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- 🛢️ Did Big Oil Cause the LA Fires?
🛢️ Did Big Oil Cause the LA Fires?
Canadian Minister Against US Oil Tariffs...
Good morning, here's what the OilPatch Team has for you today:

Guess Whose Fault the L.A. Fires Are?
It was only a matter of time, really.
After blaming the L.A. fires on climate change, Big Oil was next.
And some media promptly seized the opportunity.
The devastating fires are Big Oil’s fault…
Because of a tax break.
Did Big Oil defund the LA fire department and put DEI programs in place?
— Gomer McFlarp (@GMcflarp)
3:19 PM • Jan 9, 2025
Everything is Big Oil’s fault even when it’s not
The gist of it: a tax break in California’s code helps energy companies save around $150 million.
The tax break is not only for energy companies.
But it is energy companies that are being singled out to blame for the underfunding of L.A.’s fire department.
That’s right.
It is oil and gas producers’ fault that the city of Los Angeles is underfunding a critical department.
Meanwhile, guess what Governor Newsom did as the fires raged?
He proposed further spending cuts in the state’s budget.
He’s probably secretly working with Big Oil to destroy California.
Only that claim doesn’t hold water.
Newsom sincerely hates oil and gas.
He has been using the industry as a scapegoat for every mistake his own government has made.
Including all the spending cuts, jab mandates, and DEI hires at the fire department of L.A.
Next steps
The obvious move for California is to remove the troublesome stipulation.
Then it should raise taxes again.
And keep making spending cuts because that passes for logic in Sacramento.
When the next disaster strikes, they’ll just blame it on Big Oil and the climate.
You're using electricity made by fossil fuels, so by your logic, you're complicit.
— Joseph (@steinbronn83)
2:16 PM • Jan 10, 2025

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Canadian Energy Minister Jumps to Oil’s Defense
Canada’s energy minister has struck back at Trump’s tariff plans.
Jonathan Wilkinson is not a fan of oil and gas.
But he must be a fan of oil and gas revenues.
🇨🇦🪔Video : Liberal MP Jonathan Wilkinson admits the Liberal government is not just trying to put an emissions cap on oil & gas but cut down on Canadian electricity consumption & travel as well.
Wilkinson also says the world is transitioning away from fossil fuels & that Canada… x.com/i/web/status/1…— Bruce McGonigal (@bruce_mcgonigal)
4:50 PM • Nov 4, 2024
Trump on the offensive
Trump first threatened Canada with tariffs.
Now, he wants to annex it.
It’s probably an either-or situation that’s developing.
But what got Wilkinson’s blood boiling was a claim by Trump that “We don’t need anything they have.”
Which is clearly not true.
So, the minister came to his country’s rescue.
He warned Trump Canada exports a lot of oil south.
Uranium, too.
Also fertilizers and critical minerals.
And electricity.
All this, Wilkinson suggested, would be affected by import tariffs.
Could this be the reason why Trump wants to take over Canada?
It may well be.
#WATCH: Jonathon Wilkinson gaslights Canadians by saying Oil and Gas production will make Canada poorer because oil is peaking this year.
Jonathon Wilkinson is absolutely clueless about energy. That's why he's the Energy Minister.
I'm so sick and tired of these traitor MPs.
— govt.exe is corrupt (@govt_corrupt)
3:11 PM • Sep 24, 2024
Responding in a thoughtful way
Wilkinson suggested that Canada should respond to Trump’s tariff threat “in a thoughtful way.”
Curious minds have a question, however.
They would like to know if the impact of tariffs would be worse than Canada’s emission cap.
Because for the oil and gas industry, it’s pretty much the same.
Either tariffs sap demand or the emission cap saps production.
So if Wilkinson and his fellow ministers care so much, they should answer that question.
Because it’s a bit absurd to defend an industry you’re actively trying to destrroy.

Tweet of the Day
President-elect Trump says he wants "a policy where no windmills are being built."
"They only work if you get subsidy. The only people who want them are the people getting rich off windmills, getting massive subsidies from the US government."
— The American Conservative (@amconmag)
4:56 PM • Jan 7, 2025

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