The rioting in Los Angeles may dominate the headlines this week, but progressives in America—and their corporate allies—have two cards to play. Along with fomenting racial strife in order to achieve “equity,” they are systematically shutting down production of affordable energy to cope with the “climate emergency.” Both of these cards are strategic, part of a multi-decade effort, with the ultimate objective being the destruction of America’s cultural unity and material prosperity. The motive is as old as history itself: centralization of power. The goal is a reversion to the mean, written across the centuries, of an elite few oppressing the many.

The irony is thick. A narrative of oppression drives the rioters in Los Angeles, even as they strive to tear down the least oppressive civilization the world has ever known, a civilization that defied the momentum of history, a civilization that embraced meritocracy and the opportunity for private ownership. A civilization where a middle class actually formed a majority of the population. A civilization where discrimination and racism had all but disappeared, a country where anyone who worked hard could join the ranks of the prosperous. That was the American reality until around 2008.

In an even more ironic twist, these riots have little to do with the publicized motives that emphasize race and racial oppression and have everything to do with communism. And yet these communist agitators are the useful idiots not of a workers’ international, led by some Stalinesque cynic based in Moscow. Rather, they are the useful idiots of corporatism. Grow the state, level down the population, and allow thriving mega-corporations to pour subsidized Soylent slop into troughs for the masses. Which is to say, instead of changing course, continue the corruption that took away our opportunities and denied us a chance to own a home or run a small business. Finish the job.

That’s irony on steroids. Ruin the economic prospects for millions of people. Make their society unaffordable thanks to a government that has morphed from a public benefit into an overgrown parasite, partnered with a corporate sector that thrives on regulations because that kills their emerging competitors and lets them control markets and raise prices. Then blame everything on racism. And once the enraged peasants have burnt the cities down, expand government power and corporate consolidation even more. That’s the meaning of “equity” in the real world.

Which brings us to the other card. The “climate emergency.” And here again, the perpetrators of scarcity and high prices demonstrate a stunning capacity to invert reality. A streaming ad campaign blanketing California right now is blaming high prices on the state’s oil companies. The deception and misinformation in these ads is so brazen that almost every sentence can be flipped on its head. The truth is literally the opposite of what they say.

You can view this 30-second masterpiece of deception on Facebook. Depending on what media you consume, you may also encounter this spot, for example, on YouTube or on broadcast television. Here is the transcript:

“What’s the cost of the oil industry’s lies? After the worst climate disaster in state history, as California stares down lasting budget cuts, oil companies are blaming California for their high prices! Demanding you bail them out. All while they rake in record profits. But we can wipe their lies clean, making polluters pay the cost of rebuilding, funding critical priorities, and finally holding big oil accountable.”

We must begin by reminding anyone who invests the 30 seconds needed to view this spot in its entirety that what it claims as the “worst climate disaster in state history,” the wildfires that destroyed more than 16,000 homes in Los Angeles County less than six months ago, was not a “climate” disaster. It was caused by shameful neglect and mismanagement. The canyons and hillsides surrounding the neighborhoods that burned used to be thinned through mechanical pruning, prescribed burns, and grazing.

Over the past 50 years, with worsening effects every year, all of that came to almost a complete halt thanks to continuously escalating progressive environmentalist regulations. It has become almost impossible to graze livestock in the Santa Monica Mountains, despite ranches having previously operated there for over a century. Getting a burn permit as well became nearly impossible thanks to new restrictions imposed by the regional air quality management district, dominated by progressive environmentalists. Mechanical pruning, while ostensibly encouraged, inevitably triggered lawsuits by environmentalists, and in any case, involved a permitting process that all but the most determined and wealthy applicants simply didn’t have the time and money to navigate.

That’s the reason the fire got so bad, burned so long, and destroyed so much. As for the high winds and high temperatures? That is a fact of life in the canyons surrounding Los Angeles. Fires burned through those hills over 100 years ago, and periodically before and since, immolating neighborhoods with equal ferocity back when the global atmospheric CO2 PPM was in the low 300s or lower.

