Prepare to pay another $1 per gallon in California with higher prices in Nevada and Arizona too. 
The War on Gasoline a Gift to Trump
The Wall Street Journal says Gavin Newsom’s War on Gasoline Is a Gift to Donald Trump.
California’s prices are the highest in the country—$5.21 a gallon on average vs. $3.59 nationwide—owing to hefty taxes and burdensome regulations, such as its cap-and-trade program and low-carbon fuel standard. Here’s the rub: California refineries supply nearly 90% of Nevada’s gasoline and half of Arizona’s.
Mr. Newsom is escalating his war on the industry. The California Energy Commission is planning to impose a tax on refineries’ “gross margins”—i.e., the difference between wholesale gasoline and crude prices plus certain regulatory costs. The gross margin notably doesn’t include refiners’ operating costs, which include employee pay.
Mr. Newsom conflates profits and gross margins. According to the commission’s data, refiners lost between 10 and 38 cents on each gallon they produced from October 2023 through February 2024, while their gross margins ranged from 56 to 79 cents a gallon. In December, California refineries lost 31 cents a gallon while the state imposed $1.15 a gallon in taxes and regulatory fees.
The price gougers in Sacramento now want to penalize drivers even more. Mr. Newsom is pushing the commission to finalize the refinery tax at the same time as the California Air Resources Board, or CARB, prepares to tighten its low-carbon fuel standard and greenhouse-gas emissions cap. These regulations add about 54 cents to the price of each gallon of gasoline. CARB’s rules will increase the cost by an estimated 88 cents a gallon in 2026 and $1.01 by 2031.
Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo last week sent Mr. Newsom a letter expressing concern that the new tax and regulations will “lead to limited supplies and higher fuel costs for consumers in both of our states.” Mr. Newsom’s response? Another deflection. He accused Mr. Lombardo of parroting the “talking points” of “Big Oil donors.”
Arizona and Nevada are increasingly trending in Mr. Trump’s direction as working-class Hispanics bear the brunt of the Biden administration’s policies. Many migrated from California—and like America’s émigrés from socialist countries, they don’t want to relive the misery from their former lands.
Gasoline Top Six
- California: $5.21
- Washington: $4.60
- Oregon: $4.38
- Nevada: $4.38
- Alaska: $4.35
- Arizona: $3.90
California pays $1.62 more than the national average and $0.61 more than Washington, the second highest state.
Despite refiners losing money, Newsom seeks new taxes causing a complaint from Nevada.
If I was a refiner, I would leave that hell hole and let California fend for itself.
The EU Is Spending Billions on Hydrogen-Ready
Across the Atlantic ocean, The EU Is Spending Billions on Hydrogen-Ready, But Where’s the Hydrogen?
I’m all in favor of hydrogen-powered plants to produce electricity if only we had cheap hydrogen. But we don’t and likely won’t.
A couple of tacos short of a combination plate…
Our governor is a cushion short of a couch.
The oil companies are getting into the hydrogen. Toyota is coming out with an ammonia engine
Suck it! Welcome to our misery.
Are Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania also Newsom’s fault ?
Reregulate derivatives to pre millennium rules and prices of everything would crash. The derivatives markets would close and cause chaos but consumers would be better off if there was no hedge funds trading commodity derivatives. It is not surprising that most inflation started after derivatives were deregulated.
Gas is 3.80 in Idaho and $4 in Or. $5.00 in Cal. It’s all taxes paid into Gavin’s hell hole. AZ use to be cheap not sure what happened. I’m sure glad we moved
This is why the Democrats can’t just push Biden aside and substitute Newsome at their convention. Outside of the cult compound known as California, Newsome is unelectable.
Cargo ship companies are already shifting cargo containers away from Long Beach CA to Mexico, Vancouver and Savana GA (via the Panama canal).
Trucking companies have found they can’t get containers off ships and onto trucks at Long Beach, plus the onerous taxes and regulations on trucks and truck fuel (diesel + DEF) required by California. Its cheaper to ship containers to other ports, shift to them trains and eventually to 18wheelers. Mexico’s new rail line across the ismuth will compliment traffic going through the panama canal. Everyone is going to bypass California, costing CA more jobs and more economic activity.
