Hilton Tells California’s Oil Industry to Hold On

Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton is offering California’s energy industry something it has not heard from Sacramento in a very long time: open support. In a letter sent this week to CIPA CEO Rock Zierman and other leaders across the energy, refining, manufacturing, and labor sectors, Hilton argued that California’s oil and gas industry has been systematically targeted by years of one-party rule, and he pledged that, if elected governor, he would move quickly to end the regulatory assault on in-state energy production.

Hilton’s letter does not dance around the issue. He ties today’s energy pain directly to political choices made in Sacramento. He notes that California drivers are paying some of the highest gasoline prices in the country despite sitting atop enormous energy resources of their own. He warns that the state has spent years regulating, taxing, and harassing an industry that once helped build California’s prosperity, and he argues that the results are visible everywhere: fewer refineries, less energy security, more imported crude, and rising costs for families and businesses alike.

He also zeroes in on the latest threat facing the industry: CARB’s proposed Cap-and-Invest overhaul. Hilton warns that the plan would drive greenhouse gas program costs up by two to four times, with predictable consequences for in-state investment, fuel prices, and the cost of petroleum-based products across the broader economy. His message is one CIPA members know well: California is trying to make local energy production impossible while pretending imported energy is somehow cleaner, cheaper, or more virtuous. It is none of those things.

What makes Hilton’s letter stand out is that he is not merely criticizing the problem. He is making a promise. If elected, Hilton says he would act immediately to halt implementation of policies that drive up energy costs and force production out of California. He says he would appoint new leadership at CARB, CalGEM, and the California Energy Commission, work to suspend or reverse destructive regulatory changes, and replace climate dogma with what he calls a common-sense energy policy rooted in affordability, reliability, and in-state production. That is a remarkable contrast with the current political order, which too often treats California energy producers as villains rather than the very people keeping the lights on, the trucks moving, and the economy functioning.

Just as notable, Hilton directly asks the industry not to pull the plug on California yet. He urges refiners and producers to hold off on shutting down more facilities, delay decisions to abandon operations in the state, and wait for what he says will be a dramatically different policy environment after the 2026 election. That is not a small ask, especially after years of regulatory hostility and mounting uncertainty. But it is also an acknowledgment of reality: once refining capacity leaves and once production disappears, getting it back is no easy thing. California has already learned that lesson the hard way.

Hilton’s larger point is one CIPA has been making for years. As long as California uses oil and gas, it should be using California oil and gas. That means fuel produced under the strongest labor, safety, and environmental standards in the world, by California workers, supporting California communities. It means fewer imported barrels, fewer tankers, and less dependence on foreign supply chains. Whether or not Hilton ultimately prevails in the governor’s race, his letter is a welcome sign that at least one major candidate understands the obvious: California should be an energy powerhouse again, not a cautionary tale.