Posted on 05/30/2021 12:27:17 PM PDT by blam
Get ready for $5 per gallon gasoline – especially if you live in California.
At least, that was the contention of a new WSJ op-ed that claims higher taxes and environmental regulations are both driving up the price of gas.
Author Allysia Finley notes that the average cost at the pump in California is now $4.18 a gallon, pointing out that in 2017, Democrats in the state’s legislature raised a tax on each gallon by 20.8 cents over three years.
California drivers are now paying an astonishing average of 63 cents a gallon in state and local taxes, compared an average of 36.8 cents elsewhere in the country.
The reasoning for the price hike was to repair the state’s infrastructure, but instead the proceeds have been “directed toward projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, such as bike lanes and mass transit,” the op-ed notes.
The California Air Resources Board is also responsible for imposing a tax through its cap and trade program, which has added about 14 cents per gallon to the state’s average gas price.
CARB requires that retailers sell “a special extra-clean-burning gasoline blend” which raises the price about another 10 cents per gallon. The Board “assigns carbon-intensity scores to hundreds of fuels” and requires refiners to meet a low score to blend lower-carbon fuels. If they can’t meet the threshold, they are forced to buy carbon credits, which also drives up the price of fuel.
The board awards these credits to utilities when their customers charge EVs at home. Utilities then turn around and sell the credits to refiners. Gas powered vehicle drivers are subsidizing thousands in incentives to EV buyers, the op-ed notes:
So Californians can get a $1,500 rebate from their local utility on top of $2,000 from the state and $7,500 from the feds for buying an electric vehicle. Sweet.
Yet drivers of gasoline-powered cars are subsidizing the utility rebates through higher fuel prices. As the state’s carbon-intensity benchmark has fallen, prices for regulatory credit prices have soared—from $17 on average in 2012 to $198 in the first quarter of this year. An analysis last fall by Stillwater Associates estimated that the program would add 24 cents a gallon to the price of gasoline this year and 63 cents by 2030.
Refiners, as a result of the rules in the state, are switching to producing renewable fuels, which are now “much more profitable” due to regulatory and tax credits. But the infrastructure conversion that refineries will have to undertake to produce this fuel – such as Marathon Petroleum recent planning to convert a refinery in California – will once again wind up in rising prices for California drivers.
In fact, many refineries have simply closed due to the burdensome regulations. This means that when the remaining refineries experience outages, price spikes are more severe.
(snip)
It’s already there in a lot of places in caulifourkneeuh. But pedo joe sees no evidence of, well whatever.
Mark Twain: “No amount of evidence will ever persuade and idiot.” Just sayin’............
Lots of dems are saying right now as they are filling up their tanks - “Things were better under Trump. Too bad he was such a mean tweeter.”
Some, but not many. Most are saying "It's worth the pain to not have Trump as POTUS." And they mean it.
In Chicago it’s already 4.59
5$ gas should kill the Democrats in the mid-terms.
It’s $4.38 here in town in Northern California.
Yup, those dems are gonna get smeared......not. If you can steal the general, mid-terms are easy peasy.
Inflation will set in faster and harder. Plenty of gasoline will be sold at the high price. Way too many $$ out there chasing scarce goods. Everyone is on a tear consuming everything in site.
It’s very close now. $4.85 for expensive, $4.35 for cheap.
Indian reservation price here in Del Norte County is about a dollar less per gallon.
Good, President Trump warned people but they were worried about his mean tweets
And paying cash by the wheelbarrow-full for the privilege of being squished that short under the burden.
When our energy resources use are prohibited from being used by political edict, that curiously benefits Russian oil supply
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3963509/posts
Pipe line shut downs affecting our resources and supply. which result in thousands losing jobs and reliance on costly imports from foreign sources. Denying our energy resources use which if fully developed would turn out to be a major source of income when exported also gives Russia control over Germany .
Disasterous results should be expected when such edicts are issued . Those who order and support such decisions should be impeached beccause of the serious damage being done to the economy.
and the only reason it goes that high and higher is Democrats
“cap and trade program, which has added about 14 cents per gallon to the state’s average gas price”
There are better ways of fighting CO2 emissions, such as forming a trust fund for state EV incentives.
prepare to be amazed:
https://www.tesla.com/support/incentives#California
Normals understand that the proper response to CO2 emissions is to ignore them. They are good for the environment after all.
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