California Governor Gavin Newsom will spend more than $230 billion on a train that may never run, yet he won’t let a single trainload of Wyoming coal reach a port taxpayers already funded.Last month, the California governor signed a bill to kill a coal export terminal in Oakland before it even opens.The project would be the West Coast’s first terminal, a direct link between Wyoming miners and buyers across the globe who want affordable, reliable power.
President Trump backed it this summer with $75 million through the Defense Production Act.Far-left politicians in Sacramento responded to this historical investment with a new layer of environmental review written to stall the project until its investors give up.California Democrats introduced the bill immediately after the president’s announcement.
The bill’s author sold it as a way to block coal and defy the president.At least she was honest about her intentions.GAVIN NEWSOM'S 'HIDDEN CLIMATE TAX' HITTING AMERICANS NATIONWIDE, LAWMAKER WARNSThe Oakland terminal spent years navigating the gauntlet of California’s burdensome regulatory and legal regime.
The project passed environmental review, among the most punishing in the country.Hundreds of millions of dollars were invested in the site, including more than $240 million from California taxpayers.
After years of litigation, all won by the developers, the City of Oakland conceded and began advancing development of the terminal.California politicians didn’t like the result — so they changed the rules.AMERICAN BUSINESSES AREN’T ALLOWED TO BUILD.IT’S TIME CONGRESS HELPED THEMThat should alarm anyone who builds anything in California, whatever they think of coal.
America and the world need affordable, available, reliable energy.If lawmakers can void a permit retroactively because they dislike the product or the president who supports it, no approval in the state is safe.
Today it is Wyoming coal.Tomorrow it could be an oil refinery, a manufacturi...