Análisis de Aaron Blake, CNN

La política interna de la guerra con Irán puede resumirse en gran medida ahora mismo en una frase: precios de la gasolina.

Y quizá ningún otro tema sintetiza mejor la estrategia de mensajes improvisada de la administración cuando se trata de la guerra.

El lunes, el presidente Donald Trump contradijo directamente los comentarios del secretario de Energía, Chris Wright, quien apenas un día antes se había referido a cuánto tiempo podrían mantenerse los actuales precios de la gasolina. Mientras Wright le había dicho a CNN que quizá no veríamos gasolina por debajo de US$ 3 por galón hasta 2027, Trump dijo que está “totalmente equivocado”.

Días antes, Trump contradijo sus propias palabras sobre ese mismo tema. El secretario del Tesoro, Scott Bessent, también ha contribuido a algunos mensajes inconsistentes aquí.

En otras palabras: es un desastre. El Gobierno de Trump no parece haber tenido ningún cuidado en impulsar un mensaje coherente que no termine volviéndose en su contra. Y la situación refuerza que Trump y su equipo imaginaron una guerra mucho más corta o, al menos, subestimaron cuánto daño podría causar Irán al suministro mundial de petróleo.

Recapitulemos.

El 8 de marzo, aproximadamente una semana después de iniciada la guerra, Wright le dijo a Jake Tapper de CNN que la gasolina volvería a estar por debajo de US$ 3 por galón “dentro de no mucho”. Cuando se le cuestionó sobre cuánto tiempo exactamente, indicó que ese plazo estaba a solo semanas de distancia.

“En el peor de los casos, esto es cuestión de semanas, no de meses”, dijo Wright.

Luego Wright le dijo a “Meet the Press” de NBC News que había una “muy buena probabilidad” de que esto mismo ocurriera para el verano.

Pero a medida que pasaban las semanas y el estrecho de Ormuz permanecía cerrado, la predicción de Wright resultó falsa. Más de siete semanas después de iniciada la guerra, la gasolina sigue rondando los US$ 4 por galón, según Gas Buddy.

Para el 12 de abril, la realidad pareció imponerse. Fox News emitió una entrevista en la que Trump dijo que los precios de la gasolina y del petróleo quizá ni siquiera bajen antes de las elecciones legislativas intermedias de noviembre.

“Podría ser [más baja], o igual, o quizá un poco más alta, pero debería estar más o menos igual”, le dijo Trump a Maria Bartiromo.

Pero cuando Trump habló con Bartiromo apenas unos días después para su programa de Fox Business Network, su tono cambió drásticamente.

Dijo que “la gasolina estará bajando muy pronto y mucho”.

“Creo que estarán mucho más bajos antes de las elecciones de mitad de mandato”, añadió, sobre los precios. “Mucho más bajos”.

Pero, entre esas dos entrevistas, Wright empezó a matizar sus propios comentarios. Cuando se le preguntó por gasolina por debajo de US$ 3 para el verano, dijo: “para el verano ahora es un plazo forzado”.

Y el 15 de abril, Bessent pareció querer ajustar las metas. Se había hablado de gasolina por debajo de US$ 3, y dijo en una sesión informativa en la Casa Blanca que era “optimista de que en algún momento entre el 20 de junio y el 20 de septiembre, podamos tener gasolina a US$ 3 de nuevo”.

Pero también cambió su formulación, mencionando “gasolina con un tres delante” — lo que podría significar cualquier cosa entre US$ 3,00 y 3,99.

“Soy optimista de que durante el verano veremos gasolina con un tres delante más pronto que tarde”, dijo Bessent en la misma sesión informativa.

Esa es una predicción bastante modesta, dado que la gasolina estaba apenas por encima de US$ 4 por galón en el

CARPINTERIA, Calif. (KEYT) - The newest spot to get an ocean and a mountain view in one stop in Carpinteria is Arnie's Rooftop Bar.

It is located on the second floor of the new Linden Square at 778 Linden Avenue in downtown Carpinteria.

The ribbon cutting Monday morning took place just before the noon grand opening. It will open at noon daily and stay open until 10 p.m. on most nights, but possibly later on Friday and Saturday.

It is uniquely designed with both the bar feel and the lounge feel. There are warming fire areas, heaters and a retractable awning to help with the climate control. The Carpinteria coast has welcoming weather most of the year, but as with other coastal sites, there are challenges when it is gloomy, rainy, or windy.

Down below is the popular Linden Square with restaurants and shops over a full city block.

Owner Arnie Sturham left the Pacific Northwest and a restaurant life there for the Santa Barbara-Carpinteria area.

He says the site for his rooftop bar, "is absolutely gorgeous. The tree lights up (overhanging the front edge.) The exterior lighting at this building is incredible, it glows and sunsets are spectacular."   

The overall Linden Square vibe has something for everyone. But upstairs, "we're 21-years and over and I love the plaza downtown stairs. It is all ages. I have two kids myself that are grown now, but I think it is a spot for families, but I think to have something upstairs that is a little quieter is appreciated."

He hopes to coordinate some food from downstairs with the upstairs drinks in the future.

There will also be some occasional light music.

The full bar has locally sourced wine and beer labels that will be recognized by area residents and some will be rotated throughout the year.

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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – On Sunday, the Santa Barbara Kite Festival took flight from 'Great Meadow' here in Santa Barbara.

