Editorial: Big Oil shouldn’t be able to fleece Californians while polluting the planet
2 years ago

Editorial: Big Oil shouldn’t be able to fleece Californians while polluting the planet

LA Times  

Gavin Newsom’s proposal to penalize excessive oil refinery profits is a relatively straightforward effort to prevent price gouging that reached new heights this year as gas prices in the state spiked to more than $6.40 a gallon. “If you want to achieve your climate goals, you need to have a price-gouging penalty to prevent the oil companies from weaponizing gas prices,” said Jamie Court, president of the nonprofit advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, which pushed for the special session to consider a windfall profits tax. Severin Borenstein, an energy economist at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, said the anti-gouging policy needs to be crafted carefully to claw back excess oil profits without disrupting the market by reducing supply. There’s no reason something as broadly popular as lowering gas prices and holding oil companies accountable should not overcome that opposition too.

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History of this topic

Gas prices could rise after vote by California regulators
1 month, 2 weeks ago

Gas prices could rise after vote by California regulators

LA Times  

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 …

California regulators are pressed to come clean on gasoline prices
1 month, 2 weeks ago

California regulators are pressed to come clean on gasoline prices

LA Times  

California regulators are poised to vote Friday on a measure intended to accelerate the state’s transition away from fossil fuels by imposing tougher carbon-reduction requirements for gasoline and diesel. She wants “an independent review to ensure transparency and accountability in the regulatory process.” On Friday, the air board will vote on tighter carbon-reduction rules that, according to the board’s own …

Editorial: Shame on California lawmakers for killing fossil fuel divestment bill again
6 months ago

Editorial: Shame on California lawmakers for killing fossil fuel divestment bill again

LA Times  

Youth soccer teams practice at a park in the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles in the shadow of an oil refinery. In a state whose leaders speak with urgency about fighting climate change, it’s shameful and hypocritical that CalPERS and CalSTRS have billions of dollars in public employees’ retirement money invested in planet-wrecking fossil fuel companies including Exxon Mobil, Chevron …

Letters to the Editor: Oil companies profit while they destroy the planet. That must end
6 months, 3 weeks ago

Letters to the Editor: Oil companies profit while they destroy the planet. That must end

LA Times  

An oil refinery is seen near Wilmington in 2016. The Times’ editorial board makes a clear, compelling argument for the California Legislature to pass the Polluters Pay Climate Cost Recovery Act, a “climate Superfund” bill. Declining profits from forcing Big Oil to cover its externalized societal costs might lower CEO salaries while stopping civilization’s death spiral. To the editor: The …

California governor, celebrities and activists launch campaign to protect law limiting oil wells
9 months ago

California governor, celebrities and activists launch campaign to protect law limiting oil wells

Associated Press  

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jane Fonda joined California Gov. Gavin Newsom and environmental advocates in Los Angeles on Friday to launch a campaign to keep a 2022 law banning new oil and gas wells near homes, schools and hospitals. At a Los Angeles park with an oil pump jack in the background behind him, Newsom said keeping …

Column: Could the mega-merger of two California oil giants benefit the climate?
9 months ago

Column: Could the mega-merger of two California oil giants benefit the climate?

LA Times  

An Aera Energy pumpjack rises from behind a wall along the Ventura River Trail in Ventura. For much of California’s history, fossil fuel companies have profited handsomely from drilling wells and tapping the state’s deep oil and gas reserves. In February, California Resources Corp. announced its intent to buy Aera Energy, a $2.1-billion deal that would combine two of the …

What’s behind California's high gas prices? Consumers should know the truth
9 months ago

What’s behind California's high gas prices? Consumers should know the truth

LA Times  

If you live in California you’ve probably run across ads blaming high gasoline prices on state laws and policies. It’s all part of a multimillion-dollar ad campaign by the oil industry to deflect attention from its greed and shift blame for the nation’s highest gas prices onto California’s environmental policies. The oil industry contends that it’s unfairly blamed for high …

Editorial: California can’t let big polluters win by undermining climate change disclosure laws
9 months, 2 weeks ago

Editorial: California can’t let big polluters win by undermining climate change disclosure laws

LA Times  

California took a big step last fall when lawmakers passed a pair of laws requiring big companies doing business in the state to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related risks, shining a light on their role in fueling the climate crisis. Opinion Editorial: California’s lawsuit against Big Oil could help end decades of climate lies California’s climate lawsuit against …

Editorial: Big Oil is exploiting California’s Latinos in its latest climate disinformation push
1 year, 2 months ago

