling the ripple effects almost immediately.[11] The people most impacted are government workers. Non-essential federal workers are sent home without pay, while essential workers still work but aren’t paid until after the shutdown ends. Some examples of essential workers are border patrol, TSA, military, and so on.

When it comes to the statewide impact, it’s not as direct, but the longer the shutdown remains in effect, the more repercussions there are. For example, on Monday of this week the Hollywood Burbank Airport announced it would be operating without air traffic controllers because they were so short-staffed.[12] Air traffic controllers are federal employees, and even though they are “essential” workers, they often don’t want to work without pay – and so they will call out, creating a shortage and leading to flight delays or disruptions.

There are also delays in funding things like wildfire prevention. While actual firefighters won’t be furloughed and will have resources to fight current fires, federal funding toward futural wildfire prevention will pause – meaning funds spent during the shutdown on current firefighting takes away from future resources. And then there are national parks – if you were planning to go to one this weekend, you might rethink that. The National Parks Conservation Association is projecting “daily losses of $1 million in fee revenue for the parks, and $77 million for the gateway communities that surround them during the shutdown.”[13]

The biggest question mark is the impact on the economy. A shutdown of just a few days isn’t really going to make too big of an impact, but a prolonged one can cause consumer confidence and retail sales to dip. Past shutdowns have caused billions in delayed spending. The Small Business Administration stops approving new loans during a shutdown, which can delay billions of dollars in funding for businesses. All in all, the federal government shutdown most likely won’t affect most of our lives too drastically, but for federal workers or our military then the shutdown has a big financial impact on their lives as they are furloughed or forego pay in their jobs.

Now, you might be thinking, this is a federal issue, so what does this have to do with California policy? Surely nothing our state did contributed to this shutdown, and there’s nothing we could do to help end it, right? Well, there’s just one more point that I think is worth calling out. The main argument at the heart of the shutdown is over health care – and more specifically, over allowing undocumented (illegal) immigrants to access healthcare paid for by taxpayers, like Medicaid. Several democrats have said this, claiming they want everyone regardless of immigration status to have access to free healthcare. Well, who is the perfect case study for providing free healthcare to illegal immigrants? None other than our beloved California.

Democrats’ proposal for a spending bill includes $200 billion spent on healthcare for illegal immigrants and other non-citizens over the next decade.[14] This is taking a page right out of Newsom’s playbook since he put us in a literal budget deficit last year to pay for the healthcare of illegal immigrants. DO you remember that? Gavin Newsom sought and received a $3.44 billion loan from California’s general fund, as well as an immediate additional $2.8 billion in funding, to cover over-budget expenses incurred by our state’s Medi-Cal program, due to its expansion to cover illegal immigrants.[15]

So, while California is not directly responsible for the government shutdown, it has championed and contributed to the atrocious policy positions that Democrats in Congress are now holding the spending bill hostage over. And the worst part is that Gavin Newsom is encouraging them to “stand strong,” not to cave to Republicans, and to demand the expansion to healthcare. What a mess – no wonder our state is in constant chaos.

Something YOU Can Do TODAY!

When it comes to oil refineries and government shutdowns, let’s be honest – there’s not much we can do. Yes we can elect better leaders, but in the here and now we mostly just have to wait and see what happens next.  

But here’s the good news – I have one more story for today and it is something you can do to contribute to making our state a better place! Just last week I went to check the mail, and I had a letter marked urgent from Reform California. When I opened it up, I learned about a new ballot initiative known as the California Voter ID Initiative – and I received a petition to sign to help get it on the ballot for next year’s midterms.  

What this ballot measure is seeking to do is to let voters vote on if they want Voter ID to be mandatory in our state or not. Currently, our Governor and our Legislature are extremely opposed to Voter ID. However, there was a poll that was just conducted in April of this year of registered voters in California, and over 71% of those polled were in favor of requiring voters to prove citizenship.[16] That is HUGE! There was a majority in every single political party – even California Democrats – favoring Voter ID.

This issue really reminds me of Prop. 36 in last year’s election. Polls before the election were showing overwhelming voter support for a ballot measure that would reinstate certain theft and drug crimes as felonies rather than misdemeanors – because the public is tired of rampant crime. Governor Newsom on the other hand railed against Prop. 36 and tried to get it off the ballot. But, when it came time to actually hear what California voters wanted, a whopping 70% voted yes, and the measure was passed regardless of what our Governor said about it.

My friends, now is the time to do the same thing with voter ID! Our governor and our legislature can screech all they want about how much they oppose it – the data is proving out that actual voters, real Californians want to impose commonsense safeguards to our state elections, and it’s time for our leaders to listen to us! 

So, here’s the encouraging news – you can sign the petition today and take action to help our state! I have a link below where you can find out more information, as well as the actual petition for you to print, sing, and mail in. We need 875,000 signatures by March, and currently the initiative only has a little over 66,000, so every signature counts!

