In preparation of this first article of 2025, it is impossible not to recognize the fire tragedies in California. Losing a home is horrifying. My thoughts and prayers accompany all those who lost so much.
Unfortunately, the rebuilding of these homes will be the next horror. Even if legislators say they will streamline the permitting process, the people of the L.A. area will face significant hurdles. Homes will have to be built to current building code rules. That means all the homes will have to be equipped with fire sprinklers. This will put significant strain on existing water management which already has a proven track record of failure. All the homes will have to be natural gas-free. This will put enormous strain on the electrical delivery system that is best described as antique.
California leadership and regulatory communities will have to introduce themselves to common sense, and as already known that is an elusive character trait of California leadership. Godspeed to those who have lost so much.
In November 2024, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted to make significant updates to the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, or LCFS, which requires the state to reduce the environmental impact of gasoline and other transportation fuels by incentivizing producers to cut emissions.
As part of the LCFS program, CARB has been collecting $.10 on every gallon of gasoline sold on about 11.6 billion gallons consumed annually in the state — or approximately $1.2 billion dollars a year. CARB has collected $.11 a gallon for every gallon of diesel sold on about 2 billion gallons consumed annually in California or approximately $220 million dollars.
Since the beginning of the LCFS program in 2011, $22 billion dollars have been collected.
There are about 39 million people in California (although the exodus of people leaving the state continues). That means that every man, women and child has paid $564 to CARB in LCFS taxes. I’m sure that our low-income community would prefer to keep that money to use for food, medical expenses, and housing.
Now, California has issued a new rule which is expected to increase the LCFS tax on gasoline by $.47 to $.85 cents a gallon almost immediately. That amount will increase to $1.50 a gallon by 2035. That would mean CARB will collect between $6.11 billion and $11 billion annually.
This “tax” increase on the victims of California is supposed to be used to pay for the further development of electric vehicles and electric infrastructure — even in light of the gross failure of electrification of California.
CARB officials state, “The low carbon fuel standard has already successfully created lower-cost, lower-carbon alternatives, and the benefits of the proposal vastly outweigh those costs.” CARB’s view of the status of electrification in California is delusional at best and far from achievable anytime soon.
Every Californian will feel the effect of the LCFS, like it or not.
According to CARB, the new LCFS tax will make electric vehicles more affordable. How? Rebates for electric vehicles will continue and likely increase for all vehicle manufacturers except Elon Musk’s Teslas. Apparently, the reduction of emissions can only be achieved by Democrats who are in lock-step agreement with Governor Newsom, the Coastal Commission and elite environmentalists.
2026 will be the first test of the EV mandate, when 35% of new vehicles sold in California must be zero-emissions, up from 26.4% now. To hit that mark, EV sales would have to skyrocket by 33%. Toyota North America Chief Operating Officer Jack Hollis said on a conference call with reporters last month, “I have not seen a forecast by anyone that that number is achievable. Demand is not there.”
In another problem with EVs, expanding charging infrastructure has proven to be much more complicated than the elites could have imagined. An antiquated electrical grid and distribution system will result in decades of delays before sufficient quantities of electricity can be developed which will have to depend less on what dreamers call renewable energy, wind machines and solar.
CARB officials say their policies will reduce health care costs associated with pollution from dirty fuels. Over the years the public has been dazzled by CARB’s public health statistics. These statistics included reductions in premature births, a decrease in respiratory and cardiovascular issues. They claim lower levels of air pollutants have led to fewer cases of asthma, bronchitis, heart attacks, and other related health problems.
Vin Scully, the long-time announcer for the L.A. Dodgers said, “Statistics are used much like a drunk uses a lamppost: for support, not illumination.” Unfortunately, CARB has used statistics to convince environmental justice activists that their existence will be significantly less difficult while they pay crippling taxes and fees to reinforce a failing narrative.
Sacramento officials say the increased use of EVs will reduce dependence on the oil industry, thereby protecting consumers from its associated supply and cost volatility.
Society needs petroleum to flourish. We all touch items daily that use or are made with petroleum. Fun fact: 2–5 megawatt wind turbines use 50-80 gallons of oil to operate and standard maintenance usually replaces that amount annually. By some counts, there are 72,000 wind turbines operating in the U.S. That means we need 360,000 to 580,00 gallons of lubricating oil annually. Wind turbines will ultimately be a small part of our electrical energy solution. Besides, they are a visual and environmental blight on our landscape.
Petroleum is so much a part of our societal success that it will be decades before we can find alternatives.
Finally, as of December 2024, Californians are paying $1.50 per gallon more than the rest of the United States for gasoline and $1.44 gallon more for diesel than the rest of the United States. These values do not include the new LCFS tax that will be implemented in 2025. Electricity residential rates are 105.6% higher than the rest of the U.S. and the commercial rates are 115% higher than the rest of the U.S.
The Democratic Party has controlled both houses of the California State Legislature for approximately 50 years, with brief interruptions in the early 1970s and mid-1990s. Currently Democrats have been operating with a super-majority which means Republicans should be put on the endangered species list. This one-party control has allowed CARB to double down on its failed electrification policies.
You can’t make this stuff up…
Originally published in the February 2025 issue of the O&A Marketing News.
© KAL Publications Inc. 2025