In California, a wildfire isn’t the only storm brewing – there’s also an energy crisis on the horizon. With the state government urging households to transition to electrification, electricity prices are soaring. This double whammy of escalating reliance on electricity and a significant surge in electricity bills since 2020 is hitting low-income families the hardest. Already struggling, Californians are now grappling with the highest gasoline prices in the nation, surpassing the national average by 30 to 50 percent. California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) is exacerbating this pain at the pump with its Low-Carbon Fuel Standards (LCFS), which disproportionately impact impoverished households who allocate over 11% of their income to gasoline expenses, excluding some government benefits.
CARB’s core mission is to enhance public health by efficiently reducing air pollutants while considering the economic implications. As the pioneer agency for climate change initiatives in the state, CARB aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045, necessitating a faster transition to electric vehicles. The Board asserts that its stringent fuel standards will result in a staggering 90% reduction in transport fuel carbon intensity by 2045, paving the way for the elimination of over 500 million metric tons of CO2 emissions. While these figures sound impressive on the surface, when compared to China’s emissions data, California’s projected emissions reductions over a 20-year span amount to merely two weeks (less than 5%) of China’s annual emissions. Shockingly, the wildfires in California in 2020 undid all the progress made in reducing carbon dioxide emissions over the previous 17 years, and the current fires are poised to erase a significant portion of the progress since 2020.
As highlighted in David R. Henderson and Francois Melese’s piece titled “California’s New Fuel Standards Hurt the Poor, with Little Environmental Benefit,” published by the Independent Institute on February 12, 2025 (initially featured in California Globe on February 11, 2025), it is evident that the repercussions of California’s energy policies are far-reaching and detrimental, particularly for vulnerable households. It is imperative to reassess these strategies to ensure equitable outcomes for all Californians.
Leave feedback about this