Unfortunate weather delayed the festival by a week, but that only built up anticipation for the beloved family-friendly event's 40th anniversary.

Hundreds gathered around the hills at Santa Barbara City College to enjoy an afternoon of great weather, food, music – and of course, some kite flying.

"I saw a mom like rolling down the hill with her kid, right? It brings out the inner child in you, so I think it's just, it's so hard to not feel like kid-like energy," said festival-goer, Cara Brown.

Every year, kites of all colors, shapes, and sizes fill the Santa Barbara sky – its something residents look forward to every year.

"It's not just me who loves flying kites –its being out with people, but it's good because the kids put down their phones and they roll down the hill and grandma's trying to roll down behind them and so I'm like, "oh man, this is so cool,"  said festival-goer, Darryl Henry.

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NIPOMO, Calif. (KEYT) - The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office provided new information on Monday afternoon regarding the fatal deputy-involved shooting that took place Sunday night in Nipomo.

In a press release, the Sheriff's Office has identified the man killed as 48-year-old Joseph Munoz.

According to the Sheriff's Office, Munoz was shot after pointing a shotgun at deputies who were responding to a report of a domestic disturbance at the San Luis Bay Apartment Complex on Hill Street.

The Sheriff's release said deputies arrived at approximately 6:30 p.m. Sunday night after it was reported that an adult male was in an apartment at that location threatening to kill his mother.

The Sheriff's Office added Munoz was confronted by deputies outside the apartment in the doorway and later went back inside to arm himself with a shotgun.

Once he came back outside, the Sheriff's Office said he pointed the weapon at the deputies and a shooting soon occurred that included Munoz firing his weapon.

During the incident, the deputies returned fired, hitting and injuring Munoz.

Afterwards, the Sheriff's Office added the deputies began lifesaving measures following the shooting, but Munoz was pronounced dead at the scene.

Munoz had no known address, but was said to often stay in the Nipomo. The apartment where the shooting took place was shared by his grandmother.

He was known to law enforcement for several previous felony convictions and he had spent approximately 12-years in prison for several crimes, including felony domestic battery, felony DUI, felony possession of a controlled substance for sale, and felony conviction for voluntary manslaughter.

The deputies involved in the shooting have been placed on paid administrative leave in accordance to department policy and are now receiving support services.

The investigation remains active and the Sheriff's Office is asking anyone who might have additional information to its Detective Division at (805) 781-4500.

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By Simone McCarthy, CNN

Beijing (CNN) — For more than a decade, leader Xi Jinping has overseen a transformation within the Chinese economy with one aim: making it energy-secure.

Under that vision, China has unleashed a renewable energy revolution of wind, solar and hydropower, drilled ever deeper into oilfields offshore and on, and forged pacts with partners for more supply – all in a bid to cut the country’s reliance on imported fuel and insulate it against “external shocks.”

Now, the historic oil crisis triggered by the United States and Israel’s war on Iran is posing the sternest test to date of China’s Promethean effort toward energy self-sufficiency. It’s a test that China appears to be passing.

While fuel-strapped countries across Asia have scrambled for supplies, China – the world’s largest energy importer – has been sitting on vast stockpiles of oil, an industrial sector largely run on domestic energy and a fleet of cars increasingly powered by electricity, not gas.

For China, the ability to weather the energy shocks from the weeks-long war “is sort of a vindication of everything they’ve done to enhance energy security,” said Erica Downs, a senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University.

“There’s a lot they can look back on and say, ‘We made the right call.’”

That vindication for China comes at a time when the US has retreated from its push into renewable energy and electric vehicles – creating a steep divergence between the models of the world’s two leading economies when it comes to power.

Electrostate

Since becoming a net importer of energy in the early 1990s, China has seen its reliance on the Middle East as a dangerous vulnerability.

Its leaders have eyed the narrow waterways like the Strait of Malacca through which this fuel flows as potential chokepoints if a future adversary wanted to strangle Beijing’s supply.

To reduce reliance on maritime routes, China has over recent decades built costly pipelines funnelling oil and gas over land from Central Asia, Russia and Myanmar. It’s also diversified its sources, with Russia catapulting to the top of China’s list of oil suppliers in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

But while his predecessors focused on expanding China’s sources of oil and gas, Xi has also aimed to reduce China’s reliance on the outside world altogether.

China must “adhere to worst-case-scenario thinking,” Xi’s adage goes, often repeated as he steels his cadres to prioritize national security in the face of what he sees as an increasingly hostile and volatile world.

Under Xi, Beijing ramped up a nascent push to both increase green energy and reduce reliance on fossil fuels, unleashing more government backing for renewable energy and EVs.

Now, sprawling solar and wind farms are being installed at breakneck pace across China’s plateaued hinterlands and along its coastlines. Domestic factories have cracked the code on making cheap batteries for electric cars, which are fast replacing gas-guzzlers on China’s highways. It helps that China dominates supply chains for materials needed to make these goods.

And the picture is diverse. In a country already running a third of global hydropower capacity, ambitious dam projects are breaking ground in China’s mountainous west, while the government has set its sights on pioneering next-generation technologies like nuclear fusion and green hydrogen.

Meanwhile, rich coal deposits stretched across northern Chinese provinces continue to feed power plants and backstop renewable supply, in a reminder that China, the world’s largest carbon emitter, has yet to kick its fossil fuel habit.

And even as China is running much of its industry on electricity