Here’s the thing: our state is in crisis, for so many reasons. We have rising prices made worse by our leadership’s terrible policy priorities, we have rising crime because of soft-on-crime policies and protected illegal immigration, we’re constantly in a budget deficit because our legislature funds benefits that you don’t even qualify for – and on and on it goes. We can’t fix all of those problems. We can fight against them and stay informed and make our voices heard – but we have to seek out ways to make real, tangible change, no matter how small it seems.

From the refinery fire to the federal shutdown, California keeps paying the price for failed leadership — but the petition in your mailbox is a reminder that we still have the power to change it. So, among the chaos and the crisis today, take one practical step to help reform our state. Sign the petition and mail it in.

Because real change happens one step at a time.

Click the button below to learn more about how to sign the petition to get Voter ID on the 2026 ballot!

 
References:

[1] Suter, Leanne, and Tim Pulliam. “Chevron Refinery Fire in El Segundo Extinguished; Investigation Underway Into Cause.” ABC7 Los Angeles, October 6, 2025. https://abc7.com/live-updates/chevron-refinery-explosion-possible-blast-massive-fire-erupts-el-segundo/17928145/.

[2] Briscoe, Tony, and Connor Sheets. “Chevron’s El Segundo Refinery Has a History of Safety, Environmental Violations - Los Angeles Times.” Los Angeles Times, October 4, 2025. https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-10-04/chevrons-el-segundo-refinery-had-a-history-of-safety-environmental-violations.

[3] Seba, Erwin, Shivani Tanna, Nicole Jao, and Shariq Khan. “Chevron’s Los Angeles Refinery Down After Large Fire Erupted in Jet Fuel Unit.” Reuters, October 3, 2025. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/fire-breaks-out-chevrons-refinery-el-segundo-la-times-says-2025-10-03/.

[4] Juarez, Leticia. “How Will the El Segundo Refinery Fire Impact California Gas Prices?” ABC7 Los Angeles, October 3, 2025. https://abc7.com/post/how-will-el-segundo-chevron-refinery-explosion-fire-impact-california-gas-prices-heres-what-experts-say/17933063/.

[5] Mische, Michael. “Potential Impact of Retail Gas Prices of the Chevron El Segundo Fire.” California Globe, October 6, 2025. https://californiaglobe.com/fl/potential-impact-of-retail-gas-prices-of-the-chevron-el-segundo-fire/.

[6] Juarez, “How Will the El Segundo Refinery Fire Impact California Gas Prices?”

[7] Briscoe, Tony, and Connor Sheets. “Chevron’s El Segundo Refinery Has a History of Safety, Environmental Violations - Los Angeles Times.” Los Angeles Times, October 4, 2025. https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-10-04/chevrons-el-segundo-refinery-had-a-history-of-safety-environmental-violations.

[8] South Coast Air Quality Management District. “Public Inquiry System for Notices of Violation and Notices to Comply,” n.d. https://www.aqmd.gov/home/rules-compliance/compliance/compliance-notices/public-inquiry-system-for-novs-and-ncs#:~:text=Notice%20of%20Violation%20%E2%80%93%20this%20type,involve%20emissions%20of%20some%20kind.

[9] Martin, Jeremy. “What’s Happening With California’s Gasoline Supply?” The Equation, August 11, 2025. https://blog.ucs.org/jeremy-martin/whats-happening-with-californias-gasoline-supply/#:~:text=While%20the%20press%20focuses%20on,of%20California's%20gasoline%20refining%20capacity.

[10] Yilek, Caitlin. “What Is a Government Shutdown? Here’s What Happens When Funding Runs Out.” CBS News, October 6, 2025. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/government-shutdown-2025-what-happens/.

[11] Wessel, David. “What Is a Government Shutdown?” Brookings, October 6, 2025. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/what-is-a-government-shutdown-and-why-are-we-likely-to-have-another-one/#:~:text=There%20have%20been%20four%20previous,of%20the%2012%20appropriation%20bills.

[12] Fioresi, Dean. “Hollywood Burbank Airport Without Air Traffic Controllers Monday Night Due to Staffing Shortages.” CBS News, October 7, 2025. https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/hollywood-burbank-airport-without-air-traffic-controllers-government-shutdown/.

[13] Becker, Rachel, Kristen Hwang, Alejandro Lazo, Cayla Mihalovich, and Jeanne Kuang. “What a Government Shutdown Means for Californians, From Social Security to National Parks.” CalMatters, October 1, 2025. https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/09/government-shutdown-californians/.

[14] The White House. “FACT: Democrats Shut Down Government Over Free Healthcare for Illegals,” October 1, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/10/fact-democrats-shut-down-government-over-free-healthcare-for-illegals/.

[15] Bluth, Rachel. “Newsom’s Office Seeks Another $2.8B to Plug Medicaid Gap.” Politico, March 17, 2025. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/17/newsoms-office-seeks-another-2-8b-to-plug-medicaid-gap-00234663.

[16] Rector, Kevin. “Most Californians Favor Proving Citizenship to Vote, Poll Finds - Los Angeles Times.” Los Angeles Times, May 9, 2025. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-05-09/la-times-igs-poll-on-elections-and-voter-id.