SACRAMENTO — California’s fuel system was once the backbone of the West Coast’s transportation sector, but it is facing a structural breakdown.
Energy analysts say it can no longer be described as a future risk, as it is happening now. Behind the political fights over climate rules and carbon-credit markets is a deeper, more technical story: the physical collapse of the infrastructure keeping California’s fuel flowing.
At the core is the state’s growing status as a “fuel island,” increasingly isolated from national supply routes as its refinery network contracts and its crude pipeline system approaches minimum operating thresholds. With refining capacity shrinking and pipeline throughput nearing the danger zone, experts warn California….
