“Shark Tank” host and chairman of O’Leary Ventures, Kevin O’Leary, says Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom shouldn’t be allowed to run “a candy store” and the state and municipal management is “the worst of every state.”
“I don’t mean any disrespect when I say it, the management at the state level and municipal level is the worst of every state in the union,” O’Leary told Fox Business host of “The Evening Edit,” Elizabeth MacDonald, on Wednesday.
(Video: Fox Business)
The segment began with a discussion on a recent setback for President Biden’s climate agenda — the announcement that, according to Reuters, European energy firms Equinor and BP have canceled their “agreement to sell power to New York state from their proposed Empire Wind 2 offshore wind farm, citing rising inflation, higher borrowing costs, and supply chain issues.”
“This is happening off the coast of states like New Jersey too,” MacDonald told O’Leary. “What’s going on here?”
“Uneconomic,” he replied.
“None of these deals make any economic sense,” O’Leary explained. “It’s great to have a green mandate, but what we saw in Dubai just weeks ago is that the world’s starting to realize the transition away from hydrocarbons is going to take a lot longer because solar and wind — while they have merit — do not make any economic sense.”
“And so when it becomes really punitive from the regulatory side, because when you start building things offshore, you’ve got all kinds of regulatory issues you have to deal with, and the biggest problem is at the end of the day — and this is where the rubber meets the road — you don’t make any money,” he stated. “And it doesn’t work long term if all you do is lose money, and that’s exactly what’s happening with that project.”
MacDonald then asked O’Leary about Chevron’s announcement that it will be forced to take as much as a “$4 billion hit to profits for impairment charges to its oil assets in California.”
“California was the leading state in oil production,” MacDonald said. “That’s down now 30 percent since 2019, and California did things like sue Chevron and oil majors over climate change.”
California sues Big Oil in climate change shakedown: ‘It’s time they pay their fair share’ https://t.co/CswZi2biPk pic.twitter.com/TLkJtfrcgy
— BPR (@BIZPACReview) September 22, 2023
“I mean, isn’t this a bad sign for the economy?” the host asked. “Aren’t medium and small businesses going to get hit over what California is doing with their hostile regulatory environment?”
“California’s a unique situation,” O’Leary replied. “It’s one of the world’s largest economies… You would think it would want energy security and want energy independence, and it certainly could do that.”
Though he says he likes Gavin Newsom, O’Leary said, “I wouldn’t let him manage a candy store. He is so clueless to the competition going on between states.”
“I’m an energy investor,” he said. “I don’t put money in California. I go to North Dakota. I go to Virginia. I go to Oklahoma. I go to Texas. They’re competing for my money.”
“It’s just bad policy, weak management,” O’Leary said. “It’s hurting the California economy and the people there. Who would give a dime to California to invest in energy when the regulatory environment is so punitive, you can’t make money?”
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Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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