This morning, the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline has dropped a few pennies from the all-time high on June 14; on that date it was $5.01, and this morning it is $4.98, according to the American Automobile Association. Certain states are much higher; in California, the statewide average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is $6.39.
Naturally, at the end of the month, the state government of California will increase the state tax on gasoline, from 51 cents per gallon to 53.9 cents. California has the highest taxes on gasoline.
This is separate from the environmental regulations that make gasoline more expensive in California:
California’s reformulated gasoline program is more stringent than that of the federal government — California gasoline must use a different formula in warmer weather in an effort to curb pollution. As a result, gas prices in the state are typically higher and more variable because few supply sources outside of the state are able to offer California’s unique blend of gasoline.
To help fight the increasing burden of high gas prices and inflation, California governor Gavin Newsom wants to send every registered car owner $400 debit cards. (To stop inflation, Newsom wants to increase consumer demand.)
That’s for regular gasoline; right now the average cost of a gallon of diesel is $6.99 in California – just a bit below the all-time high of $7.01 two days ago. California taxes diesel at 13 percent.
As the recent supply chain crisis helped illustrate, more than 40 percent of the container cargo in the U.S. passes through California ports. Meaning that everything you buy that passes through California is influenced by the price of diesel fuel in the Golden State.