California Gov. Gavin Newsom appears to be taking actions to regulate gasoline on two fronts — through the legislature, and CARB, which consists of 14 voting members — 12 of whom are appointed by the governor without State Senate confirmation.

“In September of last year, CARB estimated that the change could lift gasoline prices 47 cents a gallon, or $6.4 billion a year,” reported the Los Angeles Times. “Other analysts put the price even higher — 65 cents a gallon, or $8.8 [billion] a year.”

It’s unclear how much the new refinery regulations — which would give the state power to tell refineries when they’re allowed to shut down for maintenance and repairs, and determine how much inventory of gasoline to maintain on hand in case refineries have to be shut down — would cost. However, a broad coalition of Republicans, Democrats, neighboring governors, and even labor unions is opposing the measure, which does seem ready to pass.

The small group of labor organizations that came out against the bill — employed in energy trades — shared a number of safety and even electoral concerns.

“This issue is readily being used against our candidate in those states and beyond,” wrote the coalition regarding the potential direct implications for the swing states of Arizona and Nevada that rely on California for gasoline, and the use of California’s climate positions as a tool to attack Democrats nationally more broadly. “If we cannot be heard and believed on issues that could jeopardize the lives of our members, something is very wrong in CA. Every member who votes for this bill should be prepared to answer if something goes wrong”

Assemblymember Joe Patterson, R-Rocklin, said that he believes most legislators actually no longer support the bill but feel strong-armed by the governor.

“The legislature honestly needs to stand up for itself and tell [Newsom] no. I’m guessing the vast majority of legislators want this bill to die,” said Patterson on X. “We shouldn’t do it just because of the Governor’s strange obsession with this weird policy to give bureaucrats power over gasoline production.”

CARB will be voting on the new amendments to the state’s low carbon fuel standard on November 8, just days after the presidential election, on whether or not to adopt new, stricter standards that will make it harder to generate LCFS credits, and require more LCFS credits to be purchased.

As can be seen in CARB data, the LCFS has been so successful that as of April 2024, the most recent data point, the reduction in carbon intensity of the state’s fuel system is already past the goal for 2026. While the widespread availability of LCFS credits has reduced emissions, the rapid scaling of the desired LCFS credit-producing technologies has also reduced the value of individual credits.

Should the new, more strict LCFS requirements be adopted, fewer credits would qualify, and the cost of credits would go up, but much of the billions of dollars invested in existing infrastructure to generate LCFS credits could turn worthless overnight.

California’s gas taxes are already the highest in the nation, with federal, state, and local taxes and fees adding approximately $1.62 per gallon, which is significantly more than the difference between California and national gas prices. If the LCFS is approved, California gasoline could cost approximately $2.09 to $2.27 per gallon more than the national average, a move that could drive more consumers to electric cars, or out of the state entirely.

Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the average price of unleaded gasoline was 50% more in July 2024 than in January 2021.

During the second year of the Biden-Harris administration, gas prices broke record highs more than once.

The highest average price for unleaded gas, recorded on 14 June 2022, was $5.016, with diesel reaching an all-time high five days later, at $5.816.

Last Thursday, the average price of gas was $3.361, almost a full dollar more than the price when Trump left office in 2021. At its peak under Biden-Harris, gas was $2.62 more than when Trump left office.

The Democrats have blamed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, COVID supply-chain issues, and oil and gas companies.

In an interview, Nancy Pelosi said the “fossil-fuel industry” was to blame and the public knows it, adding that the public will “blame all of us if we don’t do something” about price rigging by oil and gas companies.

Breitbart notes that America’s auto-related woes don’t end there either.

“Car insurance premiums are up 54 percent since President Joe Biden and Harris took over in January 2021. New car prices jumped 19 percent since Biden and Harris took office, used cars and trucks rose 20 percent, and the average price of motor vehicle maintenance and repair has gone up 30 percent since January 2021.”

In recent days, including in her sit-down interview with Dana Bash on Thursday, Kamala Harris has indicated her renewed commitment to transitioning away from reliance on fossil fuels and the so-called Green New Deal.

“You mentioned the Green New Deal,” Harris told Bash.

“I have always believed—and I have worked on it—that the climate crisis is real, that it is an urgent matter to which we should apply metrics that include holding ourselves to deadlines around time.”

After the interview, the Harris campaign put out a statement saying that Harris does not support the Green New Deal.