The WSJ seems unaware that CA gasoline does not go to NV, UT or NM. California has its own gasoline blend, and the rocky mountains make shipping gasoline to other states expensive (but currently doable). Those other states currently buy unblended gasoline and have it shipped through California via expensive trucks – but the non-gasoline trucking is shifting away as mentioned above.
All this CA legislation does is encourage suppliers to build pipelines to supply refined gasoline east of the rockies. That’s arguably a good thing for those other states.
Its trivial to shift software development away from Silicon Valley, and most of the so-called chip manufacturers already rely on TSMC, Samsung and Intel to do actual manufacturing. The new chip fabs in AZ will shift some business away from Taiwan and Korea, but no one is shifting to California. The last big industry in California (tech) is in the process of moving away.
California is a sick cult, and it will soon have a third world economy.
Trucking companies, truck stops and motels along interstates leading out of California are all going to get toe tagged. Many trucking companies already charge more to drive into California from other states.
Freight train companies are the big winners. Its cheap and easy to transfer cargo containers onto trains in Mexico, Vancouver, Savana GA, Miami and New Orleans. The trains are economically more efficient than trucks anyway.
Truck drivers generally prefer local trips, and getting home to their families on the weekends. So delivering local from hundreds of freight train yards around the country is preferable to long hauling from California. Diversifying logistics from one locale to many is good for shippers.
As with many things, there are winners (freight trains, truck drivers not truck companies) and there are losers (California ports, California motels, California dock workers, California trucking companies).
Tucson rail from Mexico is great hub for truckers
400 miles from coast and intersects with solid Interstate routes
Simple solution. Buy a Tesla.
I’m really hoping this is sarcasm.
lol, that’s hilarious!
California: the new Hell on Earth
Death Valley is located in California
So is Pelosi’s nephew.
Since California’s budget has turned from a surplus of a $100 billion to the biggest deficit ever of $68 billion if not more, it is not surprising that Newsom is looking for ways to rapidly raise revenue.
The alleged surplus was caused by people fleeing California – which meant selling their home and incurring capital gains taxes. That is a one time thing, not a recurring revenue source.
The other part of the alleged surplus was creative accounting by the state of California – which is usually labeled fraud if done in the private sector.
The fact that Newsome is so desparate that he is resorting to third world accounting gimmicks and fraud tells you how dire the situation is inside the cult of California.
Taxfornia
Looks as if Newsom’s economic policies would be a perfect fit for Washington DC. Turn a big surplus into a deficit with the snap of the fingers.
No surprise that the Democrats and progressives want to tax the faceless big and the rich more. – If there proves no way for prices on Californians to cover this ‘gross margins’ tax then logic says they stop operating or selling in California. Californians are so smart! Let’s see them use their smarts to live nice lives without petro-products. – Maybe they can huddle with the Venezuelans to figure it out.
NetZero == Genocide.
Those who support oor enact NetZero are genocidal maniacs and tyrants and should be punished the way someone enacting and supporting a genocide would be punished
Gavin is the US version of Trudeau. Can’t wait to see clowns in the US trying to vote this POS in for prez. Nation of total retards!
It seems that this would particularly hurt minorities.
More broadly the working poor are who is impacted by this the most.
If they want cheap gasoline, check out Russian prices.
Saudi is also great for gas prices; also less homeless street people.
Most of the émigrés we encounter in public discourse are earning their living as shills … their opinions are formed by what think tanks want to hear. Most unreliable source imaginable.
Gas in the US is cheap.
😀
Last time I tanked I was paying $10.15¹
¹Amsterdam; engine requires Ethanol 5% instead of 10% regular
Ethanol b/c raising corn for gasoline is ‘green’
Sure, but the distances you drive?
Less than you at those prices.
Same city, fueling up costs over 100 euro. If we had California prices for just one day, then there would be a loooong line at all gas stations.
Fortunately, every day I can cycle or take the metro to work.
You buying premium gas?
These links say its around 6-8 a gallon. At the low end you aren’t much different than California.
https://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/global_gasprices/
https://www.numbeo.com/gas-prices/in/Amsterdam
Yes, premium; not for the 98 octane but for the 5% ethanol.
€2.47/liter ÷ 0.92 (€ to $) ÷ 0.2642 = $10.17/gal
List price Texaco/Esso today is 2.209 regular 2.389 super
There are cheaper discounts if you drive around, but if you’re en route, this is what you will encounter along the highway.
