In 2020, Oracle moved its headquarters to Texas.
In 2021, Elon Musk moved Tesla headquarters to the Lone Star State. This move was inspired by the arrogant, power-mad, greedy politicians who run this state.
More recently, SpaceX CEO Musk announced that firm would also relocate headquarters to Texas. This time, his decision was based on the state enacting woke legislation depriving parents of basic rights over their children.
Now, another big and profitable firm is following the Exodus out of California.
Chevron has been headquartered in California for over 140 years. It had strong roots in this state.
But the toxic policies of California’s lawmakers and regulators have killed those roots. Chevron will be relocating to Texas.
The move announced Friday will end the company’s 145 years of being based in the most populous US state. The shift prompted Texas Governor Greg Abbott to welcome Chevron to its “true home,” while a spokesperson for his California counterpart Gavin Newsom dismissed it as a “logical culmination” of a years-long transition by the oil giant.Chevron already had slashed new investments in California refining, citing “adversarial” government policies in a state that has some of the most stringent environmental rules in the US. In January, refining executive Andy Walz warned that the state was playing a “dangerous game” with climate rules that threatened to spike gasoline prices.
California, especially the area around the city of Richmond, is poised to lose the taxes from over 7,000 employees as well as the business revenues it collected from Chevron. Houston will soon begin reaping the benefits of being a business-friendly environment in a state which is has a more positive outlook on big energy companies and less liberty-crushing laws.
Chevron said in a press release the move will allow better collaboration between its executives, partners and employees. The oil company already has roughly 7,000 employees in the Houston area. It expects all corporate functions to relocate to Houston over the next five years.ExxonMobil also moved its headquarters to Houston from Irving, near Dallas, last year.Texas’ oil and gas production saw surges in crude oil production last year even as the federal government tightened its environmental regulations. The state produced more than 2 million oil barrels and supplied 42% of the nation’s oil last year, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data.
The 7,000 employees also supported a vast network of restaurants, stores, schools, and other facilities. I can’t wait to see what the next California budget projection will be.
Likely, California’s climate change lawsuit targeting fossil fuel companies added extra fuel to the relocation fire.
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said the company wants to move its employees to one central hub. He also acknowledged the company has been vocal about its differences of opinion with California on energy policy.“We believe California has a number of policies that raise costs, that hurt consumers, that discourage investment and ultimately we think that’s not good for the economy in California and for consumers,” Wirth said in an interview.Last year, California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, filed a lawsuit against Chevron and other large oil companies such as Exxon Mobil and Shell, making a case that the companies didn’t inform the public of the effects of burning fossil fuels on the climate. Chevron is named in a large number of climate lawsuits across the U.S.“We believe that climate is a matter that’s a global issue and is best addressed through national and global policy engagement, and not through the courts,” Wirth said.
Now, I an not a relationship expert. However, I would surmise that no matter how long a relationship has lasted, once one partner in said relationship starts accusing the other of being a globe-killing criminal, a breakup becomes inevitable.
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