FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 8, 2022

CONTACT: Brooke Armour
(916) 553-4093
[email protected]

SACRAMENTO-Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable, issued the following statement today in response to the Center for Jobs & the Economy’s February Energy Price Data report and rapidly increasing cost of gasoline in California:

“California-specific policies continue to drive up our gasoline and diesel prices, which are now the highest ever and will only continue to increase as the state transitions to even more expensive state-mandated ‘summer blend’ gasoline and as unsettled global markets drive oil prices even higher. While the entire nation is dealing with the effects of increased gas prices, working families and businesses are feeling it more acutely in California, where residents pay $1.31 more per gallon than the rest of the nation.

“California policies have also driven our markets to be much more volatile and reliant on foreign sources. Our reliance on foreign oil imports has gone from 25.7% in 2000 to 56.2% in 2021. As highly regulated in-state production has decreased, we have lost well-paying energy jobs and increased market volatility, making California especially vulnerable to international instability.

“The Business Roundtable supports the state’s climate goals. We believe the state can achieve better energy security through a diversified portfolio that includes carbon capture, renewable natural gas and existing and emerging technologies that allow residents and businesses to transition to affordable and reliable alternative energy solutions and allows the state invest in well-paying jobs here in California.

“But while we continue to look ahead, we cannot ignore the economic realities facing families who are paying the highest gas prices in the nation at a time when inflation is at its highest point since June 1982 and the cost of living is skyrocketing. We support increased domestic energy production to alleviate the regressive cost pressures affecting all Californians and businesses and urge the state to acknowledge and address its role in the current energy cost crisis as it develops future energy and climate policies.”