From Los Angeles Today, February 17:
....Gasoline refined along the US Gulf Coast is first shipped roughly 1,100 to 1,300 nautical miles to Freeport in the Bahamas, where it is stored at large transshipment hubs before being re-exported. From there, tankers travel another 4,000 to 4,500 nautical miles through the Panama Canal and up the West Coast to Los Angeles or San Francisco. The added leg builds extra shipping, storage and handling costs into wholesale gasoline prices. While routing fuel through the Bahamas can still be cheaper than chartering scarce US-flagged tankers, the detour adds time and complexity.
- In November 2026, more than 40% of California's gasoline imports were routed through the Bahamas....
Now I'm a fairly open-minded person, open, let's say, to definitional nuance, but that does not seem very "green". On the other hand it adds new irony to this bit of 'definitional nuance' we reprised yesterday:
Facing Possible Economic Collapse, California's Governor Newsom Backtracks On Oil Industry Attacks
He says he's not backtracking, just advancing in a new direction:
“That's not rolling back anything. That's actually marching forward in a way that is thoughtful and considered..."
—Governor Gavin Newsom via KCRA-3 Television, Sacramento, July 4, 2025
—California Gasoline Prices Jump 40 Cents Per Gallon, Flirting With $5.00
