It’s go time for Gavin Newsom’s riskiest oil moves

Gov. Gavin Newsom has blamed Big Oil’s greed for the state’s highest-in-the-nation gasoline prices for two years. The year ahead could make his case or break it.

His administration is set to decide whether to impose aggressive, untested new rules on oil refiners that are meant to curb gas prices, but oil companies say they’ll do the opposite.

Newsom, who is termed out in 2026 but could run for president in 2028, isn’t changing his tone on oil.

"The governor is focused on affordability at the pump by holding oil companies accountable for their profit spikes that have cost consumers billions of dollars,” spokesperson Daniel Villasenor said in a statement. “We're not turning back from a clean energy future and requiring transparency from the oil industry.”

But many Democratic lawmakers are worried the state is asking too much of residents against a backdrop of President-elect Donald Trump’s decisive victory and a cost-of-living crisis that pits affordability against the state’s climate goals. The state's approach could become a model or a cautionary tale, with implications for a national Democratic Party seeking to redefine itself.

Robert Rivas, the state’s Assembly speaker, pinpointed energy affordability when he set the stage for the next two years in a speech to lawmakers earlier this month.