It’s no secret that gasoline prices at the pump are higher in California than any other state in the U.S. and have been so for many years. The daily publications of gas prices by state from sources like AAA and GasBuddy clearly show this for anyone who takes time to look.
Amazingly, the Golden State’s gasoline prices are higher on average even than those in Hawaii, an island state in the middle of the Pacific Ocean which produces none of its own petroleum needs. California Governor Gavin Newsom has repeatedly tried to write off his state’s pain at the pump as the fault of either the Big Oil companies or President Donald Trump and the impacts of the Iran Conflict in recent months, but other factors are clearly at play.
A new study published Tuesday by the Institute for Energy Research (IER), titled “The Pacific Premium” goes a long way to dispelling Newsom’s efforts to deflect blame. The report details exactly how state policies enacted under his own watch and by the state’s governing Democratic party for decades have created California’s high price situation. And it isn’t just California – “blue” states led by Democratic governors and state legislatures in general feature higher prices for gasoline and diesel than those in “red” states led by Republicans.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.