It was Oscar Wilde who wrote “And all men kill the thing they love.” Nowhere like California is that so apparent.

One thing California loves is the freedom and economic mobility offered by the personal automobile. While the promise of electric-powered transportation is undeniable, most of the state’s 30 million or so registered vehicles are powered by gasoline.

Yet, with the self-appointed goal of stifling profits, Gov. Newsom and the California Legislature have given bureaucrats the power to punish oil companies. It’s part of an ongoing campaign against the industry that ends with its destruction, never mind that most analysis finds the Golden State woefully unprepared for an electric-vehicle-only future.

In the name of punitive action, California continues to take steps to kill the industry that fuels the gas cars we love.

Another thing California loves? Housing. Lots of it. The Golden State needs it desperately, yet Sacramento continues to churn out bills that make it even harder to build.

Deemed the newest “Job Killer” by the California Chamber of Commerce, AB 68, authored by Assemblymember Christopher Ward (D-San Diego), would handcuff local governments from permitting new housing units in most of their jurisdictions.

In the name of streamlining housing development in so-called “sustainable” communities, AB 68 pre-determines only a small fraction of available land in California is suitable for housing, with the rest virtually off limits, according to the CalChamber.

Looking past the constitutional issues such a measure would create, why would the state hobble the potential of building new, unique and sustainable housing in as many parts of the state is feasible?

Because Sacramento kills the things Californians love.