{"id":1399116,"date":"2023-08-12T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-12T21:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1399116"},"modified":"2023-08-12T17:30:00","modified_gmt":"2023-08-12T21:30:00","slug":"new-california-gas-czar-will-boost-prices-even-higher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/new-california-gas-czar-will-boost-prices-even-higher\/1399116\/","title":{"rendered":"New California Gas Czar Will Boost Prices Even Higher"},"content":{"rendered":"

New California Gas Czar Will Boost Prices Even Higher<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by John Seiler via The Epoch Times,<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Ouch. The price of gas where I usually fill up has soared above $5 for the first time in months. I keep track of my spending, and it was $4.29 just a month ago.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

In a case of really bad journalism, the Sacramento Bee recently ran this\u00a0headline<\/a>\u00a0of the state\u2019s new gas price czar, Tai Milder, \u201c\u2018Sense of mission.\u2019 California\u2019s new gas price watchdog known for taking on economic crimes.\u201d It wrote he is \u201cleading a new state agency that will watch over oil markets for possible illegal activity that drives up costs for Californians.\u201d<\/strong> That agency is the Division of Petroleum Market Oversight, a new bureaucracy set up by\u00a0Senate Bill X1-2<\/a>\u00a0and signed into law last March by Gov. Gavin Newsom.<\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s office\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0Mr. Milder \u201chas successfully investigated and prosecuted companies and individuals that tried to rip off consumers by engaging in price-fixing, bid-rigging, and bribery. Milder also worked at California\u2019s Department of Justice enforcing state antitrust laws against oil and gas companies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new oil watchdog office is a key part of Gov. Newsom\u2019s gas price gouging law.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Actually, it\u2019s a key strategy in deflecting attention from California\u2019s high gas prices should the governor run for president. The topic could come up in the governor\u2019s planned debate with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, possibly set for Nov. 8 in Georgia, although both camps are\u00a0haggling<\/a>\u00a0over the details.<\/p>\n

Highest Gas Prices<\/h2>\n

According to\u00a0AAA Gas Prices<\/a>, California currently suffers the highest gas prices in the country, averaging $5.11 a gallon for regular. The lowest is Mississippi at $3.32. For our neighbors, Nevada is $4.36 and Arizona is $4.01. There\u2019s no reason why California can\u2019t have prices that low.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks in the rotunda of the California State Capitol in Sacramento on March 28, 2023. (Courtesy of the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom)<\/em><\/p>\n

The main effect of the Division of Petroleum Market Oversight and Milder\u2019s actions in fact will be to raise prices even higher. At the time he signed the bill, Gov. Newsom\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0to oil companies, \u201cProve you\u2019re not price gouging.\u201d But how do you prove a negative?<\/strong> In America, isn\u2019t the accused innocent until proven guilty? The new edict only will increase compliance costs. Instead of investing in new equipment at refineries and gas stations, the companies will hire more lawyers and regulation experts to make sure no one goes to one of the state\u2019s hellhole jails.<\/p>\n

The new bureaucracy is piled on top of numerous existing state bureaucracies regulating the oil industry. These include the\u00a0California Energy Commission<\/a>, the\u00a0Department of Toxic Substances Control<\/a>, the\u00a0California Environmental Protection Agency<\/a>, and the ultra-powerful\u00a0California Air Resources Board<\/a>, which is dedicated to destroying the petroleum industry by switching everyone to electric vehicles.<\/p>\n

It wouldn\u2019t even surprise me if some oil companies, despite the large consumer base, just pulled out of the state entirely. Why bother? Why risk getting sent to jail for doing your business as you do in the other 49 states?<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Vehicles pass the Phillips 66 Los Angeles Refinery Wilmington Plant in Wilmington, Calif.,\u00a0on Nov. 28, 2022. (Mario Tama\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n

Here are the real main reasons California consistently ranks highest in gas prices:<\/p>\n

State-Level Reasons<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Special Blends<\/h3>\n

California requires unique\u00a0special blends<\/a>\u00a0of gasoline, in particular a more expensive summer blend. When it runs low of its special blends, it can\u2019t just import more from other states. Special markets commonly cost more than general markets, where there\u2019s more overall competition.<\/p>\n

Old Refineries<\/h3>\n

The state\u2019s creaking\u00a0old oil refineries<\/a>\u00a0break down more often than new facilities in other states. That\u2019s because California\u2019s regulations\u2014now made more onerous with the new Division of Petroleum Market Oversight\u2014make it prohibitively costly to build new refineries. When a refinery is taken off line, supply obviously is cut. That increases scarcity until the facilities are repaired, which increases prices.<\/p>\n

