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Higher Gas Prices In California Are A Total Unforced Error - We Are Being Punished By Sacramento Democrats
In the video commentary above, I discuss how gas prices are rising across the country right now, and global events are certainly part of the story.
The military conflict involving Iran and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz — a narrow waterway through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil supply normally travels — have pushed crude oil prices higher. When crude prices rise, gasoline prices tend to follow.
But that global reality does not explain why Californians consistently pay far more for gasoline than drivers anywhere else in the United States.
As of the moment I recorded the video above, AAA listed the average price of regular gasoline in California at $5.41 per gallon, compared with a national average of $3.63.
That’s nearly $1.80 more per gallon — meaning a typical 15-gallon fill-up costs Californians about $25 to $30 more than drivers in most of the country.
So why the massive difference?
Energy analysts often refer to what we pay here as the “California premium.” And that premium isn’t the result of geography or bad luck. It’s the result of policy choices made in Sacramento.
California requires a special gasoline blend that limits supply options.
Regulations imposed by the California Air Resources Board increase refinery costs.
Several refineries have shut down or converted operations in recent years.
The state’s cap-and-invest carbon program adds additional costs to fuel production.
And California drivers already pay some of the highest gasoline taxes in America.
Stack those policies together, and the result is predictable.
Californians pay more.
In fact, drivers here are paying more for gasoline than motorists in Hawaii, a chain of islands sitting roughly 2,500 miles out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that has to import virtually all of its fuel by tanker.
That tells you something important.
This isn’t primarily about geography.
It’s about policy.