We’re just getting started. The “Campaign for a Safe and Healthy California,” producers of this 30-second spot, have packed a lot of deception into 67 words. They go on to say, “California stares down lasting budget cuts,” as if “big oil” had anything to do with the fact that California’s state General Fund spending soared from $96 billion in the 2013-14 fiscal year to $227 billion in the 2023-24 fiscal year. Even adjusting for inflation, California’s state government is spending nearly twice as much in a state where the population has barely increased over the same period of time.

With all that additional spending, has anything improved? Crime? Homelessness? Public education? Housing costs? Roads and bridges? Water projects? Energy prices?

The spot then claims, “Oil companies are blaming California for their high prices.” Well, not exactly. They’re not blaming “California.” They’re blaming the progressive environmentalists who control the state legislature and the coalition that enables them. They deserve blame. Not including state assessments, here’s what was really in the price of a gallon of gasoline in California as of 3/31/2025:

Crude Oil – $1.84
Distribution, Marketing, and Profits – $0.31
Refinery Costs and Profits – $0.99
Federal Excise Tax – $0.18

This total, $3.32 per gallon, is already higher than it could be. California requires a reformulated blend of gasoline and imposes strict regulations on refinery operations. The national average for “refinery costs and profits” is $0.44 per gallon. So, without state intervention, Californians might actually pay only $2.77 per gallon, which is about what it costs in Texas and several other less-regulated states.

The impact of state taxes and assessments on California’s gasoline price is significant. They include:

“Environmental Programs” – $0.54
Underground Storage Tank Fee – $0.02
State Excise Tax – $0.60
State and Local Sales Taxes – $0.10

These state-imposed taxes add $1.26 to the cost of a gallon of gas in California. When you include the excess costs imposed on refineries, the real number jumps to about $1.81 per gallon. And as for the alleged demand that “you bail them out,” what that actually refers to is “big oil” objecting to the imminent addition of new reformulation requirements, whereby the mandatory percentage of “low carbon fuel” to be blended at the refinery will be increased, mostly to be achieved by purchasing corn ethanol from the American Midwest, transported to California in railroad tank cars. That is estimated to tack another $0.50 onto the price of a gallon of gas.

And as for “record profits?” Between June 2023 and May 2024, California’s beleaguered gasoline refineries made a net profit in only 6 of 11 months, and refinery profits remain thin or negative. In response, they’re leaving. Two major refineries have announced they will close operations in California within the next 12 months. One of them is rumored to be moving operations to Vietnam, where they will refine crude oil to California’s unique standards and ship the gasoline across the Pacific to California ports, which are not yet equipped to handle this. That will add at least another $0.50 per gallon to the price Californians have to pay.

So, what is the nature of this group that wants to “hold big oil accountable?” A look at the coalition that supports the “Campaign for a Safe and Healthy California” is revealing. At the top of the list is Governor Newsom, eager to force California’s refineries to purchase more corn from Iowa. After all, the Iowa presidential caucuses for 2028 are less than three years away.

As for the rest of the supporters, it is a mind-numbingly large collection of mostly astroturf organizations with evocative names like “California Environmental Justice Action” and “California Environmental Voters,” but the source of the big money is obvious and on full display: public sector unions. And why not? This powerful special interest is at the heart of the government/corporate industrial complex. This coalition exists to crush small private companies and the “privileged” middle class. They feed on resentment while sugarcoating it as a quest for “equity,” paired with a noble mission to save the planet.

These are the twin cards of progressives and their corporate allies in California. As you watch Waymos burn down to the asphalt in Los Angeles this week, remember the other card is also dropping. It’s not just about racial equity. It’s also about the “climate emergency.” And in both cases, as both cards are played, the biggest losers are those gullible, unfortunate souls who think they’re manning the barricades of a progressive resistance. How stupid. How sad.