California Gov. Gavin Newsom appears to be taking actions to regulate gasoline on two fronts — through the legislature, and CARB, which consists of 14 voting members — 12 of whom are appointed by the governor without State Senate confirmation.

“In September of last year, CARB estimated that the change could lift gasoline prices 47 cents a gallon, or $6.4 billion a year,” reported the Los Angeles Times. “Other analysts put the price even higher — 65 cents a gallon, or $8.8 [billion] a year.”

It’s unclear how much the new refinery regulations — which would give the state power to tell refineries when they’re allowed to shut down for maintenance and repairs, and determine how much inventory of gasoline to maintain on hand in case refineries have to be shut down — would cost. However, a broad coalition of Republicans, Democrats, neighboring governors, and even labor unions is opposing the measure, which does seem ready to pass.

The small group of labor organizations that came out against the bill — employed in energy trades — shared a number of safety and even electoral concerns.

“This issue is readily being used against our candidate in those states and beyond,” wrote the coalition regarding the potential direct implications for the swing states of Arizona and Nevada that rely on California for gasoline, and the use of California’s climate positions as a tool to attack Democrats nationally more broadly. “If we cannot be heard and believed on issues that could jeopardize the lives of our members, something is very wrong in CA. Every member who votes for this bill should be prepared to answer if something goes wrong”

Assemblymember Joe Patterson, R-Rocklin, said that he believes most legislators actually no longer support the bill but feel strong-armed by the governor.

“The legislature honestly needs to stand up for itself and tell [Newsom] no. I’m guessing the vast majority of legislators want this bill to die,” said Patterson on X. “We shouldn’t do it just because of the Governor’s strange obsession with this weird policy to give bureaucrats power over gasoline production.”

CARB will be voting on the new amendments to the state’s low carbon fuel standard on November 8, just days after the presidential election, on whether or not to adopt new, stricter standards that will make it harder to generate LCFS credits, and require more LCFS credits to be purchased.

As can be seen in CARB data, the LCFS has been so successful that as of April 2024, the most recent data point, the reduction in carbon intensity of the state’s fuel system is already past the goal for 2026. While the widespread availability of LCFS credits has reduced emissions, the rapid scaling of the desired LCFS credit-producing technologies has also reduced the value of individual credits.

Should the new, more strict LCFS requirements be adopted, fewer credits would qualify, and the cost of credits would go up, but much of the billions of dollars invested in existing infrastructure to generate LCFS credits could turn worthless overnight.

California’s gas taxes are already the highest in the nation, with federal, state, and local taxes and fees adding approximately $1.62 per gallon, which is significantly more than the difference between California and national gas prices. If the LCFS is approved, California gasoline could cost approximately $2.09 to $2.27 per gallon more than the national average, a move that could drive more consumers to electric cars, or out of the state entirely.

Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the average price of unleaded gasoline was 50% more in July 2024 than in January 2021.

During the second year of the Biden-Harris administration, gas prices broke record highs more than once.

The highest average price for unleaded gas, recorded on 14 June 2022, was $5.016, with diesel reaching an all-time high five days later, at $5.816.

Last Thursday, the average price of gas was $3.361, almost a full dollar more than the price when Trump left office in 2021. At its peak under Biden-Harris, gas was $2.62 more than when Trump left office.

The Democrats have blamed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, COVID supply-chain issues, and oil and gas companies.

In an interview, Nancy Pelosi said the “fossil-fuel industry” was to blame and the public knows it, adding that the public will “blame all of us if we don’t do something” about price rigging by oil and gas companies.

Breitbart notes that America’s auto-related woes don’t end there either.

“Car insurance premiums are up 54 percent since President Joe Biden and Harris took over in January 2021. New car prices jumped 19 percent since Biden and Harris took office, used cars and trucks rose 20 percent, and the average price of motor vehicle maintenance and repair has gone up 30 percent since January 2021.”

In recent days, including in her sit-down interview with Dana Bash on Thursday, Kamala Harris has indicated her renewed commitment to transitioning away from reliance on fossil fuels and the so-called Green New Deal.

“You mentioned the Green New Deal,” Harris told Bash.

“I have always believed—and I have worked on it—that the climate crisis is real, that it is an urgent matter to which we should apply metrics that include holding ourselves to deadlines around time.”

