1. state of Californication levies highest taxes imaginable on gasoline
2. state of Californication requires a special formulation of gasoline, which restricts most sales to the handful of mostly-old refineries still operative in the state
....it is cost prohibitive for oil companies to brew the special formula at distant out of state refineries to ship it long distances into CAL, and.....what gas they do so ship must be sold at high prices to recapture the shipping costs
3. state of Californication imposes all sorts of operating restrictions and regulations on its remaining few refineries, which only adds to the costs of production
that have to be recouped at the pump
4. because the state of Californication has effectively prohibited competition in supply, you KNOW what that does to the retail price point (Econ 1A...artificially restrict supply and you get higher and higher prices for the same level of demand)
5. nobody in his right mind would consider for even one second increasing supply by investing in, building any new refineries, which are of course extremely expensive to both build and operate anyway.... but investing any significant capital in such an anti-business, high tax, and restrictive regulation state.... would be NUTS
If it moves tax it (or control it). This will not stand, as CALPers moves towards bankruptcy, CA is so messed up, it will all have to change or it will be Venezuela without it's own currency.
FWIW, I recently drove a full size van full of occupants and I was stunned. It hauled even with a full load, great throttle response, and no lag which had me wondering if this big 3 sponsored vehicle had something greater than a V8 under the hood or a supercharger.
No, it was Natural Gas Powered. With these engines cleaner on average by 30% this is a no brainer for CA other than the cost of the retrofit hardware and compared to boutique blend gasoline, why CA didn't mandate this, I'll never understand.