Editorial: Big Oil is exploiting California’s Latinos in its latest climate disinformation push

LA Times  

Oil pumpjacks dot the landscape near Coalinga, Calif. The Western States Petroleum Assn., one of the state’s most powerful lobbying groups, earlier this year launched a messaging campaign called Levanta Tu Voz that seems clear in its objective: to exploit Latinos’ economic anxieties to slow the transition to zero-emission vehicles and equipment. A concerned-sounding voice warns in Spanish that “new …

Editorial: California’s lawsuit against Big Oil could help end decades of climate lies
1 year, 3 months ago

Editorial: California’s lawsuit against Big Oil could help end decades of climate lies

LA Times  

California’s lawsuit against some of the world’s largest oil companies is an important move by the world’s fifth-largest economy to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for decades of climate denial and deception. The suit filed last week against BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, Shell and the American Petroleum Institute trade group seeks to hold them liable for misleading the …

California lawsuit says oil giants deceived public on climate, seeks funds for storm damage
1 year, 3 months ago

California lawsuit says oil giants deceived public on climate, seeks funds for storm damage

Associated Press  

LOS ANGELES — The state of California filed a lawsuit against some of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, claiming they deceived the public about the risks of fossil fuels now faulted for climate change-related storms and wildfires that caused billions of dollars in damage, officials said Saturday. The civil lawsuit filed in state Superior Court in San Francisco …

California sues five major oil companies for ‘decades-long campaign of deception’ about climate change
1 year, 3 months ago

California sues five major oil companies for ‘decades-long campaign of deception’ about climate change

LA Times  

California is suing five of the largest oil and gas companies in the world, alleging that they engaged in a “decades-long campaign of deception” about climate change and the risks posed by fossil fuels that has forced the state to spend tens of billions of dollars to address environmental-related damages. But Chevron issued this statement early Sunday: “Climate change is …

Editorial: Cleaning up California’s oilfields may cost $21.5 billion. Taxpayers shouldn’t get the bill
1 year, 6 months ago

Editorial: Cleaning up California’s oilfields may cost $21.5 billion. Taxpayers shouldn’t get the bill

LA Times  

There’s a huge problem looming as California moves beyond fossil fuels: How to get its declining oil industry to plug and remediate tens of thousands of oil and gas wells that already sit idle or won’t be producing for much longer. While the oil industry and state regulators dispute some of the numbers in the Carbon Tracker report, its conclusions …

Opinion: I grew up next to an L.A. oil well. California can protect others from what I went through
1 year, 8 months ago

Opinion: I grew up next to an L.A. oil well. California can protect others from what I went through

LA Times  

Apartment buildings behind pump jacks at the Inglewood Oil Field. A bill up for its first committee hearing Tuesday would help hold oil drillers legally responsible for the harms they cause by drilling so close to where people live. Scientific evidence cited in the record supporting the setback legislation shows that living near oil and gas production increases the risk …

Column: Newsom learned with oil bill: Working with lawmakers is key to passing laws
1 year, 8 months ago

Column: Newsom learned with oil bill: Working with lawmakers is key to passing laws

LA Times  

Gavin Newsom has signed a law to require more information from the oil industry in an attempt to limit spikes in gas prices. “We proved we can actually beat Big Oil.” “There’s a new sheriff in town.. We brought Big Oil to their knees.” Among liberal Democrats who rule California state government, the oil industry has replaced Big Tobacco as …

New California gas price law another defeat for oil industry
1 year, 8 months ago

New California gas price law another defeat for oil industry

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It was just a few weeks ago that California Gov. The oil industry doesn’t mind a David vs. Goliath comparison “as long as you think we’re David and not Goliath,” Kevin Slagle, spokesperson for the Western States Petroleum Association, said about the industry’s influence at the state Capitol. The only Democrat to vote against the potential oil …

California lawmakers OK potential fines for high gas prices
1 year, 8 months ago

California lawmakers OK potential fines for high gas prices

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California lawmakers on Monday approved the nation’s first penalty for price gouging at the pump, voting to give regulators the power to punish oil companies for profiting from the type of gas price spikes that plagued the nation’s most populous state last summer. Gavin Newsom used his political muscle to pass the bill, which grew out of …

Editorial: We’re cementing climate denial with every fossil fuel project
1 year, 9 months ago

Editorial: We’re cementing climate denial with every fossil fuel project

LA Times  

A coal-fired power plant in Germany. A United Nations climate report warns that global warming is on track to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius by the early 2030s without swift reductions in greenhouse gas pollution. The U.N’s scientific assessment, approved by 195 nations, says that existing and planned fossil fuel infrastructure — all of the coal-fired power plants, oil wells and …

