In response to recent media coverage highlighting a projected 75% increase in California gas prices (up to $8.43 per gallon by 2026), Governor Gavin Newsom’s office has launched a dishonest and deeply inappropriate smear campaign against a respected academic, USC Professor Michael Mische, whose research has raised legitimate questions about the state’s energy future.
“Rather than engaging with the data or addressing Californians' growing concerns about affordability, Governor Newsom is targeting an academic professor simply because he doesn’t like the conclusions,” said Senate Minority Leader Jones (R-San Diego). “This kind of petty politics and slanderous attack is not statesmanlike. Californians deserve better than a governor who hides behind communications staffers while attempting to discredit and slander respected experts.”
The governor’s so-called "Rapid Response" team has reached out to reporters with false and defamatory claims about Professor Mische and his motives. Professor Mische is a widely published and highly respected scholar who has published more than 150 papers, many focused on California’s oil and gas sector.
“If the Governor believes Professor Mische’s projections are flawed, there’s a better path: ask the many highly-paid experts within his own administration”, continued Leader Jones. “The California Independent System Operator, appointed by Newsom himself, has the background and independence to weigh in on the basic economics of gasoline supply and demand. As the ISO would likely affirm, the closure of two in-state refineries would reduce supply and, logically, drive up prices. That’s not bias, it’s basic economics.”
The Governor could also have tasked the California Air Resources Board or the California Energy Commission with conducting a competing analysis. Instead, his office chose character assassination over a credible counterargument.
Even more disgraceful are the slanderous claims pushed by both Newsom’s office and Consumer Watchdog’s Jamie Court, falsely implying Professor Mische produced his work because he is “bankrolled by Saudi Arabia.” This is categorically false and legally risky. Professor Mische’s limited past work with Saudi Arabia ended in 2022 and focused on diversifying that country's economy away from fossil fuels. He has never worked to promote Saudi oil interests—nor has he ever worked for any Saudi oil company or refinery. In fact, his recent analysis calls for an increase in in-state oil production and refining, which would reduce reliance on foreign oil, including from Saudi Arabia.
“When did telling the truth become a fireable offense in California? Instead of silencing experts and spinning the facts, Governor Newsom should be listening to the warnings. Discrediting a respected academic doesn’t change the facts. It only exposes how desperate this administration has become to avoid accountability. Newsom is clearly scared that California’s skyrocketing gas prices will tank his presidential ambitions, so he’s trying to bury the truth instead of fixing the problem. America is watching,” concluded Leader Jones.
Last week, Leader Jones sent a formal letter to the Governor highlighting Professor Mische’s analysis. The letter called on the administration to work with Leader Jones and California’s refineries immediately to prevent closures. In the letter, Leader Jones warns that the loss of these refineries will destabilize the state’s fuel supply, drive gas prices through the roof, eliminate thousands of good-paying jobs, increase California’s dependence on expensive out-of-state fuel, and jeopardize national security. Despite a request for comment, Governor Newsom has not responded.
Leader Jones has long warned that Governor Newsom’s policies would lead to a self-inflicted gas price crisis. In November 2024, Leader Jones published an op-ed in the San Diego Union-Tribune outlining how Newsom’s attack on our gas supply would force prices higher and squeeze working families. Click here to read the op-ed.