Gov. Moonbeam sent state workers to his family ranch to look for oil

California Gov. Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown believes that everyone needs to start using wind, solar and other "renewable" energy sources as soon as possible because, you know, the earth, man. California doesn't need to be burning all kinds of oil and making bank for rich capitalists who own gigantic ranches with oil underneath them, 'amiright'? Unless, of course, that ranch owner happens to be Gov. Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown! In that case, well, better find that oil! And that's exactly what Gov. Moonbeam was hoping to do when he dispatched state employees, on the taxpayers' dime, to his ranch recently. Props to the Associated Press, often a target of our criticism, for reporting this story:

After a phone call from the governor and follow-up requests from his aides, senior staffers in the state's oil and gas regulatory agency over at least two days produced a 51-page historical report and geological assessment, plus a personalized satellite-imaged geological and oil and gas drilling map for the area around Brown's family ranchland near the town of Williams. Ultimately, the regulators told the governor, prospects were "very low" for any commercial drilling or mining at the 2,700-acre property, which has been in Brown's family for more than a century. Through the state's open records law, The Associated Press obtained the research that state regulators carried out for Brown, and the emails among senior oil and gas regulators scrambling to fulfill the governor's request. Brown spokesman Evan Westrup declined to discuss the work for the governor, referring the AP to California's Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources. That agency said the work was a legal and proper use of public resources -- and no more than the general public would get. But oil industry experts said they could not recall a similar example of anyone getting that kind of state work done for private property.

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What the AP calls "complex" is more accurately called completely incoherent

Honestly, I don't get as incensed as a lot of people about "hypocrisy" on the part of politicians or anyone else. Everyone is flawed and I'd prefer to see people advocate for good things even if they don't always live up to what they advocate. It's better than being consistently bad in what you practice and what you preach. But Brown's problem here is not really hypocrisy. It's more complete and utter foolishness with a tinge of dishonesty. He knows perfectly well that California needs oil and can't function through a heavy reliance on renewables. The AP story speaks to that as well:

Brown's request points to the complex way that the governor, an internationally known advocate of renewable energy, approaches oil and gas issues in his own state. While spearheading ambitious programs to curb the use of climate-changing fossil fuels, Brown also has sought to spur oil production in California, the country's No. 3 oil-producing state.

What the AP calls "complex" is more accurately called completely incoherent. If Brown wanted to advocate an all-of-the-above energy policy, there would be nothing wrong with that. But he talks up renewables and enacts policies to try to cut down on the use of fossil fuels while at the same time trying to boost production of them. How is that supposed to work? Why should producers heed his call and pump more oil when he's going around telling people not to use it? As for his use of state employees to look for oil on his own private land, I think that speaks for itself. If Brown owns a ranch big enough that it might contain oil, you'd think he could afford to hire a team of surveyors and geologists to check it out on his dime and not the taxpayers'. But hey, why run for office if you can't order around public employees to do your bidding? That's where the fun is, right? Just remember this the next time Democrats complain about rich people using the free market for their own benefit. Obviously these rich capitalists don't understand that this is what political office is supposed to be for.