California is Democrats’ blueprint for completing their “fundamental transformation” of the U.S.
But things aren’t exactly turning out the way they planned in the state.
And Gavin Newsom was spitting mad after he heard these five words about California.
Chevron bails on California for Texas
Democrat-controlled California is known for leading Democrats’ nationwide transition to green energy.
But at one time, the state was one of the world’s leading oil producers.
In fact, the rise of Los Angeles as a major city was fueled by the oil industry.
California-based Chevron – the second-largest oil company in the United States by revenue – was a legacy of the state’s days as a player in the oil business.
The state’s war on fossil fuels and business finally became too much for the oil major.
Chevron announced that it was moving its corporate headquarters from San Ramon, California to Houston, Texas by the end of 2029.
Chevron President Andy Walz told reporters the company had been gradually shifting its operation to Texas for years.
“We’ve been doing that because California is a tough place to do business,” Walz said. “It’s a tough place to recruit people. It’s a tough place to move employees – a lot of our employees move up through the company, they gain experience in different geographies, different locations and we have a lot of people who will not move to California. That makes it difficult.”
California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom has been targeting American oil and gas companies for so-called “price gouging” to pass the buck for his state driving up the price of energy.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott celebrates
Chevron will leave behind a footprint in California.
The company operates two oil refineries in the state, along with retail gas stations.
“We have been moving the company’s employee base to Houston for a long time. This is another step on that journey,” Walz stated. “We’re doing that because it’s going to drive better performance for Chevron. Today, our leadership teams are spread across two different states, we’re not together as much, so there’s efficiencies, there’s effectiveness by doing that.”
Walz noted that Chevron ran into serious obstacles trying to run a major operation out of California.
“California’s a tough place to have a big employee base. It’s tough. Cost of living is expensive. And we were not able to get employees that didn’t live there to move there and that’s not sustainable for us, to be honest,” Walz explained.
Houston is the home of the American oil industry, and Walz pointed out the state is welcoming to the industry.
“I will tell you, in Texas, we’re welcome. Our industry is welcome,” Walz stated. “This is where a lot of our competitors are, a lot of our suppliers, a lot of the people we do business with are here. It’s easy to walk across the street and talk to somebody that you’re doing business with. The policies are welcoming of energy companies. And quite frankly, it’s lower cost of living, and it works well here.”
Newsom’s office put out a statement celebrating California as the leading creator of green energy jobs.
Meanwhile, Texas Governor Greg Abbott welcomed the tenth-largest company in the Fortune 500 to his state.
“WELCOME HOME Chevron!” Abbott wrote on X. “Texas is your true home. Drill baby drill.”
California continues to lose jobs and businesses to pro-freedom states.
