by Katy Grimes, E&E Legal Senior Media Fellow and California Globe Editor
As Appearing in the California Globe
Move over Al Gore…
How is California Governor Gavin Newsom going to jump back onto the national stage? Once his role as Joe Biden’s surrogate presidential candidate was shattered as Democrats replaced him with Kamala Harris, how could Newsom remain present in order to facilitate a run for President in 4 years?
This brings us to Gov. Newsom’s plan to decrease the state’s gas supply in special session legislation, making its way through the Legislature.
Keep in mind that California’s cap and trade program expires in 2030 (more on that below).
Gov. Newsom claims that the state’s highest-in-the-nation gas taxes and prices are not what led to dramatically spiking gas/oil prices but because of price gouging by the oil industry. In May, Newsom even signed a gas price gouging law into place.
The California Energy Commission disagreed with the governor at the time, showing that gas price spikes occurred in the last few years because of refineries temporally going out of commission because not enough oil was getting to them.
