Sky-High California Gas Prices Have a Green Additive

ENLARGE

The national average is $2.76 a gallon, while Golden State drivers pay $3.88. Eco-virtue is expensive.

For most American families, the ritual summertime road trip is a lot cheaper this year thanks to plunging gas prices, propelled in part by the U.S. shale-oil boom. The average gas price nationally has dropped by nearly 25% to $2.76 a gallon over the past 12 months.

California is another story. While gasoline in the Golden State is averaging $3.88 a gallon, the average price in the Los Angeles market shot up 65 cents this week to $4.30 a gallon, about 20 cents higher than a year ago. Gas prices surpassed $5 per gallon at some stations, hitting $5.49 in downtown L.A., according to GasBuddy.com.

As usual, purported consumer activists are blaming collusion among putatively monopolistic oil companies. The real culprit is anti-carbon regulation promoted by a cartel of green activists and liberal politicians that is aimed at raising energy costs to discourage consumption. Sticker shock at the pump, like water rationing and high electric rates, is the price Californians must pay for their environmental virtue.

For most of the 1980s and ’90s, Californians paid roughly the national average, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data. Since 1999—the year Democrat Gray Davis assumed the governorship following 16 years of Republican leadership—California gas prices have sizably surpassed the national average and most of the lower 48 states, principally due to more stringent fuel regulations. California gas taxes are also about 12 cents higher than the national average.

In 1999, Mr. Davis’s Air Resources Board banned the fuel additive MTBE—a smog-reducing oxygenate that in low quantities has been detected in groundwater. It also adopted cleaner “reformulated” fuel standards that raised production costs. A tiramisu of other environmental mandates have been layered into the state’s fuel standards.

The results? By 2006 Californians were paying 23 cents more than the national average for regular gas. The disparity increased to 40 cents in 2014 and now sits at $1.11.

Next to crude, electricity ranks as refiners’ largest production cost. Electric rates like gas prices have soared in California thanks to the state’s mandate that requires that renewables make up 33% of the state’s electricity by 2020. Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic legislators have proposed raising the mandate to 50% by 2030.

Via: Wall Street Journal
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Californians Overcharged $4.5 Billion For Gasoline “Gouging Gap” Since Price Spike Began; Gas Prices Set To Climb Even More

Santa Monica, CA—Californian drivers, who have paid an average of 74 cents more per gallon at the pump than drivers nationwide, have shelled out $4.5 billion more for their gasoline than US drivers from February to June, Consumer Watchdog said today.

The nonprofit group’s analysis is based on statewide consumption and the higher amount oil companies have charged Californians compared to the rest of the nation for gasoline from February to June, when refineries started going down and gasoline prices began spiking.

Consumer Watchdog reported the “gouging gap” has cost California consumers $214 million extra per week or $180 more per California driver thus far since February. Gasoline prices are expected to rise in coming days by 15 to 30 cents as oil refiners continue to keep California drivers on tight supplies and imports of gasoline grind to a stop.

Oil refiners reported banner first quarter profits from the higher California gas prices and the companies’ executives celebrated refinery outages and tight supplies in investor calls.

“California oil refiners have overcharged drivers billions using every trick in the book to keep gasoline prices high from unusually low inventories, historically high exports, suspicious refinery maintenance, and unprecedented pricing strategies at their branded stations,” said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog.  “Californians are paying unreasonably and artificially high prices and California’s oil refiners are getting rich off drivers’ pain at the pump.”

Last week Consumer Watchdog presented evidence to the California Attorney General that oil refiners were artificially manipulating gasoline prices by leveraging their branded gasoline station contracts. The Attorney General’s office has told the group it is now investigating the unusual pricing strategies by oil refiners.

Via: Consumer Watchdog

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California: More Pain at the Pump

Sacramento is about to launch a new attack in its ongoing war on drivers.

California’s 48.6 cent gas tax already ranks second out of 50 states –- the feds take another 18.4 cents — and when the hidden carbon tax, part of the cap-and-trade program, is factored in, our state leads the pack by a wide margin. But this is not nearly enough, according to the political class.

Sen. Jim Beall is building a coalition of both Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature to hike gas taxes along with vehicle license fees and registration.

The San Jose lawmaker’s Senate Bill 16 slams taxpayers in three ways. First, it would raise at least $3 billion annually by increasing the gas tax by another 10 cents a gallon.  Second, it would hike the vehicle license fee, which is based on value, by more than 50 percent over 5 years. Third, it would increase the cost to register a vehicle by over 80 percent.

Although the backers of the SB16 tax increase say it is vital to make up the claimed $59 billion backlog in roadway maintenance, some of the funds are slated to go to repaying transportation bonds that, when passed, were to be paid from the general fund. This means that not all of the new revenue will go to the stated intent of fixing roads and highways.

Whatever the actual dollar amount of the backlog in roadway maintenance, this shortfall is the result of previous diversions of gas tax and truck weight revenue to budget items that have no direct impact on road improvement, and Beall’s bill would allow this practice to continue.

