California has become the land of unintended — albeit obvious — consequences. It’s where common sense need not apply. And it’s where Gov. Gavin Newsom has fast-forwarded a once-great state into ruin.

It is truly “paradise lost,” the sun-kissed land of plenty, ruined by dreadful policies.

High gas prices, shuttered refineries and hollowed-out communities are the predictable results of a governing philosophy that punishes workers and rewards elites.

Right now, gasoline prices at the pump in California average $4.64/gallon vs. $2.78/gallon in Tennessee, even though California boasts massive energy resources and the Volunteer State does not.

California is just the preview. The national stage is already set for the same disaster through the antiquated and outdated Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

The RFS was sold years ago as a path to energy independence. Maybe it made sense in another era. But today, it’s a relic — a mandate that forces refiners to blend biofuels regardless of demand, or buy “RIN” credits, regulatory indulgences that cost billions.

For oil giants, that’s a nuisance. For smaller, independent refiners — the backbone of towns in Pennsylvania, Texas and the Midwest — it’s a death sentence. Plants close. Jobs vanish. Communities hollow out. Gas prices rise.

Sound familiar? It’s California déjà vu.

The RFS isn’t just an energy issue. It’s a microcosm of America’s defining choice: A golden era built on prosperity, affordability, energy dominance and common sense.

Or designed destruction disguised as a “socialist utopia” — really a dystopia of high costs, fewer jobs and collapsing communities.

California shows us where the latter leads: unaffordable living, fleeing families, smug elites declaring “progress.” The RFS is how Washington risks ruining the nation.

History proves it. Prosperity requires affordability. Affordability requires energy dominance. And energy dominance requires commonsense policies that keep refineries open, gas affordable and jobs plentiful.

This debate stems from the populist appeal to common sense. It’s not about left or right, it’s about up or down: lifting working families into prosperity or grinding them down into engineered scarcity.

The green lobby cashes virtue checks. Politicians preen for cameras. The media cheers them on. And the bill goes to ordinary Americans: refinery workers, truckers, waitresses in refinery towns, and every family filling the minivan.

The affordability crisis is real. It is the defining political issue of our time. And the RFS is the front line.

This country doesn’t need California’s fast-forward to ruin. It needs leadership that understands leverage, strikes fair deals and puts workers first. Regulation should empower prosperity, not strangle it.

The Renewable Fuel Standard is outdated, antiquated and dangerous. Reforming — or scrapping — it is the key battle in the war for common sense.

If Washington fails, the rest of America will look like California: shuttered refineries, sky-high prices and officials pretending it’s progress. If Washington acts, America can chart a different path: prosperity restored, affordability secured, and the energy dominance that underpins our strength as a superpower established.

The RFS fight is the choice before us: the golden era or California’s ruin. Common sense or socialist fantasy. Energy dominance or designed destruction.

The answer is obvious. It’s time to act on it.