News Article
Why Golden State gas prices were surging before the Iran war — and still on the rise.
“Gasoline prices are still rising as the Iran war stretches into its third week,” headlined National Public Radio (NPR) this week. Long before the war, gas prices were on the rise in California, for reasons not fully understood across the land.
In late 2025, in the state’s capital region, gasoline could be purchased for $3.69 a gallon, still well above the national average of $3.10 in 2025. In 2026, after Valero announced plans to shut down its Benicia refinery, gas prices are again topping $5 a gallon and surging by the day. This traces back to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and its recurring director, Mary Nichols, a lawyer, not a scientist.
At a conference in 1990, when the average price of gasoline in California was about $1.20, Nichols touted $5 a gallon as a good thing. The attorney showed little if any concern for the millions of workers who drive to their jobs.
Nichols served as senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council and, during the Clinton administration, worked for the federal Environmental Protection Agency. In 2007, Nichols returned to CARB at the request of Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Nichols championed Assembly Bill 32, the “Global Warming Solutions Act,” with a host of new regulations. Mary Nichols kept on CARB staff Hien Tran, who bought his statistics PhD in a New York City diploma mill and fudged air pollution figures. By all indications, no leading Democrats called for Nichols to resign.
Recurring Gov. Jerry Brown reappointed Nichols in 2011, and prices continued to rise under the state’s “cap and trade” schemes. Nichols claimed the increase would be less than 10 cents a gallon and drivers would barely notice the difference. They did notice, and more increases were on the way.
In 2017, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom supported Senate Bill 1, increasing the state’s gasoline excise tax by 12 cents and diesel tax by 20 cents. When running for governor in 2018, Newsom opposed Proposition 6, a ballot initiative that would have repealed the increase. In 2019, prices passed $4.00 a gallon, more than a dollar above the national average.
By March 2022, the price of gasoline in California had passed $5 for the first time, doubtless bringing joy to Mary Nichols. The CARB queen wielded vast regulatory power without ever facing the voters, whose living costs she increased dramatically.
CARB is now headed by Lauren Sanchez, a former climate advisor to Newsom and “a chief architect of California’s ambitious climate agenda including codifying the state’s carbon neutrality goal and extending the Cap-and-Invest (what “Cap and Trade” is now called) program through mid-century.” In effect, climate-change dogma has been institutionalized, without examination of its scientific validity, the need for trade-offs, and so forth.
Under Sanchez, CARB is proposing amendments to the “Cap and Invest” regulations. As Katy Grimes of the California Globe reports, Chevron is warning that the proposed regulations will cripple the survivability of the state’s remaining refineries, increase fuel costs, and eliminate many high-paying jobs. Unfortunately, what happens in California doesn’t stay in California.
Joining Chevron and Marathon, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo has warned Newsom that CARB’s proposed amendments could threaten energy stability for neighboring states. Nevada has limited oil production, Lombardo noted, but “is almost entirely dependent on California’s refining capacity.” The refinery shortfall also affects West Coast military bases, prompting President Trump to invoke an emergency law to restart California’s offshore oil production.
Gavin Newsom called the move “a wildly disingenuous attempt to pin the blame at California for the short-sighted decision to launch a war in Iran.” Gas prices were rising because of “decisions from the Trump Administration. Not to mention the catastrophic environmental consequences from oil spills that have resulted in bipartisan support to keep offshore drilling out of California’s coasts.” The governor failed to mention a key reality.
“Naturally occurring oil seeps from the seafloor are the largest source of oil entering the world ocean,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) explains. The seeps off Coal Oil Point near Santa Barbara are among the most active in the world, emitting 6,500-7,000 gallons of oil per day. Offshore drilling can reduce pollution from oil seeps, but Newsom and the unelected Coastal Commission prefer to exclude Californians from the benefits of their energy reserves.
According to the Western States Petroleum Association, California ranks seventh in oil reserves among the 50 states. The problem lies with regulatory zealotry based on climate-change superstition. Don’t let CARB-style madness damage your state and the nation.
