With ballots already in the mail and televised debates between the candidates already over, this may be the last check-in on the positions taken for the major candidates for governor. Last week, Streetsblog discussed the candidates’ answers to debate questions on the future of high-speed rail and cutting or suspending the state’s gas tax. This week’s topic is expanding the state’s oil and gas extraction.
When constrained to just answering “yes” or “no” at last week’s debate to a question on whether they would sign legislation to open more of Kern County in the Central Valley to oil production, only former Congressmember Katie Porter and Tom Steyer answered “no.” Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Congressmember Xavier Becerra, Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco, San José Mayor Matt Mahan, and former Fox News personality Steve Hilton all answered “yes.”
Not all “yes’s” are equal. Hilton went well beyond just answering in the affirmative, and went on a rant claiming the governor doesn’t need legislative support to change decades of state environmental policy. Mahan also over-used his time call for re-opening more oil refineries…