After the interview, the Harris campaign put out a statement saying that Harris does not support the Green New Deal.

In addition, oil infrastructure could be destroyed in Iran and other nations in the Middle East as the fighting rages, and that could substantially reduce global oil production for an extended period of time.  Our way of life depends on cheap oil, and so if a major regional war in the Middle East causes the price of oil to go skyrocketing that is going to deeply affect all of us.

On Monday, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States was just $3.63…

The average price for a gallon of regular gas in the U.S. was $3.63 as of Monday, according to AAA, up almost 4 cents from a week earlier and 22 cents from a month ago.

Even though the average price of a gallon of gasoline has risen more than 20 cents in a month, I would still consider it to be at a very low level, especially compared to what is eventually coming. One expert that was interviewed by MarketWatch is warning that the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. could hit $5.40 this summer…

Colas estimated that a spike in oil prices pushing U.S. gasoline to $5.40 a gallon this summer would make a recession later in 2024 “a genuine possibility.” U.S. gas prices averaged $3.634 a gallon at the pump on Monday, according to AAA, at last check.

And that same expert also warned that if the price of oil reaches $125 a barrel it could push the U.S. economy into a recession…

“Crude prices are our chief concern, but we are a long way” from $125 a barrel — a level of West Texas Intermediate oil that “would almost certainly cause a recession if sustained,” said Colas. “Gasoline prices are the transmission mechanism between Mideast conflict and the US economy: when pump prices increase quickly, consumers must cut back on other spending.”

Personally, I think that such a projection is wildly optimistic.

If Israel and Iran start lobbing thousands of missiles at one another, we could easily see the price of oil surpass $150 a barrel, and it is likely that the average price of gasoline in the U.S. would shoot past $7.00 a gallon.

And if nuclear weapons are used in the Middle East, there is no telling what might happen. Right now, the financial markets are waiting to see if Israel chooses to retaliate.

If the Israelis strike Iran, and oil infrastructure is targeted, that will definitely “send oil prices up”…

If Israel does retaliate, and it becomes a full-fledged conflict, that’s a different story. “And maybe Iran’s oil platforms, refineries are taken out,” he said. “That would send oil prices up.”

I think that is what is going to happen. At this moment, it is being reported that Israel is preparing to retaliate.

When that occurs, the price of oil will go nuts, and people all over the U.S. will blame Israel for the high price of gasoline.

But instead, they should blame Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. If they would have just left Israel alone, things could have turned out much differently.

Iran could have lived in peace.  The Iranians are one of the largest producers of oil in the world, and during the Biden administration they have been able to dramatically increase oil exports…

Iran has steeply raised oil exports, its main source of revenue, during the Biden administration after they were severely reduced due to measures taken by the Trump administration.

The White House has argued it isn’t encouraging Iran to raise exports and is enforcing sanctions. Lower Iranian exports would lead to a further rise in oil prices and the cost of gasoline in the U.S., which would be a politically sensitive issue ahead of this fall’s presidential elections.

Instead of using their oil money to fund terror organizations, the Iranians could have lived in luxury.

To be honest, Iran could have been one of the most prosperous countries on the entire planet.

But instead they have foolishly chosen a much different path.

If an all-out war between Israel and Iran erupts, it is probably inevitable that the Strait of Hormuz will be closed, and that will be catastrophic for the entire global economy…

Potential impacts on the shipping transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about one-fifth of the world’s total oil consumption, will also factor into markets’ pricing.

The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s navy said on Tuesday that Iran could close the strait if deemed necessary, and earlier on Saturday Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said an IRGC helicopter boarded a vessel, the Portuguese-flagged MSC Aries, and took it into Iranian waters.

Just think about that.

One-fifth of all the oil the world uses goes through the Strait of Hormuz.

We are in uncharted territory, and we could soon see a level of panic in the financial marketplace that we haven’t seen in a very long time.

Meanwhile, economic conditions in the U.S. just continue to deteriorate. Earlier today, I was saddened to learn that even Tesla has decided that mass layoffs have become necessary…

Tesla has announced layoffs of “more than 10%” of its global workforce in an internal company-wide email. We exclusively reported yesterday that Tesla was prepping a massive layoff.

For the last few months, it has looked like Tesla might be preparing for a round of layoffs. Tesla told managers to identify critical team members, and paused some stock rewards while canceling some employees’ annual reviews. It also reduced production at Gigafactory Shanghai.

