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California Nanny Bureaucrats Make Purchasing Replacement Tires More Expensive

Gordon K
Gordon K  |  8:00 PM on August 18, 2026

C. S. Lewis foretold the coming of the California bureaucrat.

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

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There was never a petty rule that was too small for those petty tyrants elected or appointed to positions of power in California government. These are the people who fought for paper grocery bags because plastic kills the turtles, then fought against paper bags because climate change or something. They, with great performative heroism, outlawed plastic straws. For your own good, they force residents to pay a fortune in gas tax to not improve roads. They mandated that shipping trucks be fully electric powered without thought to infrastructure, cost or even feasibility.

And now, they are coming after tires.

From Zavala's article.

"This ultimately is about protecting consumers," said David Hochschild, the chairman of the California Energy Commission. "I see this as sheltering the public from higher costs in the long run."

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Yeah sure. There is nothing a California bureaucrat does that actually benefits the public.

According to the commission's staff, the rules are meant to ensure replacement tires sold in California are at least as energy efficient on average as the tires that come with the car or truck when it's originally sold. 

The CEC claims Californians could [emphasis added] save $79 in four months in gas or electricity costs under phase 1, and about $153 in phase 2 within seven months. "These regulations are a tool within our authority that can save money for every Californian," said Commissioner Nancy Skinner.

And high-speed rail could make a trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco in three hours.

Yes, Mickey, you can. And if you attach the right buzzwords, 20 million Californians will nod along like bobble heads.

Van Laar, like Zavala, is a rare breed of California journalist that actually does more than cheerlead for whatever liberal cause is being pushed by the Democratic supermajority. As noted, they were the only journalists who showed up.

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It's benevolent cruelty.

Bingo!