California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed another law Monday, claiming to be taking action against gas prices but without lowering taxes, removing the state’s onerous “cap-and-trade” system, or easing regulations on refineries.
Those are the factors that the industry, and independent experts, say are the main contributors to the fact that the Golden State pays an average price of $4.677 per gallon, the highest in the nation, well above the average of $3.203.
Instead, Newsom has again blamed the oil and gas industry, as in previous years. The new law, which he pushed through in a special legislative session, requires refineries to maintain excess fuel supplies to prevent price spikes.
In 2022, Newsom used another legislative session to pass a law aimed at supposed “price gouging,” and created a penalty on windfall profits for oil companies. The gas price remained stubbornly high in California, regardless.
In a statement, Newsom said:
Price spikes have cost Californians billions of dollars over the years, and we’re not waiting around for the industry to do the right thing — we’re taking action to prevent these price spikes and save consumers money at the pump. Now, the state has the tools to make sure they backfill supplies and plan ahead for maintenance so there aren’t shortages that drive up prices. I’m grateful to our partners in the Senate and Assembly for acting quickly to push this forward and help deliver relief for Californians.
Newsom did not address the failure of his past legislative efforts, nor explain why the special legislative session had blocked Republican ideas such as exempting transportation fuels from cap-and-trade.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.