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Our dependence on hydrocarbon fuels is unsustainable for many
reasons: 
1) Burning them causes atmospheric carbon to increase which results
in climate change, which will result in shifting concentrations of
drought, more intense Atlantic hurricanes, threats to existing food
supply chains, unknowable damage to biodiversity and more.
2) Known reserves of fossil fuels, while still vast, are getting
harder and more expensive to extract. Spending money on coming up
with new ways to extract these hydrocarbons is a bad decision not
only for our planet but also for our wallets. Money is much better
spent on developing technology to improve the harnessing of
renewable energy.
3)If dependence remains high, the location of new fossil fuel
reserves can cause contentious relations among nations and can even
lead to (more) wars. 
4)The location of known reserves such as Alaska are home to
precious wildlife and nature preserves and drilling will damage
these pristine habitats.
5)The rise of developing nations such as China, India and Brazil is
happening largely with coal and through vast deforestation. This
will accelerate the already expected global warming trajectory and
soon we will find that we have spent too much time trying to win
support for further extraction of fossil fuels and not enough on a
backup plan.

For these reasons and more it is vital that California be brave in
leading the way toward a more sustainable future. Do not back down
to Big Oil, instead you should get each oil company to commit to
developing renewable energy laboratories. At the very least you
should impose an abatement program for the emissions they are
responsible for in the state. The answer is in front of us. Let
this not be another example of how being presented with the
solution too early can lead to inaction. We have learned our lesson
and it is time to act now. This can be done and CA will set the
tone for the rest of the nation.