It should not go unnoticed that the $59 billion estimated backlog approaches the $68 billion that the governor and Legislature want to spend on the bullet train. Quentin Kopp, former chairman of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, has become a strong critic, characterizing it as “low-speed rail” due to the changes that have been made to the original plan that voters were promised to convince them to provide seed money for the project in 2008. He adds that to be financially viable, high-speed trains need to run from 10 to 20 trains per hour, but due to the current plan, called a “blended system,” slower trains and bullet trains must share the same track, reducing the number of fast trains to about four per hour. And even supporters of the project as currently envisioned concede that the Los Angeles to San Francisco trip that voters were told would take about two-hours and forty minutes for a $50 fare, will likely take closer to 5 hours at nearly double the cost to the rider.

Via: California Political Review

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The Costs of a $15 Minimum Wage

In the 1970s, when oil prices jumped, most liberals embraced a simple solution: price controls. It should be illegal, they thought, to sell oil or gasoline for more than a certain amount. Americans should be able to drive without being fleeced by oil companies and foreign governments.

The impulse was understandable. Gasoline is an essential commodity for most people. When the cost rises, it imposes a heavy burden on consumers, most of whom have few transportation options.

In 1971, in an attempt to tame inflation, Republican President Richard Nixon imposed controls on almost all prices. By 1974, he had lifted most of them. But those on gas remained. Under Democratic President Jimmy Carter, they led to widespread shortages and long lines at service stations -- and didn't keep prices from rising. But the controls lasted until his successor, Ronald Reagan, lifted them in 1981.

Liberals learned an unforgettable lesson: Price controls on gasoline don't work. In recent decades, when gas prices have soared, Democrats have shown no desire to repeat the lesson.

But they embrace a similar approach for another problem: low pay for many workers. Chicago decided last year to boost the minimum wage to $13 an hour by the middle of 2019. Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles have gone even higher, raising the floor to $15 an hour in the next few years, and other cities may follow suit. It's a price control on labor.

Their intentions are good. Full-time employment at the current federal minimum of $7.25 an hour provides an income of just $14,500 a year. For an adult supporting one child, that's well below the poverty line of $15,930.

The problem is that a higher legal minimum wage is at odds with the prevailing supply of and demand for labor. If you set the minimum too high, you will get a shortage of jobs. Forbidding employers from paying $9 or $12 an hour means that many of their workers won't get $13 or $15 an hour. They will get zero per hour, because those jobs will disappear.

Via: Real Clear Politics

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‘We can’t just drill our way to lower gas prices.’ Says who?!

Eighteen months of continued oil boom prove reveal the predictable flaws of Leftist energy dogma.

But you and I both know that with only 2% of the world’s oil reserves, we can’t just drill our way to lower gas prices – not when consume 20 percent of the world’s oil.

– Barack Obama, March 10, 2012

Oh, really?

That was the refrain during the election season of 2012, with average gasoline prices crowding $4.00 per gallon and no relief in sight. Democrats painted Republicans as wackos for thinking $2.50/gallon gasoline possible. But eighteen months have passed since the President’smisleading pronouncement: the U.S. is now poised to surpass Russia and Saudi Arabia as the the world’s #1 producer of oil and natural gas. The boom in domestic production continues, with oil production at levels not seen in a generation. Demand is soft, oil inventories are high and there is refinery capacity to spare.

And guess what? Gasoline prices are dropping. Color me unsurprised.

Source: Energy Information Administration
(http://www.eia.gov/oog/info/twip/twip_gasoline.html)

The scale of that graph masks the fact that the average price of gasoline is down 33¢ per gallon over the last 12 months and 70¢ per gallon since the spring of 2012. The reader should also bear in mind that the retail price of gasoline has embedded state and federal taxes which vary from 35¢ to 70¢ per gallon, depending on jurisdiction.

Via: Red State

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Cities with the Most Expensive Gas

As we head into Labor Day weekend, gasoline prices nationally are down about 21 cents a gallon from last year to around $3.57 a gallon, according to GasBuddy.com. Marking the traditional end of the summer driving season, next week’s holiday presents a good opportunity to look at gas prices around the country.

An unanticipated closure of an East Coast refinery sent prices soaring to a year-to-date high by mid-February. Gasoline prices have fluctuated since then, but have been trending slowly downward. Prices in some cities remain exceptionally high, however, at least 25 cents more than the national price. Gas in Honolulu as of earlier this week averaged $4.23 per gallon. These are the cities with the most expensive gas.

Click here to see the 10 cities

Americans are driving less and as newer, more fuel-efficient vehicles replace older ones in the country’s fleet, demand is also decreasing. The main reason that crude oil and gas prices remain high is uncertainty about the future availability of crude. Events in the Middle East, the source of more than a third of the world’s supply of crude, figure heavily in market prices for crude and eventually gasoline. The threat of military action in Syria has driven up crude and gas prices since late Monday, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for October delivery trading near $109 a barrel on Tuesday.

