California’s green policies defeat its green goals — unlike in Nevada
https://nypost.com/2026/09/03/opinion/californias-green-policies-defeat-its-green-goals/California politicians want an all-electric future powered by zero-emission vehicles, massive grid-scale batteries — and plenty of moral superiority. They want a green revolution while blocking the very materials needed to build it.
Down near the Salton Sea in Imperial County, an estimated $500 billion worth of lithium lies buried deep beneath the earth’s surface. State leaders enthusiastically christened the region “Lithium Valley,” promising it would become the Saudi Arabia of clean energy, and transform America’s battery supply chain overnight.
But talk is cheap, and nobody talks a bigger game while delivering smaller results than Gov. Gavin Newsom. In March 2023, he personally toured the site of the flagship project, known colorfully as Hell’s Kitchen. He pitched the site as a monumental triumph toward ending fossil fuel reliance. San Diego State University even constructed a brand-new $80 million STEM facility nearby to train young workers for high-paying green jobs that do not yet exist — and, if California has its way, may never exist.
How the green revolution is eating themselves.
