Low-energy Gavin Newsom needs Donald Trumps high-energy economic policy

President Donald Trump is in California to raise money for Republicans, and to tout his economic record.On the numbers alone, he has a decent case to make.The economy has continued to grow, albeit at a slower pace (1.5%) in the second quarter than the first (2.1%).Unemployment remains almost as low as it has ever been (4.2%).Inflation is higher than anyone wants it to be (3.5%) — but it’s not as bad as it could be, especially given that we are at war in the Middle East.

Likewise with gas prices.That’s because Trump long ago put the US on a path to energy independence — and energy abundance.Under the first Trump administration, the US passed Russia and Saudi Arabia to become the world’s largest oil producer.The shale gas revolution, made possible by fracking, which Democrats have often opposed, has made energy cheaper — and cleaner.And Trump’s successful intervention against Nicolás Maduro had brought Venezuelan oil onto world markets, which has kept prices from rising too high.That’s where California’s economy has parted ways from the rest of the country.Under Gavin Newsom and the Democrats, the state has been shutting down its fossil fuel industry — and its own energy supply.California depends on foreign oil, much of it from the Middle East, which has to be shipped via tanker through the Strait of Hormuz and across the Pacific, burning a lot of carbon on the way.California's top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.

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Never miss a story That doesn’t help the planet, and it certainly doesn’t help California drivers and businesses.Californians pay the nation’s highest gas prices, and the second-highest energy costs (after Hawaii). Newsom is fighting Trump over the Sable offshore oil field, which the president forced back into action, helping Americans — and ...