In the nine cities with the highest gas prices, four of the cities are on the East Coast, two are in California, and there is one each in Alaska, Hawaii, and Idaho. The concentration of cities on the East Coast is due to a variety of reasons, the most important of which is that Northeast refineries obtain most of their crude oil from non-U.S. sources, raising the cost of refined products and ultimately the price for consumers. Gregg Laskoski, senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy.com points out, “for a long time the Northeast has had to rely on Brent crude oil, which has to come across the ocean from Europe.”

Via:24/7 Wall Street

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ROMNEY'S SECRET BLOWOUT

While the left cheers President Obama’s second debate performance with the excitement of Chris Matthews on a prom date with The One, the fact remains that this was not just a bad debate for President Obama. It was a disastrous debate for President Obama. He may have achieved firing up the base, but the base had already been fired up by Vice President Joe Biden’s bizarre performance in the vice presidential debate. He may have achieved not looking comatose, but instead he looked angry and puerile.

Actually, Obama lost in three major ways.

Economy. The first loss is the most obvious. Mitt Romney absolutely dismembered Obama on economics. Obama wasn’t merely outclassed. He was out-leagued. Take, for example, the Romney-Obama exchange on gas drilling. After Obama blathered on about how he’d been great for oil supply (false), Romney gutted him with a single line:

The proof of whether a strategy is working or not is what the price is that you're paying at the pump. If you're paying less than you paid a year or two ago, why, then, the strategy is working. But you're paying more. When the president took office, the price of gasoline here in Nassau County was about $1.86 a gallon. Now, it's $4.00 a gallon.

Obama’s response was perhaps the worst economic gaffe in modern debate history:

Well, think about what the governor -- think about what the governor just said. He said when I took office, the price of gasoline was $1.80, $1.86. Why is that? Because the economy was on the verge of collapse, because we were about to go through the worst recession since the Great Depression, as a consequence of some of the same policies that Governor Romney's now promoting. So, it's conceivable that Governor Romney could bring down gas prices because with his policies, we might be back in that same mess.

Via: Breitbart

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It's Later Than Any Dare Think

By BEN STEIN 

When republics fall, it's not always slow.

SaturdayIt is smoky up here in North Idaho today. Apparently there are major fires in Washington State and they are belching smoke. The smoke is blowing our way into the Idaho Panhandle. I can feel it in my pitiful weak lungs even with the windows closed and the air conditioning on.

I slept most of the day and then Alex and I roused ourselves and made our way west and north to Hill's Resort. The ride is beautiful along the Pendoreille River, with its vast width and sunny smoky meadows.

We stopped at the little store in Laclede and a kindly man from Canada gave me a lovely Exacto knife to allow me to open CD cases. Just out of the blue. I love that.

Then, gasoline in Priest River at Mama Mac's and up to the Falls Café, a tiny little bar/restaurant with a pool table about halfway between Priest River and Luby Bay. The Falls Café just might be the most perfect-looking small restaurant in the world. It has a glass floor in a place where you can look at the falls of a swift creek running under the building. It also has a pool table.

Today, there was a three generational family having dinner. Grandparents, parents, aunt, and children. As far as I could tell, it was a birthday party for a 12-year-old, incredibly pretty daughter. She smiled at me and I told her she would be a movie star. Her brother, possibly a twin, said, "Wait! I want to be a movie star, too."

On that note, I left. I did find out that the family was from Priest River. For some reason, Priest River has an amazing number of good-looking men and women. That whole family were great looking, male and female. I think their name was "Clark."

At Hill's, there was a big wedding so we ate in the bar very quickly, but alas, I got a HORRIBLE case of heartburn from a potato chip I had on the way up from the Falls Café. Nothing would help except my mother's home remedy -- peppermint Lifesavers -- and my sister's home remedy, Tazo Refresh tea.

I got the hot water for the tea back at the Falls Café. The manager/bartender told me about his 15 years as a cowboy in Montana. He said he worked fifteen-hour days, often starting at two in the morning, for room and board and $1500 a month. But, he loved the outdoor life. Now, he's planning to grow and sell organic vegetables and stay in Idaho. His name was Chance and he was as pleasant as can be.

About ten minutes later, as we were entering Priest River, the speed limit rapidly dropped from 60 to 35. Many are the tickets I have gotten there. Sure enough, a police car pulled me over just as I approached Mama Mac's gas station and café and general store. When the policeman saw it was me, he laughed, agreed I was not driving too fast, and said he just wanted to see if I had been drinking too much.

"I haven't had a drink since 1988," I said.

"Probably a good idea," he said.

He laughed more and walked away.

We stopped for more hot water at Mama Mac's just as it was closing. A very kind man with a shaved head who was sweeping up and closing the place shouted, "Drive safe, Ben." That touched me very much. I love being known in these small towns in North Idaho.

The main thing to be grateful for is how patiently my saint wife waits for me while I buy Tums and Pepto and tea and so forth. I am married to a goddess.

Via: The American Spectator

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