Life is getting more inconvenient here in the “golden” state. In the last few weeks, three of our neighborhood gas stations have closed down permanently. Another closed a few months before. It’s no longer easy to fill one’s tank—some travel time must be built in, rather than in the old days of a quick jaunt of a mile or less. And no, we don’t have declining gas prices like the rest of the US; quite the opposite. I paid $4.59 for regular this week. Predictions are that’s just the beginning of the climb.

Image courtesy of Terry Paulding.

I wanted to find out what caused this massive station closure pattern, and no surprise, the mono-party legislature is at fault, neglecting to analyze their bills before passing them. There are consequences they didn’t bother to factor into their high-minded bill.

As I tried to delve further into the subject, I found it interesting that, when I queried online, the first answer that popped up was from a commercial real estate group. If I were trying to find a location for a business, I’d look at convenience in choosing a site. Being able to fuel one’s trucks, for instance.

As of January 1st, AB 626 outlaws all single-walled underground tanks. If you notice how things are done in this state, you’ll understand that the red tape and environmental regulations involved in any upgrade from an old tank to a new one are sizable. It will also take a year or two. Which, I suspect, left many operators hard against the deadline. Apparently, the promised loans to help with upgrading never materialized, either.

Much easier for service station owners to remove all tanks and convert the property into something else that will make them some money. Housing being at a premium around here, no doubt many will build the biggest apartment building possible.

The Shell that closed a year ago and tried to convert into an electric car charging station, ran into lots of trouble and has sat idle, half-built, for many months. It sits on a sliver of corner commercial space at the bottom of an upscale residential neighborhood. During its electric phase, alarmed residents vocally objected to having customers camping out for an hour or two, doing whatever they do, all night, waiting for their cars to power up.

Not only are gas stations closing, but refineries are shutting down, too. One up north and one down south, two of the biggest in the state, are simply ending operations rather than trying to comply with new, onerous regulations that dictate how they can do business, how much fuel they must store, and more.

Every article I pull up online predicts prices climbing to $10 per gallon, as fuel must be imported from other states. Not an attractive option, especially when people commute on our crowded highways. No doubt a lot of this was done as a calculated squeeze over several years of legislative time — they blatantly wanted to force people into electric cars, by making owning a gas car untenable. Just one more way our nanny state has turned the once Golden State into a trash heap in every way it could.

I live in an urban environment, and I’m sure I’ll find gas within several miles. However, in the more rural areas, individually owned stations will be closing as of January 1, and we will no doubt add “gas deserts” to the now-ubiquitous “food deserts” that our economy and crazy laws forced on every community.

When it was easy to steal under $950 without consequence, before the citizens passed Proposition 36 this year, re-criminalizing theft, there was no way for store owners to protect their stock, investment, and the safety of their workers and customers. Now, a lot of what we consume is delivered by Amazon trucks. Good thing some of them are electric, I guess.

My only hope is that this might just be enough to turn the populace rightward. It’s probably a futile hope, but I can’t imagine commuting on our crowded highways with gas prices rising. Dare I hope they say ‘no mas’?