Gas prices in California are skyrocketing again. In LA, they are over $7 a gallon. Gavin Newsom falsely claims the extraordinarily high gas prices in California are the fault of greedy oil and gas companies. He must have gotten that idea from Joe Biden. Newsom’s plan, such as it is, puts even more taxes on the companies that are overtaxed now. That will increase prices at the pump.
California’s gas prices are the highest in the nation, and so are the taxes on gasoline.
Gas prices in California are high due to regulations, taxes, and restrictions passed by the state and refinery outages. They are not the result of greedy oil companies.
NEW: I’m calling for a Special Session to address the greed of oil companies. Gas prices are too high. Time to enact a windfall profits tax directly on oil companies that are ripping you off at the pump.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) October 7, 2022
Valera Energy responded to the reasons for the high taxes.
NEW: VALERO responds to California’s demand for answers recent gas price spike.
“As demanded with one business day to respond…”
“California is the most challenging market to serve in the United States for several reasons.” pic.twitter.com/r2T2UQleme
— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) October 8, 2022
“For Valero, California is the most expensive operating environment in the country and a very hostile regulatory environment for refining,” Scott Folwarkow, Vice President of State Government Affairs, wrote in the letter.
“California policymakers have knowingly adopted policies with the expressed intent of eliminating the refinery sector. California requires refiners to pay very high carbon cap and trade fees and burdened gasoline with the cost of the low carbon fuel standards. With the backdrop of these policies, not surprisingly, California has seen refineries completely close or shut down major units. When you shut down refinery operations, you limit the supply chain’s resilience.”
Folkwarkow explained that California had mandated a special fuel blend that was not available in other parts of the country. This means it had to be specially formulated and that in times of shortage, additional supply could not be simply shipped in from elsewhere.
“From the perspective of a refiner and fuel supplier, California is the most challenging market to serve in the United States for several reasons,” he wrote. “California has imposed some of the most aggressive, and thus expensive and limiting, environmental regulatory requirements in the world. California policies have made it difficult to increase refining capacity and have prevented supply projects to lower operating costs of refineries.”
Folwarkow warned the state that additional taxes and regulations — such as the tax proposed by Newsom — would likely only serve to make the situation even worse.
“We believe the Commission experts understand that California cannot mandate a unique fuel that is not readily available outside of the West Coast and then burden or eliminate California refining capacity and expect to have robust fuel supplies,” he wrote. “Adding further costs, in the form of new taxes or regulatory constraints, will only further strain the fuel market and adversely impact refiners, and ultimately, those costs will pass to California consumers.”
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cut the oil and gas going into California, problem solved. If you over tax the companies providing you your fuel and then try to add more taxes on top of it they just dont have to give you any product. You can’t tax what they don’t sell you, and if Californians dont like it they need to change who they have leading their state to someone that isn’t a maniacal, self important, dictator that only has his own interests in mind. Other wise shut up and take what you get from the jackass you put into office. Recall Gavin Newsome and be free.
As a former Californian, I can only say…….you all get what you deserve. You vote in these moronic elitite wannabe politicians and wa-la they cater to a VERY small number of BILLIAONAIRE people who think their hobby is controlling the middle class. OWN IT AND VOTE FOR YOURSELF NOT THE FANCY SMANCHY RICH ELITES WHO GET TOGETHER AT NEW YORK, LA AND SAN FRANCISCO COCKTAIL PARTIES AND HAVE HOMES SPREAD ALL OVER THE WORLD. THAT WHAT YOU EXPECTED? IT IS, IS, WHAT YOU VOTED FOR. YOU SHOULD DECIDE HOW YOU WILL LIVE AND HOW MUCH YOU PAY. THINK BEFORE YOU VOTE!
I wish idiots were not so blissful…
Newsom is a longtime known idiot with no substance and should be ignored, having been ‘installed’ by some homely overweight baggy-eyed fiend rather than elected. Fact is that JOE BIDEN BUILT THAT AND EVERYTHING ELSE WRONG WITH TODAY’S USA.
EVERYONE already knows that FJB has shut down domestic oil production. It isn’t a secret. Only 1 person believes oil company greed is the problem and thats because he’s too senile to remember he made it up to shift the blame from his own policies.
But he has almost half the country on his side… still? Dems are dangerous, why can’t people see that… too many lies.