It is now as clear as a July day in Santa Barbara.

The San Joaquin Valley is expendable.

The gilded cities of the coast where the prevailing political persuasion is almost as blue as the Pacific Ocean are where the chosen live.

The San Joaquin Valley, on the other hand is acceptable collateral damage.

How else do you explain why Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation two weeks ago that:

* Cuts through red tape to allow drilling up to 2,000 new oil wells annually in Kern County through 2036.

* Makes it exceedingly more difficult for oil companies to drill off the California coast.

Surprised? Don’t be. All is fair in presidential politics.

Did you know, for example, the climate crisis is no longer “the” existential threat to California, civilization, and the planet?

No, it’s not Trump. The real threat to civilization, in the world according to Gavin, is him not standing on the balcony of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on the evening of Jan. 20, 2029 with the best vintage from PlumpJack Estate Winery to toast his successful election as No. 48.

It explains why Newsom did a 180 from his show of solidarity with climate change warriors and the unhealthy kids of Kern County a little over a year ago that he would make sure not one more oil well is ever drilled there.

What a difference a year makes. Greenhouse gas is in retreat.

High-speed rail is going to be up between and running between Los Angeles and San Francisco by the end of the year.

Elon Musk is going to hire New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani as his CEO.

And an honest-to-goodness unicorn is going to win next year’s Kentucky Derby.

Actually, it’s a bit more pedestrian than that.

The plug is being pulled on two of the state’s last 16 remaining oil refineries.

California’s home grown oil production is dropping 15 percent a year. That’s faster than the 5 percent annual drop off Sacramento politicians estimated gas consumption has to drop on a yearly basis between now and 2040 meet the “national” climate goals of California.

And to replace that lost gasoline production, more and more oil is being imported to California.

But here’s the catch. Not only does such long distance transport of crude add to pollution, but the state’s ports are almost at capacity for moving oil.

All of this adds up to bad news could be on the way for Newsom.

Economists up and down the state are predicting gas will hit $8 a gallon within a year or so – bad timing for someone who wants to move into the White House in 2029.

Is your head spinning as fast as a gas pump whirls when you fill up?

Wait, there’s more.

The legislation Newsom signed also undermines the Holy Grail of the California Clean Air Movement.

Are you sitting down?

If gasoline prices spike for 30 days or more — or if the governor thinks they will — he now has the authority to suspend the use of the summer blend of reformulated gas.

Yes, you read that right. Newsom now has the power to suspend the very thing credited with reducing greenhouse gas the most over the past 40 years.

So what’s a little more greenhouse gas, especially if it impacts poor kids in Kern County instead of the cocktail set in Santa Barbara, if it doesn’t undermine Newsom’s presidential aspirations?

I know, I know. It is to benefit Californians who would take severe economic hits from California’s climate change policies that are, to put it in simplistic terms, a bit of overkill.

Green policies have always added cost to the price of goods. Like it or not, that’s the way it works, especially when you force things ahead of the market.

The real question is why now? Why is Newsom suddenly following Trump’s lead when it comes to drill, baby, drill?

If you’re a cynic, you’d say Newsom wants to make 48 his lucky number. If you’re not a cynic, you’d say Newsom is being pragmatic.

Either which way, climate change is not at the top of the agenda in Sacramento these days.

Cue up Greta Thunberg and her green flotilla coming up the Delta from San Francisco Bay and landing in Old Sacramento and marching to the State Capitol to put a bullhorn in Newsom’s face.

The funny thing is Newsom signing the legislation didn’t start the fire, so to speak.

It began with the state’s head long rush to eliminate fossil fuels ahead of sufficient technology being put in place to minimize the cost to consumers.

Newsom’s bid to reduce the pain to Californians in an election cycle will, according to the state’s experts, lead to more smog and pollution that damages people’s health.

And the process of adding more oil wells in Kern County, by Newsom’s own words, will make it less healthy by children in the poorest part of California.

The measures put in motion two weeks means air pollution will increase in California, more specifically in the Valley given how ocean breezes blow most of the emissions generated by the heavily blue drivers along the coast inland.

It is so all Californians will feel less pain at the pump in the coming months.

Do not misunderstand. Prices will go up. The gamble, of course, is the legislation Newsom signed will keep prices from reaching the “man the barricades” level.

Gasoline prices flirting with $5 or even $6 a gallon might spur the revolution and endanger Newsom’s presidential aspirations. But if gas hits $6.66 a gallon, everyone will “know” the devil who did it.

Or more precisely, voters from Maine to sunny Santa Barbara will blame the most high-profile person connected with California’s climate change.

One guess, it isn’t Donald Trump.

—  This column is the opinion of Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Courier or 209 Multimedia. He may be reached at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com