California regulators could decide oil profits penalty
1 year, 9 months ago

California regulators could decide oil profits penalty

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday he wants state regulators to decide whether to impose the nation’s first penalty on oil companies for price gouging, pivoting after months of negotiations with legislative leaders failed to reach an agreement on a bill aimed at reining in the state’s notoriously high gas prices. “It sounds like the governor wants …

California bill penalizing oil profits makes little progress
1 year, 10 months ago

California bill penalizing oil profits makes little progress

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After gas prices in California spiked to more than $6.40 per gallon last summer, Gov. But state regulators say they can’t explain recent price spikes like the one last summer that, at its peak, had some California commuters paying as much as $8 per gallon while oil companies recorded super-sized profits. She said Newsom’s proposal will only …

California tries to cap oil company profits. Figuring out how is a challenge
1 year, 10 months ago

California tries to cap oil company profits. Figuring out how is a challenge

LA Times  

Nearly five months after Gavin Newsom initially called for a penalty on excessive oil company profits, the governor and lawmakers in Sacramento appear no closer to deciding how to prevent the kind of gasoline price spikes that Californians experienced last year. Some oil market experts said Newsom’s idea to limit oil refinery profits wouldn’t solve the problem — and one …

Editorial: Oil companies spent millions to keep drilling in neighborhoods. California shouldn’t let them
1 year, 10 months ago

Editorial: Oil companies spent millions to keep drilling in neighborhoods. California shouldn’t let them

LA Times  

Homes are seen behind an oil pumpjack at the Wilmington Athletic Complex in the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles. The oil industry spent $20 million on a misleading campaign to overturn a new California law that bans new drilling within 3,200 feet of homes and schools — and it’s paying off. But there is really nothing preventing California’s state oil …

Editorial: Big Oil reaps record profits while the planet burns. California should curb its greed
1 year, 10 months ago

Editorial: Big Oil reaps record profits while the planet burns. California should curb its greed

LA Times  

Gasoline was selling for nearly $8 per gallon on June 1, 2022, at a Chevron gas station located at the intersection of Cesar E. Chavez Avenue and Alameda Street in downtown Los Angeles. Last year’s spikes hit Californians especially hard, because they already pay the nation’s highest gas prices, and saw them jump even higher, reaching more than $8 a …

High gas costs hurt California drivers as refiners rake in huge profits. These charts explain
2 years ago

High gas costs hurt California drivers as refiners rake in huge profits. These charts explain

LA Times  

Amid historically high California gas prices that have drained drivers’ wallets, Gov. In October, when AAA data show Los Angeles hit a record $6.49 a gallon and prices were nearly as high elsewhere in Southern California, drivers across the nation were filling up on average for $3.79, a painful price difference of $2.70 per gallon. For the record: A previous …

Prepare for more gas price hikes. Here’s why—and who’s to blame
2 years ago

Prepare for more gas price hikes. Here’s why—and who’s to blame

LA Times  

Cars drive past Marathon’s refinery in California. As California energetically attempts to decarbonize the state’s economy, some in Sacramento fear the plan faces a looming threat: astronomical gas prices that could fuel a massive public backlash. The issue was framed by Siva Gunda, the commission’s vice chair, when he kicked off the gas price hearing with an observation and an …

With California battered by high gas prices, Newsom wants to penalize big oil companies
2 years ago

With California battered by high gas prices, Newsom wants to penalize big oil companies

LA Times  

The Legislature opens the special session Monday to consider approving penalties on oil companies that make excessive profits. Newsom has accused the oil industry of intentionally “price gouging” consumers at the pump as retribution for the state’s policies to phase out dependence on fossil fuels in an effort to curb climate change. Though Newsom first called for “a windfall tax …

Op-Ed: We can’t afford to shutter California’s aging oil refineries yet
2 years, 1 month ago

Op-Ed: We can’t afford to shutter California’s aging oil refineries yet

LA Times  

After a summer with some historic gasoline price increases, California continues to experience the highest gas prices in the country by a considerable margin. California’s prices are partly the result of geographic accident, with the West Coast distant from oil production and refining facilities in other states. A statewide shift to electric vehicles will eventually alleviate the pressure of $6 …

California gas prices hit record highs, with OPEC+ move sparking worsening economic threat
2 years, 2 months ago

California gas prices hit record highs, with OPEC+ move sparking worsening economic threat