Things are definitely not good now, but they will get a whole lot worse if a major regional war does erupt in the Middle East.

It takes energy to make products, transport products and sell products.

The price of oil has an enormous impact on literally every sector of our entire economy.

If an apocalyptic war in the Middle East were to cause the price of oil to double, it would send us into a horrific economic tailspin.

So let’s hope for the best, but let’s also prepare for the worst.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

(Article cross-posted from The Center Square)

Gas prices have risen significantly in recent weeks, according to pricing data from AAA. Gas prices hit a record high earlier in the Biden administration, surpassing an average of $5 per gallon nationally, before dropping back down.

Now they are rising again, currently at $3.85 per gallon of regular gas, up from $3.82 a week ago and $3.57 a month ago. In the last month, diesel prices have risen from $3.86 per gallon to $4.13 per gallon.

Food prices have risen as well. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics last week released its Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index, two key markers of inflation that showed prices rose less than half a percentage point last month.

The CPI rose 3.2% in the last 12 months, and the PPI rose 0.8% over the same period, higher than expected. These rates have slowed from the rapid pace earlier in the Biden administration, but some food products have seen price increases that outpace the average inflationary rate.

Overall, grocery prices have risen much faster than the average rate of inflation for years.

The CPI for all urban consumers averages the cost increases for American cities, and many common household food items doubled or tripled the average CPI increase.

For instance, white bread rose 10.7% from July of 2022 to July of 2023.

• Cereal and bakery products rose 7%
• Cookies rose 7.9%
• Breakfast cereal rose 5.1%
• Rice rose 6.1%
• Frozen and refrigerated bakery products, pies, tarts, turnovers rose 8%
• Raw beef steaks rose 7.8%
• Raw roasts rose 6.3%
• Crackers, bread, and cracker products rose 8.2%
• Ice cream and related products rose 6.3%
• Frozen vegetables rose 17.1%
• Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials rose 5.4%
• Margarine rose 11.3%
• Salad dressing rose 9.2%
• Baby food and formula rose 5.9%

Some other products such as pork and chicken decreased in cost, 3.7% and 2.5% respectively in the same 12-month period.

Ryan Young, senior economist, Competitive Enterprise Institute, told The Center Square that some of the price hikes Americans are facing are related to money supply and spending problems while part of it also has to do with regulatory and supply chain issues.

“Inflation is cured by better money supply management,” he said. “The gas and food price hikes we’re seeing can be helped by expanding energy permitting and exploration, and by getting rid of protectionist agricultural policies and trade restrictions.”

Young also pointed to some hopeful indicators.

“Some context is also necessary,” he said. “Gas prices are going up. But they are also about 20 cents per gallon lower than they were this time last year. And the recent increases follow months of declines. As prices go up and down, and people tend to get angry at the ups while ignoring the downs, which colors the media coverage they get. And in last month’s CPI report, food prices went up slower than the overall inflation rate. Overall inflation as 0.2% during June, while food prices went up 0.1%.”

Republicans blasted the Biden administration after the latest pricing data was released, pointing to the soaring federal debt, and the money-printing that helps propel it.

“American families need relief from persistent and painful high prices,” Said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo. “Joe Biden signed the Democrats’ reckless tax and spending spree into law one year ago. He claimed more spending would bring down prices. Once again, he was wrong. Prices are still going up. Americans are facing sky-high prices at the grocery store, at the gas pump, and while back-to-school shopping. They’re digging into their dwindling savings just to keep up.”

The Biden administration has pointed to relatively low unemployment and the progress made since the lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., also took a shot at Biden after the data was released.

“This week, I have been traveling Florida to hear what issues families are facing, and in each big city or small town I stop in one thing keeps getting mentioned—inflation,” Scott said.

Americans are now paying the highest prices for a gallon of gas in at least eight months. And, according to industry experts, they should brace for even more pain at the pump in August, with refineries closing for maintenance and domestic supplies drying up in many states. From now on, filling up your tank will be far more expensive, and there are many reasons contributing to that.

Now, a perfect storm has begun. Last week, prices at the pump jumped again overnight, and the outlook for the coming weeks and months doesn’t bring any relief for American drivers. On Saturday, the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline surged to $3.75, according to the American Automobile Association. That marked the biggest one-day increase in a year and the highest average in about eight months.

