After years of cracking down on California's oil industry, Governor Gavin Newsom and legislative Democrats are moving to get Kern County wells pumping again to avoid soaring gasoline prices.

Newsom has become surprisingly receptive to the oil industry's message after years of making it one of his favorite political boogeymen.

The head-spinning realignment potentially heralds a new era in California's transition to a carbon-free future as high costs, technological impediments, and flagging political will force Democrats to recalibrate their ambitious climate goals.

Refinery closures are accelerating the pressure.

Two days after Newsom signed a law increasing state oversight of maintenance, Phillips 66 announced that it would shut its Los Angeles facility by the end of 2025 because of concerns over the sustainability of the California market.

Then, this past April, Valero declared it would close its Benicia refinery next year, citing a challenging regulatory environment.

President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are also taking aim at the state's vast powers to regulate its greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.

That includes revoking California's mandate to phase out gas-powered vehicles and slashing renewable energy tax credits.

Industry leaders argue pumping more crude oil in California could help meet demand at a lower cost.

Environmental groups, meanwhile, are up in arms.

More than 120 signed a letter in August opposing Newsom's push, which they characterized as an industry giveaway, would "gravely harm the air we breathe and water we drink around the state, but have no impact on refinery closures or gas prices."

The governor's office is working to find an approach that can get through the legislature in a short timeframe.

That could necessitate making trade-offs between priorities for environmentally minded lawmakers on the left, such as protecting the buffer zones around oil wells, and moderates more sympathetic to the industry's arguments.

For CalMatters, I'm Maya C. Miller, with additional reporting by Alexi Kostov and Alejandro Lazo.