Even though petrol prices across the country are falling because of lower oil prices, California’s average petrol price stays close to $5 per gallon. This makes many Californians wonder why their petrol is the most expensive in the US.
Gov. Gavin Newsom says that fuel companies are to blame for driving up prices, but his own energy chief says that is not true. Instead, California leaders say that the difference is mostly due to the fees that drivers pay for things like bike lanes and the state’s long-running bullet train.
Gavin Newsom has crazy ideas about ‘gas price gouging’, but Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher, R-East Nicolaus, told The Centre Square that Newsom is the only one who is ripping off Californians at the pump. “Newsom has jumped at every chance to help his friends out financially at the expense of California drivers. He used gas tax money to pay for bike lanes and cap-and-trade money to pay for his failed bullet train.”
Hawaii, which doesn’t make its own oil and has to ship everything across the Pacific Ocean, has even more expensive petrol than California.
AAA says that a gallon of regular petrol costs $4.95 on average in California and $3.23 across the country. Arizona only charges $3.41 per gallon, while Oregon charges $4 per gallon, Nevada $4.01 per gallon, and Arizona $3.41 per gallon.
The price of a gallon of gas went up by $1.36 in February 2024 because of taxes and fees. There were 18 cents in federal gas taxes, 58 cents in state gas taxes, a two-cent state underground storage fee, 42 cents for the state’s cap-and-trade emissions program, and 11 cents for the state’s low-carbon fuel standard.
The $135 billion high speed rail project that will eventually connect Los Angeles and San Francisco is the biggest beneficiary of the state’s cap-and-trade program. It gets 25% of the money from emissions cap-and-trade to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The first $35 billion part of the train still needs $7 billion more in funding. If funding is found, it could connect Bakersfield and Merced in the Central Valley by 2033.
The California Air Resources Board, which is made up of governor-appointed members (except for two), decided to tighten the state’s low-carbon fuel standard after Stillwater’s report. The state says this will cause fuel costs to rise by $162 billion through 2046.
Californians may have to pay up to $1.15 more per gallon for petrol this year because of the new LCFS, which has been temporarily put off by the state’s administrative body.
The $135 billion high speed rail project that will eventually connect Los Angeles and San Francisco is the biggest beneficiary of the state’s cap-and-trade program. It gets 25% of the money from emissions cap-and-trade to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The first $35 billion part of the train still needs $7 billion more in funding. If funding is found, it could connect Bakersfield and Merced in the Central Valley by 2033.
The Tax Foundation says that in California’s fiscal year 2018, petrol taxes paid for 99.7% of the state’s road spending. After four years, more people are driving electric cars, which don’t pay petrol taxes but do have a slightly higher annual vehicle registration fee. This means that petrol taxes only cover 89.2% of road spending, which is why the state wants to add a mileage tax, either in addition to or instead of the current petrol taxes. Putting trackers in cars, making tracking apps mandatory on cellphones, or requiring inspections to confirm odometer numbers are all ideas for keeping an eye on mileage to make sure taxes are paid correctly.