The price of a gallon of gasoline is now 30 cents more expensive than in June, and that’s still a timid uptick compared to experts’ estimates of $5 per gallon by the fall, The shift is happening quickly. For instance, the more fuel-efficient premium gas has surged to nearly $4.50 — also a 30-cent increase from June. Gas prices are on track to reach levels last seen during the inflation peak of 2022, says the association’s spokesperson Daniel Armbruster. Both domestic and international producers are slashing production, but demand remains strong.

AAA analyst Robert Sinclair also came forward last week to inform the public that so far this year, global markets have lost almost 4 million barrels per day due to OPEC’s decision. Exports also cut into our supply at home. “We are exporting about two cargoes of gasoline (mostly from the Gulf Coast) for every cargo we import,” the expert added. “We are the supplier of choice for Latin America, which has no additional refining capacity coming up this year.”

The effect of this imbalance between supply and demand is going to be disastrous for U.S. motorists. As for the next couple of weeks, the experts noted that it’s possible Americans could be in for another 25-cent increase. From now on, gasoline price increases are expected to happen faster, and lower supplies indicate that there’s no relief in sight – at least until the end of 2023.

By the winter, the scenario could be far more chaotic as supply systems face increased vulnerability. Just as it happened before, we’re woefully unprepared for any sort of emergency or supply disruptions, and probably just a single extreme weather event away from seeing gas stations experience massive outages again. At this point, we can only hope for the best, but prepare for the worst because this is shaping up to be the worst oil crisis of modern times, and the consequences of it will be catastrophic.

Article and video cross-posted from Epic Economist.

The shock caused by lower global oil output is threatening to undermine U.S. energy stability and send prices at the pump soaring over the next few weeks and months. With the relationship between America and OPEC nations deteriorating, our geopolitical leverage is weakening, and the Saudis are seeing this situation as a perfect opportunity to strengthen their dominance in the global scenario.

Saudi Arabia and a handful of OPEC+ nations have been announcing significant cuts in their oil production this year. The Saudis and Russia, the world’s biggest oil exporters, deepened oil cuts earlier this month, sending prices higher for a third time this year. Saudi Arabia said it would extend its voluntary oil output cut while Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Moscow would cut its oil exports by 500,000 barrels per day in August.

Similarly, Algeria said it would cut oil output by an extra 20,000 barrels from Aug. 1-31. The coming cut will be on top of a 48,000 barrel reduction decided in April, it said. The move was swiftly followed by Libyan Oil Minister Mohamed Oun. In all, the coalition, which pumps around 40% of the world’s crude oil, already has in place cuts of 3.66 million barrels per day, amounting to 3.6% of global demand.

OPEC leaders continue to point to an uncertain demand outlook as the catalyst for their decision. Moreover, many officials in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, were reportedly frustrated that U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm recently said that it would be “difficult” for the United States to refill its Strategic Petroleum Reserve this year.

In January, the administration said it would boost its domestic reserves when oil dropped below around $70 a barrel, as it did for a brief period after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank. However, that opportunity was missed, and now U.S. supplies are rapidly shrinking.

The combination of a recession, the crisis in the banking sector and the reopening of the Chinese economy is making most analysts project a significant decline in global oil supply this year and next, after many decades of underinvestment to build new capacity. The latest production cut means that a tighter market and higher oil prices will arrive sooner than previously expected. That may be a disastrous scenario for America, but for the Saudis, spiking oil prices could more than compensate for lower sales, boosting OPEC revenues.

The price of oil on global markets is a major driver of gasoline prices in America, so as the price of oil goes up, gasoline prices will follow, and we should start bracing for a repeat of what happened last year when oil prices surged, sending the national average price for gasoline to a record of as much as $5 per gallon.

This summer, prices remained at the $3.50 average per gallon, bringing some relief to Americans after several months of rising inflation. But these lower costs didn’t come as a result of higher inventories. Instead, they were caused by political decisions amid the growing disapproval of the administration in recent polls.

Our national reserves have been depleted, and higher oil prices will make it even harder for us to rebuild domestic inventories. While other economic superpowers have become more independent, now more than ever, the U.S. is relying on other nations for resources, and that will come at a very expensive price for all of us.

Article and video via Epic Economist.