2017 Gas Tax Increase<\/a>\u00a0of $5 Billion a Year<\/h3>\n

With a 4 cent increase last month from an inflation adjustment, the tax now hits at 58 cents per gallon. ABC 10\u00a0broke down<\/a>\u00a0the full gouging taxpayers at the pump:<\/p>\n

54 cents in state excise tax: among the highest in the nation<\/p>\n

18.4 cents in federal excise tax<\/p>\n

23 cents for California’s cap-and-trade program to lower greenhouse gas emissions<\/p>\n

18 cents for the state’s low-carbon fuel programs<\/p>\n

2 cents for underground gas storage fees<\/p>\n

An average of 3.7 percent in state and local sales taxes<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

A customer pumps gas in Irvine, Calif., on Feb. 23, 2022. (John Fredricks\/The Epoch Times)<\/em><\/p>\n

National and Global Reasons<\/h2>\n

Despite all the bragging about California being the world\u2019s \u201cfourth largest economy,\u201d it\u2019s really but a drop in the global energy market. Some recent events pushing up global oil and gasoline prices:<\/p>\n

KeystoneXL Pipeline<\/h3>\n

Early in his administration, President Biden canceled the KeystoneXL pipeline. In January this year,\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0Fox News, \u201cThe Biden administration published a congressionally mandated report highlighting the positive\u00a0economic benefits the Keystone XL Pipeline<\/a>\u00a0would have had if President Biden didn’t revoke its federal permits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe report, which the\u00a0Department of Energy (DOE) completed<\/a>\u00a0in late December without any public announcement, says the Keystone XL project would have created\u202fbetween 16,149 and 59,000 jobs\u202fand would have had a positive\u202feconomic impact of between $3.4-9.6 billion, citing various studies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ukraine War<\/h3>\n

Boycotts of Russian oil after its invasion of Ukraine disrupted what for decades had been a placid, smooth-functioning global oil market. Then the market adjusted until recently. On Aug. 4,\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0CNN, \u201cOne of Russia\u2019s biggest oil tankers was struck by a maritime drone, the latest salvo in a Ukrainian military campaign employing unmanned vehicles to attack far-away Russian targets by\u00a0air<\/a>\u00a0and by\u00a0sea<\/a>.\u201d That and other disruptions have boosted the global price of oil from $63 a barrel in early May to\u00a0$83 on Aug. 10<\/a>\u2014a 32 percent increase in just three months.<\/p>\n

General Global Uncertainty<\/h3>\n

In addition to the Ukraine war, the past two years under Biden have seen global crises multiply. The latest is the coup in the country of Niger in Africa, a\u00a0key uranium source<\/a>, especially for France\u2019s large nuclear-power industry.<\/p>\n

But the main other problem remains tensions with Communist China over Taiwan. This past week China and Russia\u00a0sent 11 navy vessels<\/a>\u00a0near Alaska. \u201cIt is a historical first,\u201d Brent Sadler, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a retired Navy captain,\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0the Wall Street Journal. \u201cGiven the context of\u00a0the war in Ukraine<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0tensions around Taiwan<\/a>, this move is highly provocative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most global oil trade rides on giant oil tankers, which are protected mostly by the U.S. Navy. If its global supremacy on the sea is threatened, as now is happening, that protection is called into question.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

A gas pump is inserted inside an Audi vehicle at a Mobil gas station in Beverly Boulevard in West Hollywood, Calif., on March 10, 2022. (Bing Guan\/Reuters)<\/em><\/p>\n

Gas Prices Only Will Keep Rising<\/h2>\n

The great economist Ludwig von Mises liked to say government intervention in a free economy only begets more intervention. And here\u2019s a\u00a0quote<\/a>\u00a0from him, from his book \u201cInterventionism: An Economic Analysis\u201d:<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a rule, capitalism is blamed for the undesired effects of a policy directed at its elimination. The man who sips his morning coffee does not say, \u2018Capitalism has brought this beverage to my breakfast table.\u2019 But when he reads in the papers that the government of Brazil has ordered part of the coffee crop destroyed, he does not say, \u2018That is government for you\u2019; he exclaims, \u2018That is capitalism for you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

For \u201ccoffee,\u201d substitute \u201cgasoline.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, one result of pushing gas prices even higher\u2014the real result of the new bureaucracy headed by Gas Czar Tai Milder\u2014will be further to encourage people to buy electric cars ahead of the\u00a0total ban<\/a>\u00a0on gas- and diesel-powered cars by 2035. It\u2019s funny how those things happen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nSat, 08\/12\/2023 – 13:30<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/political\/new-california-gas-czar-will-boost-prices-even-higher<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New California Gas Czar Will Boost Prices Even Higher Authored by John Seiler via The Epoch Times, Ouch. The price of gas where I usually…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1399116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbimBl-5RYo","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1399116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1399116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1399116\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1399116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1399116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1399116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}