(BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN) California's plan to curtail in-state oil production as a way of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions relies on questionable economics and might not be the wisest path to achieving climate-change benefits, according to several economists familiar with the proposal.
They contend that cutting the state's oil supply will simply force California refiners to import more foreign petroleum using tankers, which burn some of the world's most polluting fuel.
The state's policy would yield some modest benefits, economists say: Reducing the world's oil supply would cause fuel prices to rise incrementally and prompt some consumers to use less gasoline. Also, California's oil has a relatively high carbon content and so turning to other sources would probably mean cleaner emissions overall.