California gas crisis risks sending prices above $8 a gallon and forcing drivers to ration fuel: lawmakers
By Anthony Blair
Published March 5, 2026, 10:13 p.m. ET
Gavin Newsom’s green agenda and global oil turmoil will risk sending California’s gas prices above a wallet-crushing $8 a gallon — potentially returning drivers to the desperate fuel rationing not seen since the 1970s, state lawmakers and industry experts warned.
With drivers in the Golden State already facing the highest gas prices in the US, Southern California state Sen. Suzette Valladares has urged the governor to scrap California’s cap-and-invest program that charges oil makers for carbon emissions. She dubbed Newsom’s program the “cap-and-tax” scheme, and warned that closing any further oil refineries in the state could trigger economic collapse.
“It’s not scaremongering at all,” Valladares told The California Post of a report from the USC Marshall School of Business that found gas prices could reach $8 a gallon by the end of 2026.
more
https://nypost.com/2026/03/05/us-news/california-gas-crisis-risks-8-per-gallon-and-rationing-lawmakers/