- California’s low carbon fuel standard was designed to reduce carbon emissions
- Gasoline prices could rise 47 cents per gallon in 2025 and 52 cents in 2026.
- The price increases do not include the state’s high gas tax.
An emissions reduction program is forecast to raise already rising gasoline costs by as much as 50 cents per gallon over the next two years in a Democratic-led state.
The impact assessment of the 2023 amendments to the California Air Resources Board’s Low Carbon Fuels Rule released in September found that the proposed reforms would increase the costs drivers would feel at the pump.
Gasoline prices are estimated to increase 47 cents per gallon in 2025 and 52 cents in 2026, not including the state’s existing gas tax.
They estimated that diesel prices could rise 59 cents per gallon in 2025 and 66 cents in 2026. From 2031 to 2046, the report found that gasoline prices could rise by $1.15 per gallon and diesel by $1.50 per gallon. gallon.
‘No one knows about this. I think people just think it’s a tax, so they don’t know the difference between the carbon tax and the state tax. It’s almost like a tax on the tax,” said California State Senator Janet Nguyen. Fox News Digital.
The California Air Resources Board’s impact assessment of amendments to the 2023 Low Carbon Fuels Rule found that the proposed reforms would increase the costs drivers would experience at the pump.
“Middle class, low-income people, they can’t afford gas to go to school, to work, to the grocery store or to the doctor’s office.”
The board backtracked on the increase projections, calling them “incomplete” in a letter to staff in December.
The Low Carbon Fuel Standard was created in 2007 by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to reduce the state’s carbon emissions.
The California Air Resources Board is currently modifying the program to align with its plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045, it said. The Sacramento Bee.
The board indefinitely postponed the March vote on the proposal.
California Republicans have urged Governor Gavin Newsom to suspend the state’s gas tax as prices continue to rise.
AAA data shows the average cost per gallon in California was $5,286 on Monday, compared to a national average of $3,619.
California’s gas tax is currently $0.58 per gallon, the highest in the country. But motorists then pay about $0.42 more per gallon for the state’s environmental initiatives, plus additional federal taxes.
Newsom has attributed the huge additional cost to California drivers to oil company profits. But critics say the state’s high tax rate, problems with refineries and environmental taxes are also causing the increase.
Rising gas prices soared to a whopping $7.29 per gallon in some parts of California in April, which is above the current national hourly minimum wage.
While the average price of a gallon of gas varies from state to state, drivers in a certain Silicon Valley city face particularly exorbitant rates that cost them nearly $150 for a full tank.
The Chevron gas station in Menlo Park was exposed on April 21 by a bewildered customer who posted on X that the price per gallon was four cents “above the federal hourly minimum wage.”
The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25, while in California it was set at $16 at the beginning of the year. Fast food workers received a $20 raise in April.
