Staff Reports
Californians are being asked to shoulder a punishment at the pump that looks a lot like organized theft. A new analysis warns that statewide averages could jump to more than eight dollars a gallon by the end of 2026, a devastating blow to families already squeezed by inflation and high living costs.
The projection isn’t speculation from a talk radio host — it comes from a University of Southern California analysis that estimates regular gasoline could climb as high as $8.43 a gallon if major refineries shut down as planned. That would represent roughly a 75 percent spike from recent averages and is directly tied to the loss of refining capacity inside the state.
This is the predictable outcome of a political class that prioritizes virtue signaling over energy security. Refinery closures have been blamed on skyrocketing operating costs and a regulatory environment so hostile that profitable, responsible energy companies are choosing to leave rather than fight bureaucrats and fees. The result is fewer refineries, fewer jobs, and higher prices for the people who actually keep California running.
Let’s be blunt: California’s drivers already pay a premium built into the system. When you add steep state and local taxes, environmental fees, and special fuel mandates, the Golden State’s gasoline price routinely sits far above the national average — more than a dollar higher in many months. Those are not abstract numbers; they are pocketbook reality for truckers, small-business owners, and families who need to get to work.
Meanwhile, elite politicians on both coasts lecture the country about sacrifice while protecting exemptions for well-connected special interests. As state leaders talk about green transitions and political ambitions, working-class Californians are left to pay for the experiment. If politicians wanted to prevent pain at the pump, they could have preserved refining capacity and made common-sense regulatory reforms instead of chasing ideological purity.
Even companies are warning that abrupt exits and planned idling will force the market to scramble for supply, and some refineries are already adjusting operations in ways that will stress distribution and availability. One major operator says it will idle a Bay Area plant and rely on imports and inventories — a plan that may keep gas moving but does nothing to bring down the systemic price pressure caused by shrinking in-state refining.
If Sacramento truly cared about working families, it would stop reflexively implementing policies that drive refineries away, pause punitive profit caps that scare off investment, and open the door for more fuel imports and infrastructure improvements. That’s exactly what some state regulators reluctantly recommend — common-sense steps that politicians should have embraced months ago instead of doubling down on costly mandates.
This is a moment for accountability. Conservative Americans should demand that our leaders put energy security and everyday families ahead of fancy climate theater and political ambition. Californians deserve relief, honest leadership, and a government that values jobs and affordability over headlines and ideological experiments.
