As everyone in California has been repeatedly told, natural gas is bad. Of course, all fossil fuels are bad. That’s why the state has passed a law demanding that all energy be produced from renewable sources in the next decade or so. But the reality is that the state still uses lots of natural gas, including residents’ homes where it provides heat and cooks their food. Californians have now noticed something else as well. Natural gas is suddenly getting really expensive. People’s utility bills this winter have been rising as much as two or even three times what they were used to paying in previous years. So now, Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson is leaping into action, demanding that something be done to bring costs under control. (CBS Los Angeles)

With millions of Southern Californians experiencing sticker shock after receiving their natural gas bills, one local mayor is looking to seek relief funding as soon as possible.

The City of Long Beach sent out a myriad of flyers in recent weeks, hoping to alert residents of the looming bills that everyone knew were going to double or triple over the average costs. Still, many weren’t fully prepared for what they saw when the statements finally hit their mailboxes…

“There are folks that are gonna feel it a lot more than I am,” [Long Beach Mayor Rex] Richardson said. “That’s who I’m mostly concerned about.”

The City Council and the Mayor will hold a meeting today. They expect to hear from some very unhappy voters, including one woman who produced a copy of her natural gas bill for last month totaling $435.56. She normally pays something closer to $150 dollars.

So what is driving this price spike and what can the municipal government of Long Beach do about it? The answer to the first question is rather obvious. America is still sitting on some of the largest proven natural gas deposits in the world. We have enough natural gas to keep us going well into the next century. But when you live under an administration that vilifies the oil and gas industry, shuts down the construction of pipelines, and fails to hold drilling permit auctions, what do you suppose happens? Production goes down, meaning supplies go down and prices go up. This isn’t rocket science.

But that’s not a situation that turns around overnight just because you’re hearing from angry voters and your political career may be in trouble. The Democrats aren’t about to back down and embrace natural gas now. And even if they did, it would take a while to restore the previous production levels.

So Mayor Richardson is looking to pull off some fancy footwork and artificially move the price of natural gas. He wants to take some of the “windfall” of money that residents are paying for utilities and shift it into a fund that will be used to offset the rising costs. (Those funds normally go toward other municipal services.) He’s also promising not to shut off anyone’s heat if they can’t pay their bill. Isn’t that nice of him?

That plan might actually work, at least for a little while. But it’s not a long-term solution, obviously. Perhaps the Mayor could apply some pressure at the state and federal levels to stop making out the oil and gas industry as monsters and instead work with them to ensure we have realistic goals and a stable supply of energy. Oh, what am I thinking? That’s just crazy talk.