Understanding green terminology
Phrases like “carbon neutral,” carbon negative” and “net zero” are starting to pop up as more companies move toward going green. Here’s a look at what the terms mean.
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California’s excise gas tax will increase 1.6 cents per gallon on July 1 as the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom attempts to correct “disingenuous claims” about gas price spikes in the state.
The excise tax rate per gallon will be 61.2 cents, an increase from its previous rate of 59.6 cents since last July. These rates are based on the percentage change in the California Consumer Price Index, according to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, which measures inflation.
Excise taxes are commonly passed on to consumers in the price of the product, according to Reuters.
As the increase in the excise gas tax takes effect comes a separate change related to California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard. But it’s a specific claim tied to the Low Carbon Fuel Standard that Newsom’s office is calling “false” in a recent fact sheet: Gas prices will go up 65 cents or higher on July 1.
Figures from various experts and reports have floated around in the past several months over how the amended Low Carbon Fuel Standard regulation could result in an increase in gas prices per gallon in the future, from increases of 65 cents, 17 to 23 cents, 47 cents and 5 to 8 cents.
The Low Carbon Fuel Standard “reduces air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions by setting a declining target for the carbon in transportation fuels used in California,” said the California Air Resources Board. “Producers that don’t meet established benchmarks buy credits from those that do.”
The new rules begin July 1 and “ratchet up requirements for cleaner fuels and broaden a $2 billion credit market aimed at cutting emissions from cars, trucks and freight,” Cal Matters reported.
The Low Carbon Fuel Standard is not a tax, said Newsom’s office, and the regulation was approved by the California Air Resources Board in 2009, with amendments taking place over the years.
Newsom’s office cited the much smaller estimate of a 5 to 8 cent increase in its refute of the “false claim.” The 5 to 8 cent figure comes from a San Francisco Chronicle article from November that quoted Colin Murphy of UC Davis, who explained the likely increase in costs pass down to consumers.
Murphy, co-director of the Low Carbon Fuel Policy Research Initiative at the university, addressed concerns of a 65-cent jump in July in a blog post on June 30. Murphy said it “is not at all likely” prices would “actually jump that much.” What motorists are “likely to see” in July instead is an 8 to 9 cent per gallon increase, Murphy said.
Cal Matters reported that “no immediate hike in gas prices will occur” and that, according to experts, future impact is “uncertain.”
How much are gas prices in California today?
According to AAA Fuel Prices, the average price of gas in California as of June 30 is $4.59. That’s about a dollar and 40 cents higher than the national average for the same day.
It’s lower than the average gas price in California from a week ago ($4.66) and from one month ago ($4.80), according to AAA Fuel Prices.
Paris Barraza is a trending reporter covering California news at The Desert Sun. Reach her at pbarraza@gannett.com.