Ocasio-Cortez currently serves as the ranking member of the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee, establishing her as a prime candidate to head the committee and take steps to advance a progressive climate agenda in the event Democrats take control of the House, according to E&E News. The New York congresswoman recently reintroduced the Green New Deal — which has been harshly criticized as radical and expensive by Republicans since she first introduced it in 2019 — as progressive allies Rep. Ro Khanna of California and Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts introduced an accompanying health care package, dubbed the Green New Deal for Health.

“A lot of our victories have already begun, for example, by breaking off some of the pieces [of the Green New Deal] and incorporating it in different areas of must-pass legislation including the Inflation Reduction Act,” Ocasio-Cortez told the outlet. Her office, alongside that of Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, maintains an ongoing document that tracks the ways in which the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law have implemented core tenets of the Green New Deal.

Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, President Joe Biden’s signature climate law, the U.S. is expected to undergo a significant drawdown in coal-fired power even as China continues to aggressively bring new coal plants online. Analysts at Goldman Sachs now estimate that the bill will cost roughly $1.2 trillion in subsidies for green energy projects over the next ten years, more than three times the government’s initial estimated cost of $370 billion.

Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York — the ranking member of the House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee — told the outlet that he never believed that what was once a fringe element in the Democratic Party “would ever become inside-baseball people.” A Democratic takeover of the House in 2024 would see Bowman, as well as other climate-focused progressives like Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri and Khanna, in high-ranking positions alongside Ocasio-Cortez, E&E News reported.

“The key to Congress is you just have to win, and then you have to stick around a bit,” Khanna, the former chair of the House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on the Environment, told E&E News. “And the more progressive classes we get, and the more progressives stick it out in the House, the more power we’ll build.”

If she chaired the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee, Ocasio-Cortez would have oversight powers over energy production, mining and drilling on federal lands. The Biden administration has in recent months taken sweeping action to block mining and drilling projects, while simultaneously encouraging conservation efforts on federal lands.

The office of Rep. Ocasio-Cortez did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].

The Energy Information Association expects the price of a barrel of oil to rise almost $10 above the current average, which will have a massive impact on gasoline prices all over the country.

In some states, drivers are already paying over $4.90 per gallon, but the shock could be even bigger as seasonal demands pick up, according to Bloomberg. Adding to the worrying outlook, new research has found that US gas pipelines are at risk of outages and regulators are urging officials to take precautions before a nationwide disruption occurs.

To make things worse, national gasoline inventories dropped for the third straight week to their lowest levels for this time of the year since 2014. Furthermore, total US fuel oil production is on track to decrease this month after output fell last week by the largest amount since February 2022, data from the EIA reveals. Gulf Coast and East Coast refiners have led the decline and produced 15% and 9% less fuel oil so far this month, respectively.

Though a gallon of gas costs less than a year ago, those averages may not hold for much longer. Analysts say prices can double in the near term and put a crimp in people’s budgets. Summer gas produces fewer emissions and is more expensive to produce, whereas cheaper winter gas ignites more easily to start your car in cold temperatures. Warm weather typically draws out more drivers, too, significantly increasing the demand for gas.

“Usually when demand is up, gas prices go up,” said Anlleyn Venegas, spokesperson for the AAA.

When inventories start to dwindle and people notice that prices are rapidly skyrocketing, they tend to hoard fuel before stations run completely dry. That’s what happened in 2021 when Americans witnessed huge lines outside gas stations due to supply disruptions and higher costs. This year, one single extreme weather event left seven states without fuel, according to CBS News, including Virginia and North Carolina, which even declared a state of emergency to prevent the crisis from escalating. More recently, the entire Miamo-Fort Lauderdale area faced massive gasoline outages after a historic storm caused flooding and triggered a wave of panic buying by drivers filling their gas tanks.

More than half of gas stations in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area were without gasoline Wednesday after flooding from last week’s massive storm caused a wave of panic buying by drivers topping off their gas tanks. And just a few weeks ago, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University published a study in The Electricity Journal that found that US gas pipelines are at risk of facing widespread outages.

They urged US officials to take action before supplies dropped to dangerously low levels. The scientists investigated vulnerabilities at production sites and outage risks at major US stations.