I paid about the same.
The distances in your country are miniscule by comparison. And you actually get benefits from the taxes you pay. Here, only illegals and ne’er do wells get benefits.
???
durable goods & perishables have to travel just as far to reach europe’s markets as they do here in the US.
Europeans may not drive as far as we do, per capita, but they have been paying the extra costs (for fuel) via higher prices for everything… for decades.
there are reasons for europe’s slow death… fuel cost is one of them.
the downvotes here make zero sense.
I haven’t bought gas in a couple years. Must suck.
And what state do you live in and how far you drive? I don’t have a problem if you have an EV, but the grid, the charging stations, the recycling of batteries (does this exist?), the wear on our roads, etc is not even planned for. Your mentality is that of our politicians. Clueless.
Just looking out for #1, son. When I don’t ride my bike I drive an EV, indeed. Thanks for paying for road maintenance for me!
And you wonder why cyclists get run over by “accident”?
In his inappropriately tight spandex outfit. Old Walt doesn’t realize all of his food and the goods he purchases come by way of gas powered trucks. He also disregards the mining necessary to build his big golf cart. But he won’t that let it disrupt his arrogance, snobbery, and aloofness.
You can complain and stay poor all you want. I’m just here for the lulz.
EVs are an incredible waste of money relative to an ICE.
You, sir, are a fool.
I paid $15k for a car that costs somewhere around 5 cents a mile to operate. But you do you.
you seem proud of the EV decision… which is absolutely hilarious.
Cost of ownership/mile (over an 8-10year period) is 2x higher for an EV than an ICE, starting with the higher cost of acquisition… Day One.
Bad news Walt! I was just solicited by the CA DMV to enter a study to charge EVs from .02 to .04 per mile to pay for road maintenance in lieu of gas taxes. There coming for you!
Indeed. The quintessential narcissist.
Hydrogen is not so much a fuel as it is a medium for energy transport. Hydrogen is not mined or reservoirs tapped, it is the result of conversion of other energies usually through electrolytic cracking. When you burn hydrogen you are burning the source fuel used to crack the hydrogen plus any energy lost in transport or the hydrogen creation process. It is the same as electricity except with pipes and tanks instead of wires.
Making hydrogen is highly energy intensive and not a great alternative
To make it clean we’d need a dedicated nuke plant to produce hydrogen else your still burning fossil fuels.
Do you get a Commiefornia fuel discount if you are up to date on all your booster shots?
Yes. You get a 100% discount. You don’t have to ask for it. It just “suddenly” happens.
You misspelt thuddenly. A terminal mistake ( the jabs, not your spelling).
Not much better way to collapse consumption then make it unaffordable to go to work.
I thought it would start in manufacturing sector, but California is a serious contender in how to make your economy go broke.
National Recession incoming or already started.
Then again since so much food gets grown in California and that is highly dependent upon fossil fuel to run equipment, nothing like another surge in food costs as consequence.
Am sure voters will be happy to take another hit to household bottom line.
Way to go Newsom.
Those tend to be specialized crops grown in California. Man does not need almonds, artichokes, avocados or pistachios to survive. No loss seeing those products go from daily regulars to once-a-year treats.
you forgot rice, grapes, strawberries, onions, garlic,
Keep trying to cover for the idiots that run California. The whole country is getting astounded.by just how stupid, stupid can be.
After all Biden was VP when Covid was the national pastime.
There are no U-Hauls in California.
If Newsom really wants to go green, what about just giving everyone a donkey? He’s already a jackass so …
LOL!!!!
You had me at ‘California’.
The rational choice for oil companies and regular Joe taxpayers is to leave California.
If it wasn’t for the weather, the place would be back to a barren dessert again, by now.
What keeps it afloat is: The rest of the country is such an undifferentiated kleptocracy, that the 1-2% whom The Fed stole all wealth in America for the benefit of, can easily afford live anywhere, no matter what. After all, The Fed will just rob others some more, in order to ensure its favored leeches can afford whatever confiscatory idiocy Newsom comes up with next.
