In 2012, the price of regular-grade gasoline in California was about 30 cents per gallon higher than the national average. This price differential has increased substantially in recent years. Last week, the price of regular gas was nearly $5 per gallon—about $1.50 per gallon higher than the national average.
Last month, Wall Street Journal editorial writer Allysia Finley wrote about California’s expensive gasoline and how it also harms drivers in Arizona and Nevada, states which import most of their gasoline from California and where gas prices are also considerably higher than the national average.
Finley’s article described California’s high prices as the consequence of its high gasoline taxes, its low-carbon-content fuel blend—which is produced only in California, South Korea, and New Brunswick, Canada—its cap-and-trade carbon emissions program, and its refinery capacity, which has declined substantially. It is no surprise that California’s gas prices are high given low production capacity, high taxes and regulations, and a more than doubling of cars on the road over the last 40 years.
Newsom published a response to Finley in the Wall Street Journal claiming the reporter’s argument that California policies contribute to higher prices was “an election-year stunt” and that “a deeper examination . . . reveals a complete misunderstanding of how California’s policies protect consumers at the pump.”
There........