In new research, scientists investigated the vulnerability of power generation to outages at U.S. pipeline compressor stations. They found that at least 10% of such stations are facing serious threats of shortages, and thus are vulnerable to widespread energy supply outages. In the short term, Americans should expect more unpleasant surprises at the pump, and in the longer term, we should all prepare for unprecedented outages and a downturn unlike anything we’ve ever experienced.

Article and video via Epic Economist.

There will probably be enough of it to last through the midterm election, of course – because Biden and the Democrats are desperate for a win. But after that, all bets appear to be off.

Right now, the fake “president” is draining America’s strategic emergency energy reserves in an attempt to hold back fuel inflation from going even higher than it already is. He is also promising to buy back oil “at some unknown point in the future,” one report explains, which may or may not happen.

In an attempt to buy more votes for his fellow political cronies, the Dementia King is desperately trying to cover up the fact that America’s energy future is dire. Supplies will dwindle as prices go straight up, it appears – but not until after the midterms. (Related: Back in the summer, diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) and diesel itself were not making it to Pilot Flying J fuel stations because of Union Pacific’s reduced rail shipments.)

The last time diesel supplies were this low was in 2008 before the market crash

Never before have America’s diesel supplies been as low as they currently are for this time of year. Official government data shows a major supply deficit that will soon unleash energy hell on America.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) says the country has just a 25-day supply of diesel fuel remaining – the lowest since 2008. Inventories hit a record low at the same time that the four-week rolling average of distillates supplied – a proxy figure for demand – rose to its highest seasonal level since 2007.

“In short, record low supply (courtesy of stifling regulations that have led to a historic shortage of refining capacity) meet record high demand,” reports Zero Hedge.

“What comes next is, well, ugly (while weekly demand dipped slightly in the latest week, it’s still at highest point in two years amid higher trucking, farming and heating use).”

As the Northern Hemisphere enters the cold winter season, these facts spell hell for not only the U.S. but North America and the rest of the industrialized world.

So many systems and economic sectors are intertwined on a global scale that the loss of diesel fuel here will create a domino effect all around the world. It truly does appear as though Biden’s promised dark winter is about to arrive.

“… such low levels are alarming because diesel is the workhorse of the global economy,” writes Javier Blas for Bloomberg.

“It powers trucks and vans, excavators, freight trains and ships. A shortage would mean higher costs for everything from trucking to farming to construction.”

National Economic Council Director Brian Deese added in a statement to Bloomberg TV that U.S. diesel inventories are “unacceptably low” and “all options are on the table” to increase supplies while reducing retail prices.

The Biden regime seems unconcerned about the matter, though. All it seems to care about is keeping the house of cards propped up until the election, after which all hell could break loose.

Other than draining the country’s strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) to create the illusion that things are good enough, the Biden regime is doing absolutely nothing to try to avoid this impending nightmare scenario, which is fast approaching.

American refineries, meanwhile, are raking in record-high diesel margins from all the chaos. The profits associated with turning a barrel of crude oil into one barrel of diesel hit a record high of $86.5 per barrel recently, up about 450 percent from the 2000-2020 average of $15.7 per barrel.

Is America on the verge of an energy (and economic) collapse? Learn more at Collapse.news.

Sources for this article include:

• ZeroHedge.com
• NaturalNews.com
• NATURAL NEWS

We have entered the greatest energy crisis that any of us have ever experienced, and it isn’t going to go away any time soon.

So you might as well get used to high gas prices.  Earlier this month, brand new all-time record highs were set all over southern California…

• Los Angeles-Long Beach – $6.46 (Record high)
• Orange County – $6.42 (Record high Saturday)
• Ventura County – $6.40
• Riverside County – $6.33 (Record high)
• San Bernardino County $6.32

But that isn’t the real problem.

The real problem is with natural gas.

Thanks to the war in Ukraine, supplies of natural gas in Europe have become extremely tight, and this has pushed prices into the stratosphere.

Needless to say, this is going to greatly affect food productions in the months ahead.  According to Bloomberg, over two-thirds of all fertilizer production capacity in Europe has already been shut down due to soaring natural gas costs…

Europe’s fertilizer crunch is deepening with more than two-thirds of production capacity halted by soaring gas costs, threatening farmers and consumers far beyond the region’s borders.

This is an absolutely massive story, but hardly anyone in the United States is covering it.

