California is barreling toward a full-blown gas crisis due to the Democrats’ green energy policies and new regulations, which are tanking the state’s refineries and driving prices to staggering heights.
This week, the state rolled out major adjustments to its Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) program.
As a result, Californians saw another spike in gas prices, which are already the highest in the nation.
The situation is stoking fears of a looming energy disaster.
In a statement, California’s Republican Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones warned:
“Not every Californian is a millionaire like our governor is … and these regulations are bearing down on the average Californian and making California unaffordable.
“I’m addressing the cost of gasoline in California and trying to do everything I can to repeal the regulations that are causing it to go up, while at the same time alerting Californians of the impending cost of gasoline.”
With the state’s combined web of high gas taxes and draconian cap-and-trade emissions rules, plus looming refinery shutdowns like Phillips 66 and Valero, a sobering study from USC warns gas could top $8 per gallon by 2026.
And today’s rates already reflect the pressure.
Ahead of the July 4 holiday, Americans paid the lowest prices in years.
However, Californians shelled out roughly $4.57 per gallon, about $1.40 above the national average, per AAA figures.
And they jumped a few cents further on Tuesday when the updated LCFS took effect.
Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom’s aggressive green agenda has worn thin.
Newsom’s polcies involve crippling “Net Zero” mandates by 2045 and an all-electric vehicle sales ban by 2035.
Tom Pyle, president of the Institute for Energy Research, slammed the mandate:
“The founding fathers would be rolling over in their graves if they ever thought the government would be in the business of dictating the type of transportation that Americans can choose.”
Jones says there’s more that goes on behind the scenes.
His records request aims to prove regulators are purposely elevating gas prices to force consumers into EVs or public transit.
The request is a plea for correspondence between Newsom’s office and CARB, the state air board.
“The goal here is to show by their communications that they are purposefully trying to drive up the price of gasoline so that people are forced into EVs, public transportation, or bicycles,” Jones said.
Despite no response, he’s launched a push to audit the LCFS to determine if its economic impact has been buried or downplayed, an effort that CARB and Newsom have yet to address directly.
Now, CARB estimates the LCFS changes might eventually cost only 5–8 cents per gallon, a dramatic downgrade from earlier projections.
But Jones warns this is a smoke screen.
“This is a defensive scramble,” he says.
“There is no way just adding 5–8 cents handles this.”
One forecast predicts an increase of 65 cents per gallon in the short term.
Jones contends that Californians aren’t falling for it anymore, however.
40,000 signatures have already come in on a petition to repeal the changes.
Jones says this is proof that voters are waking up to the fact that Democrats’ “arbitrary climate targets” are gouging the average citizen.
He’s widely critical of unelected regulators and policies that make California “unaffordable.”
This sentiment echoes a broader conservative grievance: the cost of living crisis is a direct result of liberal policies, not market forces.
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