They say that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is insanity. Some of us say it’s just California Democratic politics.
California is on the verge of jacking up gas prices again, as the California Air Resources Board is set to update the state’s “cap and invest” program at the behest of Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and California Democrats. Here is how reporter Ashley Zavala summarizes the program: “The program specifically requires companies considered ‘polluters’ to limit their carbon emissions, buy credits from the state in order to pollute or fund a variety of state projects like the High-Speed Rail.”
CALIFORNIA’S HIGH GAS PRICES ARE SELF-INFLICTED
What that means, in practice, is that the cost of operating a company that refines or produces fuel in California will go up. This comes at a time when California has already run multiple oil refineries out of business, leading to increased gas prices and to California relying on gas imports from other countries. This update will further strangle in-state refineries and further plunge California into reliance on importing gas, which makes the emissions problem worse globally, as California is relying on ships to bring that fuel to the state.
For Californians, that is going to mean even higher gas prices. A top official at Chevron is warning that this could add another dollar per gallon to California’s gas prices, which are already the highest in the nation. California’s electric vehicle push gets a lot of headlines, but 90% of cars registered in California still rely on gas. And if it pushes more California refineries to close, gas prices will jump even more, as will the emissions California claims to be fighting as it becomes reliant on gas imports from around the world.
NEWSOM HOPES $19 MILLION AD CAMPAIGN WILL TURN TARNISHED CALIFORNIA IMAGE GOLDEN
What California is accomplishing with these climate policies is nothing. Emissions from oil companies in the state go down and are replaced by emissions from oil companies around the world, and then increased by emissions from ships that now have to transport gas to California. In exchange for increased emissions, California loses jobs and forces everyday Californians to spend more of their hard-earned money on gas than they have to.
Accomplishing nothing and making everything worse for everyone involved is the regular result of California Democratic policy. It is no different here when it comes to refineries and gas prices, where California repeatedly shoots itself in the foot and makes oil companies and California consumers pay for it. Newsom and his fellow California Democrats have learned nothing, and so they push the same failed policies again and again, hoping it can somehow erase the damage they have caused with those very policies.
