Letters urge Governor Brown to stop the hidden gas tax

Fed Up at the Pump has announced that more than 500 letters have been sent to Governor Brown from Californians urging him to stop the state-mandated hidden gas tax set to start on 1 January 2015.

Starting next year, Californians are set to pay up to 76 cents more per gallon of gas as the result of a gas tax that was created by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the Brown Administration as part of the ‘Fuel Under the Cao’ portion of cap-and-trade regulations (AB 32).

Fed Up at the Pump spokesman Jay McKeeman said: “Californians are tired of paying the highest gas prices in the nation. Governor Brown and the California Air Resources Board need to listen to the voices of consumers and find another way to reduce carbon emissions without punishing people who have no choice but to cut their monthly budgets to pay the rising cost of transportation fuels”.

Fed Up at the Pump member Chris McGothlin of the California Cotton Ginners Association also commented: “CARB hopes high gas prices will make us drive less and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. That’s just not a viable option for the agriculture industry in the Central Valley. We still have to drive equipment to our fields and our trucks to town to buy parts, and to deliver the commodities we produce”.

According to a poll by the Public Policy Institute of California, 68% of Californians support the state’s goal to reduce carbon emissions, but only 38% of Californians support current climate change policies if they increase the cost of transportation fuels. Hence, findings support Fed Up at the Pump’s goal to delay the hidden gas tax.

Adapted from a press release by Emma McAleavey. 

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/07082014/500-letters-urge-stop-to-hidden-gas-tax-1091/