California Air Regulators Vote on New Climate Program That Will Likely Increase Gas Prices Up to $1.50 Per Gallon After Election Where GOP Captured More Counties

The Democrats love to claim California is ‘deep blue’ – but it isn’t.

On Friday, the California Air Resources Board, comprised of 16 members – with 12 members appointed by Democrat Governor Newsom, voted on a new climate program which will increase gas prices.

California shifted red in 2024 with 40% of the voters in the Golden State voting for President Trump.

Proposition 36 passed in California in a landslide 71% to 21%.

California voters overwhelmingly voted to increase penalties for theft and drug trafficking after a record number of brick and mortar retailers closed down due to smash-and-grab robberies.

Prop. 36 rolls back some of the soft-on-crime policies that California voters passed in 2014 with Prop. 47.

Per LA Public Press, Prop 47 “scaled back punishments for certain nonviolent offenses for drugs and theft, which were reclassified from felonies to misdemeanors.”

Under Prop. 36, penalties will be increased, and sentences will be lengthened for drug possession and for the theft of items valued at less than $950.

Governor Gavin Newsom ignored the rightward shift and immediately convened a special legislative session to fight President Trump after he won the election in a landslide against Kamala Harris.

Governor Newsom said Trump, based on his actions taken during his first term in office, is a threat to California’s climate change program, illegal immigrant population, women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights.

California is ready to fight.

I just called an emergency special session to help bolster our legal resources and protect our state against any unlawful actions by the incoming Trump Administration.

Whether it be our fundamental civil rights, reproductive freedom, or climate… pic.twitter.com/fIBPKsehot

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) November 7, 2024

California Air regulators ignored the rightward shift and voted 12-2 to tighten California’s low carbon fuel standard.

The latest move from the California Air regulators will increase gas prices in a state with some of the highest gas prices in the country.

“Gas prices could increase by as high as 85 cents per gallon by 2030 and $1.50 per gallon by 2035 under the proposal, according to an estimate from Cullenward. Cullenward said his figures and the estimates initially released by board staff are not an apples-to-apples comparison, in part because his projection uses 2023 dollars and the board staff used 2021 dollars.” – The AP reported.

The AP reported:

California air regulators voted to approve changes to a key climate program aimed at reducing planet-warming emissions that has a wide swath of critics and could increase gas prices statewide.

The California Air Resources Board voted to make significant updates to the low carbon fuel standard, or LCFS, which requires the state to reduce the environmental impact of gas and other transportation fuels by incentivizing producers to cut emissions.

The plan approved late Friday at the end of a 12-hour meeting will increase the state’s emission reduction targets and fund charging infrastructure for zero-emission vehicles. It also will phase out incentives for capturing methane emissions from dairy farms to turn into fuel.

Environmental groups have criticized the program for stimulating the production of biofuels, which are derived from sources including plants and animal waste, when they say the state should focus more on supporting power for electric vehicles. They argue the proposal fails to adequately address those concerns.