Why are gas prices so out of control in the People’s Republic of California? It is not because the United States bombed the Iranian regime. It is because California Democrats have spent years imposing the most disastrous policies on the oil and gas industry in their state.
Tom Steyer is a billionaire Democrat candidate for governor in California and a radical climate alarmist activist. Like the typical wealthy Democrat, who has his but wants to ruin others’ success, he has been babbling about making corporations “pay their fair share,” as if driving the last few businesses out of California will solve the affordability crisis there. Now he is claiming that the reason gas prices in California are over five dollars a gallon is that Donald Trump finally went on the offensive in our 47-year conflict with the terrorist Iranian regime. In reality, Steyer and his ideology are part of the problem.
“California gas prices are absolutely outrageous—all to pay for someone else’s stupid war,” Steyer gibbered on X. “But any driver knows that this isn’t entirely new. Gas in this state has been way too expensive for way too long. The days of Trump and Big Oil screwing Californians are numbered.” Evidently, Steyer has completely forgotten about how high gas prices were under the Biden administration and how the Trump administration brought them down. And the U.S. Oil and Gas Association quickly brought data and facts to bear on Steyer’s balderdash.
As of April 2026, the California average is ~$5.89 a gallon, while the national average is ~$4.08 a gallon — “+$1.81 that has ZERO to do with any war or ‘Big Oil.’ That premium has existed for decades — long before this conflict began,” the association pointed out.
Hello @TomSteyer,
California gas prices are “outrageous” — we agree. It is unfortunate that our customers are not only paying high prices for gasoline but even more to just to feed the voracious appetite of a bloated state bureaucracy.
But let’s stick to the data instead of… https://t.co/R9wfxzFMKu
— US Oil & Gas Association (@US_OGA) April 10, 2026
It continued by pointing out stupid moves from Commiefornia regulators, including the California Air Resources Board (CARB):
Highest gas taxes & fees in America (~71¢ excise + sales + cap-and-trade + LCFS credits = nearly $1.80/gal in total state burden).
CARB’s boutique “California-only” fuel blend that no other state can supply.
Decades of refinery closures, low-carbon mandates, and permitting hell that slashed in-state capacity while CA imported more crude from foreign sources.
Nevada imports 85-90% of its fuel from those same strangled California refineries. Arizona gets ~33%.
Green ideology isn’t just screwing Californians — it’s pricing out your neighbors too… You and Governor Newsom keep blaming Trump and producers for the mess Sacramento engineered.
Indeed, Donald Trump’s administration just invoked the Defense Production Act to restart offshore California oil production. We should not be dependent at all on oil over which the Iranian regime has control. We have quite enough of our own oil, if only Democrat states would stop sabotaging energy independence.
Related: Hey, Climate Alarmists: China’s Pollution Negates All Your Harmful Programs
The U.S. Oil and Gas Association also pointed out Steyer’s personal hypocrisy:
It is our understanding that you built your ~$2 billion fortune running Farallon Capital, a hedge fund that delivered big returns in part through investments in fossil fuels — including coal mines and power plants abroad.
Then your fund pivoted to climate investing via Galvanize Climate Solutions, raising hundreds of millions for “decarbonization” plays and profitinh handsomely from the subsidies, mandates, and regulations.
And since there is, in fact, no global climate crisis, and climate alarmists have been wrong on every single major prediction for over 60 years, all this climate regulation is harmful to California’s economy without being helpful for the environment. There’s also the inconvenient truth that Communist China all on its own negates any emissions cutbacks from Western nations.
California Democrats already drove multiple leftist billionaires out of the state with the threat of a wealth tax. Democrats always overspend and over-regulate, and then claim they will solve the financial crisis they caused by stealing more money from those who drive the economy. Unsurprisingly, it never succeeds.
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