Why are gas prices so high in the People’s Republik Of California?
(Forbes) California’s astronomical retail gasoline prices have been caused by two issues: refinery shutdowns and California’s strict environmental laws, which require special gas blends.
California has its own unique gas market, according to Mark Agerton, assistant professor in the department of agricultural and resource economics at UC Davis. “California is an island for gas—we make it all here,” he says.
So, of course
‘Sick and tired’ of high gas prices, California seeks to punish oil companies with new penalty
California lawmakers on Monday introduced legislation to penalize oil companies for alleged price gouging, setting up a showdown with an industry that has long wielded political influence in the Golden State.
At the urging of Gov. Gavin Newsom, California Senate Budget Chair Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, proposed a new bill that would levy a penalty on oil companies when their profits exceeded a legally-established threshold. The money raised by the penalty would then be placed in a fund that would be directed back to taxpayers in the form of rebates.
But the initial bill language is vague, failing to define the profit threshold that oil companies would be penalized for exceeding and lacking an explanation of who would be eligible for the rebates. Newsom said those specifics will be sorted out over the course of the special session. (snip)
These guys have been gaming the system for decades,” Newsom said Monday about the oil and gas industry. “… I think we’ve got a lot of remarkable legislative leaders here that get it and they’re sick and tired of paying the price in terms of dirty air.”
Gaming the system? You mean the system the PRC set up? Fossil fuels are one of the most highly regulated industries in the PRC. If the state could prove gouging they would have already published that information. The system with all those regulations and restrictions? What can possibly go wrong with going this route? Less oil production? Less refining? Independent retailers, which is most, having to close shop?
Read: Unintended Consequences Alert: California To “Punish” Fossil Fuels Companies Over High Prices »