BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Local Congressman Kevin McCarthy headed to a local oil contingency Monday morning, pressing Governor Gavin Newsom to ramp up oil production in California to ease a dramatic rise in the price of gas.
According to the Kern Economic Development Foundation, in 2019 Kern County was the 7th top oil-producing county in the nation with about 119 million barrels of crude oil and around three percent of the total U.S. production.
During his state of the state address recently, Governor Newsom refused to address an increase in production to offset rising prices saying he wouldn't return to energy from the 20th century, calling the industry "petro-dictators."
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McCarthy is calling for oil independence by increasing production in California, eliminating the need for imports from Russia and other foreign countries. And with it increasing jobs and tax dollars in Kern County.
Dave Noerr, the mayor of Taft, says the struggle to produce oil in California has been going on for years and Governor Newsom has exacerbated that.
A proposal to suspend the state's gas tax recently in Sacramento failed along party lines.
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