LA Times  

The average price for a gallon of gas in Los Angeles County hit $6.494 on Wednesday, increasing by five-tenths of a cent overnight. As gas prices hit record highs in Los Angeles on Wednesday, a pledge by OPEC+ to reduce its oil production by 2 million barrels a day brought concerns about more economic pain to come. But Biden has …

Record gas prices, electricity woes show California’s worsening energy vulnerabilities
2 years, 2 months ago

Record gas prices, electricity woes show California’s worsening energy vulnerabilities

LA Times  

A Chevron gas station in the 900 block of Alameda Street in downtown Los Angeles posts prices above $8 per gallon. As more and more oil refineries have gone offline in recent years — there are 14 now compared with almost 50 a few decades ago — California becomes precariously reliant on the few still operating, given the state’s more …

California cities ban new gas stations in battle to combat climate change
2 years, 5 months ago

California cities ban new gas stations in battle to combat climate change

LA Times  

Without realizing they were starting a movement in green energy policy, leaders of a small Sonoma County city seem to have done just that when they questioned the approval process for a new gas station — eventually halting its development and others in the future. “We didn’t know what we were doing, actually,” said Petaluma Councilwoman D’Lynda Fischer, who led …

California passes polarizing energy bill that could help rescue gas plants
2 years, 5 months ago

California passes polarizing energy bill that could help rescue gas plants

LA Times  

This is the June 30, 2022, edition of Boiling Point, a weekly newsletter about climate change and the environment in California and the American West. State Sen. Nancy Skinner urged her colleagues to vote for the bill even as she said it includes “things to love and not to love.” It was a similar story in the other chamber, where …

News Analysis: In California, the cost of driving has always been a political hot potato
2 years, 9 months ago

News Analysis: In California, the cost of driving has always been a political hot potato

LA Times  

Few California cultural touchstones have had more staying power over the years than the state’s affinity for cars and its aversion to taxes. “People need relief, they aren’t buying your excuses.” But Newsom did propose gas tax relief in his January budget — a smaller effort to temporarily cancel a scheduled summer increase in the state’s levy. “This state will …

Why California gas prices are so high and vary so widely: ‘Mystery surcharge’ and more
2 years, 9 months ago

Why California gas prices are so high and vary so widely: ‘Mystery surcharge’ and more

LA Times  

Jesse Espersen of Topanga fills his SUV at 7.55 per gallon for a total of $124 at a Mobil station at the corner of La Cienega and Beverly boulevards in West Hollywood. “That’s because it’s all in anticipation of higher prices.” And then there’s what UC Berkeley energy economist Severin Borenstein has dubbed the “mystery gas surcharge.” For more than …

California gas jumps 13 cents overnight. There’s no telling when prices will drop
2 years, 9 months ago

California gas jumps 13 cents overnight. There’s no telling when prices will drop

LA Times  

The price for super gasoline reached $7.29 a gallon Monday at this Mid-City Shell station. The state’s average price for a gallon of regular gas hit $5.57 on Wednesday, rising 13 cents overnight and cementing it as the most expensive in the nation, according to the American Automobile Assn. Borenstein said the average price for gasoline could hit $6 or …

California’s high gas prices have a little-known ingredient: Russian oil
2 years, 9 months ago

California’s high gas prices have a little-known ingredient: Russian oil

LA Times  

One reason gas prices are surging in California is that West Coast refineries are Russia’s best U.S. customers. But nearly half of Russian oil shipped into the U.S. last year, or close to 100,000 barrels a day, ended up primarily in California, Washington and Hawaii, refinery consultant Andrew Lipow said. And the amount of Russian oil imported into the West …

What’s behind California’s painful gas prices? Oil, taxes and geopolitics
2 years, 10 months ago

What’s behind California’s painful gas prices? Oil, taxes and geopolitics

LA Times  

Anyone who’s filled up a car in recent months knows that gas prices are crazy high. Although Europe is a much bigger consumer of Russian oil than the U.S. is, Foreman said, sanctions on Russia’s output would ripple through the global market. California taxes and policies But while crude prices and the gap between supply and demand account for the …

Regardless of Newsom’s motive, bid to end California oil production is a game-changer
3 years, 7 months ago

Regardless of Newsom’s motive, bid to end California oil production is a game-changer

LA Times  

The majority of California’s oil and gas production is centered in Kern County. Gavin Newsom’s recently announced phaseout of fracking and desire to end all California oil production. It also reasserts California’s governor — whether it’s Newsom, Jerry Brown or Arnold Schwarzenegger — as the nation’s leading state executive in fighting climate change. California Newsom bans new California fracking permits …

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