Oil is another one of California's abundant resources. The best way to reduce our nation's dependence on foreign oil is to utilize our domestic oil resources.  By expanding exploration and production of our oil resources we will create high paying jobs while lowering our energy costs.  California has vast, untapped oil resources right here in our own backyard.  With the right technology we can access them safely and with less environmental impact than ever before.

 

 

Oil creates wealth.  Each barrel of oil is used to produce hundreds of products.  Transportation fuels such as gasoline and diesel are just the tip of the iceberg.  We get plastics, fertilizers, chemicals, medical supplies, aspirin, asphalt, carpets, clothing, and many other items from oil.  Each of these products is produced at a profit which increases the value of the companies involved and generates tens of thousands of jobs.  All of this generates revenues to the state and prosperity for those involved in the process.  California must increase the development of our domestic oil resources.

 

Santa Barbara is a great example of how California's oil produces wealth and a clean environment.  All Californians will benefit from increased economic development of our natural resources.  We have the technology to do it in a clean and environmentally friendly way.  In fact many of the oil rigs are teaming with sea life all around their bases.  The increased carbon dioxide emissions mix with the water and sunlight to create a food chain from plankton to whales.

 

         

Once again my policies will expand our job base as oil exploration and development requires engineers, chemists, geologists, and riggers.  Oil companies buy products from machine shops, construction companies, and manufacturers of all kinds.  This will increase the wealth of our citizens and the value of our real estate.  It will lower our budget deficit and even give us a surplus.  It is time to utilize California's oil resources to benefit the citizens of this state.

 

 

 

Nuclear power is one of the cheapest forms of electricity production ever developed.  It cannot be used for our transportation systems which run on oil, but it is a valuable alternative to coal or natural gas for the production of electricity for homes and businesses.

 

However it is also one of the dirtiest.  The radioactive waste created in the nuclear process remains toxic for hundreds of thousands of years. We must upgrade our rapidly aging existing nuclear facilities, but before expanding into new nuclear power plants we must decide as a state and as a nation if we want to leave the waste problem for future generations or deal with it here and now. 

                                       

Nuclear Power is safe as beachgoers relax near the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant 

 

My position is to utilize our existing nuclear power plants and other forms of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas as well as hydroelectric generation for electricity production.  Fossil fuels are much cleaner and do not leave us with a toxic radioactive waste problem that is extremely deadly and dangerous.  Nuclear is useful for electric generation but not for transportation fuel or any of the other by-products of oil.

 

Some will argue that France generates 80% of their electricity from nuclear power and we should follow their model.  However they reprocess their waste and reuse 95% of it.  The United States does not as President Carter made the bad decision to ban the reprocessing of nuclear waste.  In any case it still leaves a growing amount of radioactive waste for future generations to deal with.   Nuclear power should only be expanded if we develop a comprehensive plan to deal with the radioactive waste.  Currently this waste is stored onsite at each nuclear facility.  A national storage facility has been planned for years at the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada, but it is not yet available and the method to transport the waste to this underground waste depository is still not finalized.  

 

 

 

Windmills and solar panels are the most expensive and inefficient forms of electricity production ever developed.  They do not produce valuable by-products and require very heavy investment up front.  Neither of these forms of energy production has proven to be economically viable without massive government subsidies.  They constantly lose money and do not reduce our dependence on foreign oil.  Unfortunately subsidizing these forms of energy production with tax dollars does not make them profitable.  It just forces the taxpayers to pick up the losses and drains our treasury of resources that need to be used for police, fire, education and other government services.  These inefficient forms of electricity production destroy wealth.

 

                                                      

This is not a popular position, but as Governor I will oppose using government funds to subsidize inefficient energy systems.  Wind and solar must only be used if the technology can show they are viable in a free market system without government bailouts.  Many of our current economic problems of today have been caused by the relentless push to convert our energy production to wind and solar.

 

 

Automobiles powered by gasoline or diesel fuel are extremely efficient.  The internal combustion engine is vastly superior to any form of electric vehicle.  The attempt by the government to force the American automakers to invent the impossible led directly to the failure of our automotive industry.  When the Pelosi Congress began to mandate that billions of dollars be spent to develop electric vehicles it siphoned away billions of dollars from the health care and retirement plans of union workers in the automotive industry.  The result was a catastrophic failure of an important part of our manufacturing economy, massive government bailouts, lost jobs, and an economy in shambles.

 

Hybrid vehicles get their energy from the gasoline powered engine which generates the energy to recharge the batteries at the same time it propels the vehicle down the road.  Electrical batteries limit the size and weight of the vehicle and will never be able to match the power produced by the internal combustion engine.  Production of the batteries also creates toxic waste that is harmful to the environment.  Far worse than any carbon dioxide emissions.  As Governor I will not support plug in electrics as I believe they are vastly inferior to our current technology.  There is no better way to power our transportation industry than with oil.