Gas prices could rise after vote by California regulators

California air quality regulators late Friday approved tougher rules to encourage use of lower-carbon fuels, overriding objections that the action would lead to higher gasoline prices for motorists. On an 12-to-2 vote, the California Air Resources Board approved amendments to the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, or LCFS, which aims to shift California’s fuel dependence away from gasoline and toward lower-carbon fuels such as biodiesel, hydrogen and electricity. “Any claims that LCFS is responsible for high gas prices is misleading at best and not supported by the data,” Dillon Miner, CARB’s staff air pollution specialist, told the packed auditorium in Riverside on Friday. “We simply cannot afford this.” Nearly 13,000 Californians signed a petition written by Republican state senators that asked the board to postpone the vote until CARB provided information on how much the amendments would increase gas prices. “It’s absolutely irresponsible and unacceptable that this board has chosen to ignore how its policies will impact gas prices,” state Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh said in a statement.