- California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard is designed to reduce carbon emissions
- Gas prices could rise 47 cents per gallon in 2025 and 52 cents in 2026
- The price increases do not include the state’s existing hefty gas tax
An emissions reduction program is predicted to increase already soaring gas costs by as much as 50 cents per gallon over the next two years in a Democratic-led state.
The California Air Resources Board’s impact assessment of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard 2023 changes released in September found that the proposed reforms would increase the costs drivers would feel at the pump.
Gas prices are estimated to increase by 47 cents per gallon in 2025 and 52 cents in 2026, not including the state’s existing gas tax.
They estimate 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 increase by $1.15 per gallon and diesel by $1.50 per 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 taxes,” said California Sen. Janet Nguyen Fox News digital.
The impact assessment of the California Air Resources Board Low Carbon Fuel Standard 2023 amendments found that the proposed reforms would increase the costs drivers would feel at the pump
“The middle class, the low income, they can’t afford gas to go to school, work, groceries or the doctor’s office.”
In a December staff letter, the board returned to the increase forecasts, calling them ‘incomplete’.
The Low Carbon Fuel Standard was created in 2007 by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to reduce the state’s carbon emissions.
Currently, the California Air Resources Board is changing the program to align with its plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045, according to a report The Sacramento Bee.
The board indefinitely postponed a vote on the proposal in March.
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 on Monday was $5,286, 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 per gallon more for the state’s environmental initiatives, plus additional federal taxes.
Newsom has attributed the enormous additional costs to California drivers to oil companies’ profiteering. But critics say the state’s high tax rate, problems with refineries and environmental taxes are also causing the spike.
Rising gas prices skyrocketed to as much as $7.29 per gallon in some parts of California in April – above the current national minimum hourly wage.
While the average price for a gallon of gasoline varies from state to state, motorists in one Silicon Valley city are facing 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 minimum hourly wage.”
The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25, while in California it was set at $16 early this year. Fast food workers received a raise to $20 in April.