And, furthermore: Since the 1-2% comprised of Fed welfare queens, and literally nothing else by now, does indeed nominally “own” all wealth in the US; No “job” anyone gets paid for in America anymore; involves anything other than slight variations of performing fellatio on the leeches. Hence why even non-leeches can’t leave CA, no matter how badly they may want to.
“Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo last week sent Mr. Newsom a letter expressing concern that the new tax and regulations will “lead to limited supplies and higher fuel costs for consumers in both of our states.”
Then Nevada should offer incentives to attract all those toxic petrochemical plants and refineries into its state. Everyone wants cheap energy but no one wants the toxicity required to produce it whether it’s ugly windmills, toxic refineries, or bright & hot solar panels. Everybody is just “give me cheap energy and I don’t want any of the ill effects.”
Nevada & Arizona get plenty of sun, who is stopping them from putting up solar panels? Plenty of land to build refineries too. Perfect state candidates to convert to EVs.
A depressing amount of Arizona and Nevada are owned by the Federal government, and they won’t sell.
“Everyone wants cheap energy but no one wants the toxicity required to produce it whether it’s ugly windmills, toxic refineries, or bright & hot solar panels. Everybody is just “give me cheap energy and I don’t want any of the ill effects.”
You are dead on correct about that.
They don’t even need to build refineries. Instead they just need a pipeline to Texas to get their gas from a place that makes and sells it cheap.
Becoming beholden to California has proven to be a huge mistake every bit equal to the mistake Europe made when they were beholden to Russian gas. Nevada and Arizona need a second source.
If Lombardo really wanted to show a set of stones, all he needs to do is threaten to cut down the amount of water sent from Lake Mead to California or impose a special ‘tax’ of his own on the amount sent that equals the amount of extra money California is going to gouge his citizens. It would cause an uproar but that’s the only way you are getting Newsom to listen.
I Drink Your Milkshake! (youtube.com)
Then California will build huge desalination plants, they are right next to the ocean and have infinite water. They can pay for those plants by raising the prices of fuel to Nevada residents.
California will then shut off fuel to Nevada, who will hurt more? As resources dry up around the world, this game will play itself out naturally.
I don’t think you want to play this game with a state that has a GDP of $3 trillion. Nevada has a GDP of $192b which would drop to nothing if it gets cut off from fuel.
This reminds me there is a new Mad Max movie out I need to go watch.
Southern California (home to probably 20 million people) could not exist without the water and electricity from Nevada. It would take less than a day for millions of people in Southern California to demand Newsom back down because those desalination plants would take decades to build at scale (based on the rate the high speed rail train is progressing).
Nevada can source anything it needs from the rest of the US. Sure, it’s a pain to truck it in and things would be ugly for a bit. But no where near as ugly as being without water and electricity.
Besides, it would never come to that (actually shutting things off). All that would happen is California would pay Nevada share of the tax since the 2 taxes would net out even for Nevada. Since California has that 3 trillion economy they can afford to pay the tax twice.
The water from lake Mead is already ‘spoken for’. That legal portioning was settled a long time ago.
“Then Nevada should offer incentives to attract all those toxic petrochemical plants and refineries into its state.”
As well as a harbor for crude tankers to dock at, in order to reliably supply them…….
“Nevada & Arizona get plenty of sun”
Absolutely. More than pretty much anywhere else on the planet.
“who is stopping them from putting up solar panels?”
Absolutely noone. In fact, everyone strongly ENCOURAGES them to do so.
Combine the two; and since we’re all, like,you know, “data-driven” and, like, stuff, now: And what does that hint at wrt the actual, real world as opposed to just uncritical hype, viability of solar as a primary source of non-negotiably-reliable energy?
Canada Trans-Mountain pipeline is operational waiting for regulatory clearance to deflate CA wholesale prices. That doesn’t mean lower retail gas prices.
CA gov is robbing the middle and lower middle class at the pumps to pay transfer money.
National retail prices map : red states are in blue. Blue states are in deep red.
Not sure how Alaska can be in the deep red.
I realize logistics and all, but damn.
From what the EIA tells us, Alaska has 5 oil refineries but none refine gasoline, though there is some diesel production. So, that gas has to come from Washington State or maybe Canada, but that means some decently high transportation costs. Any fuel coming from Washington or California refineries would also be subject to Jones Act-related upcharges that would make transport costs quite high as the act does for a lot of goods that have to be shipped in to Alaska.