Global fertilizer production is going to be greatly reduced, and that is going to have very serious implications for agricultural production all over the world…

“Nitrogen plant shutdowns in Europe are not simply a problem in Europe,” she said. “Reduced supply on the scale seen this week not only raises the marginal cost of production of nitrogen fertilizers, but will also tighten the global market, putting pressure on plant nutrients’ availability in Europe and beyond.”

We’re already seeing prices elsewhere rise again. The price of the common nitrogen fertilizer urea in New Orleans rose over 20% in weekly prices Friday, the most since March, a few weeks after the war began, according to Green Markets.

I know that fertilizer may not be the most exciting topic for a lot of people, but the truth is that approximately half the global population would starve if we didn’t have any…

In fact, it’s estimated that nitrogen fertilizer now supports approximately half of the global population. In other words, Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch — the pioneers of this technological breakthrough — are estimated to have enabled the lives of several billion people, who otherwise would have died prematurely, or never been born at all.

Let that paragraph sink in for a moment.

The only way we can even come close to feeding everyone on the planet is by using vast quantities of fertilizer, but now fertilizer plants all over Europe are being forced to shut down because of the price of natural gas.

As long as this global energy crisis persists, the global food crisis will also persist.

Russia is normally the largest exporter of natural gas in the entire world, and an end to the war in Ukraine would go a long way toward solving our current problems. But there isn’t going to be an end to the war in Ukraine.

Once again, western leaders are assuring us that the war will not end until Russia is forced out of every inch of Ukrainian territory. That includes Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea.

Of course the Russians would use tactical nukes long before we ever get to that point. And once the Russians use tactical nukes, the west will do the same.

As it currently stands, there is no “off ramp” for this war. Instead, we are simply counting down the days until it goes nuclear. I am sorry to tell you that, but it is the truth.

If the American people truly understood what was at stake, there would be massive peace protests all over the nation right now. Meanwhile, the worst multi-year megadrought in 1,200 years continues to absolutely ravage agricultural production in the western half of the United States.

A reporter from FOX recently visited the cornfields of Wayne County, Nebraska and what he discovered is extremely chilling…

“I’m standing in the middle of a cornfield that, if this was a normal year or in other words, if the corn was growing the way it was supposed to be, you wouldn’t even really be able to see me right now,” FOX Business’ Connell McShane reported from Wakefield, Nebraska. “It would be way up above my head. But now I look at this, maybe knee-high at best.”

McShane visited field after field in Wayne County and found the same short stalks with very sparse ears. Over 99% of that county is in exceptional drought.

This drought has been going on for years and years. And it just keeps getting worse.

On the west coast, we are being warned that production of tomatoes, garlic and onions will be very disappointing this year due to the drought.

As a result, prices are going to go much higher in 2023…

In addition to tomatoes, other crops like garlic and onion are also expected to be impacted.

“What you’re seeing harvested this summer that really hasn’t even hit the grocery shelf is a 25% increase in the cost of the product to the processors — the canners, the buyers downstream,” California State Board of Food and Agriculture President Don Cameron told Reuters. “The onions and garlic have already been negotiated for 2023 with another 25% increase in price.”

This is really happening.

Food prices may seem high to you right now, but the truth is that this is the lowest that they are going to get.

The cost of living is becoming extremely oppressive, and countless people out there are really struggling to make it from month to month.

Earlier today, I came across a tweet from a 47-year-old lawyer that really hammered this point home…

-20 years ago, working as a server, I lived in a corner 1 bdrm apt downtown with amazing water views for $700/month.

-A similar apt now $3,600/month, more than 5x as much.

-As a lawyer at age 47 I am unable to afford living in the apartment I did at age 27 while waiting tables

Sadly, what we have been through so far is just the beginning.

The cost of gasoline is going to continue to go up.

The cost of natural gas is going to continue to go up.

The cost of food is going to continue to go up.

In fact, the cost of just about everything is going to continue to go up. The artificially-inflated lifestyles that we were able to enjoy for decades are now disappearing, and there is a tremendous amount of pain on the horizon.

We were warned that this would happen, and now a day of reckoning is here. I would encourage you to prepare accordingly.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written five other books that are available on Amazon.com including  “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, “Get Prepared Now”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending digital copies as gifts through Amazon to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.

I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.

I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior today.

Article cross-posted from The Economic Collapse Blog.