Exxon collected $6.3 million an hour. Chevron final 12 months doubled its 2021 earnings and boasted about “excellent outcomes” in an earnings name. Valero made practically 10 occasions extra.
Whereas oil firms had been raking it in, Californians had been paying for it in document excessive gasoline costs — $2.61 per gallon larger than the nationwide common. We had been charged these sky-high costs although the price of crude oil was down and there have been no adjustments to state taxes, charges or rules. Whereas everyone knows that gasoline has at all times value a bit extra right here than in different states, it’s by no means been by that a lot.
In 2022 alone, oil firms hauled in additional than $200 billion in earnings. When you or I made $98 million a 12 months for two,000 years, we nonetheless wouldn’t make as a lot as oil firms did final 12 months.
The out-of-control gasoline costs in California stretched family budgets to the max and compelled numerous households to decide on between issues resembling placing meals on the desk or going to the physician. Excessive gasoline prices additionally inflicted widespread hurt all through our financial system and worsened the impacts of inflation. Elevated transportation prices to our companies contributed to inflated meals costs, for instance, and to larger prices for a variety of different items and providers in our state.
However sufficient discuss. It’s time to do one thing about it — that’s why we’re going to carry them accountable.
Client safety rules that safeguard us from grasping industries are a superb authorities device that may assist stabilize our financial system and incentivize companies to be sincere brokers.
To push oil firms to deal with California customers pretty, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s particular session proposal — which I authored — contains the strongest, handiest transparency and oversight measures within the nation so we are able to look underneath the hood and make oil firms answerable for top gasoline costs. The 2 homes of the Legislature are anticipated to vote on the measure as early as this week and subsequent.
Our proposal features a first-of-its-kind unbiased watchdog that may monitor California’s petroleum market to make sure the business performs by the principles. The division would have entry to new data required by regulation, subpoena energy to compel information and data that may reveal shady practices, and path to refer violations of regulation to the state lawyer common for prosecution.
Moreover, this proposal features a price-gouging penalty that may high-quality oil firms for making extreme earnings off the backs of Californians.
Ideally, the penalty won't ever be used. Like with different good coverage, its existence could inspire oil firms to maintain costs down within the first place to keep away from being penalized.
To guard their big earnings, oil firms are throwing out the identical previous scare techniques they’ve been utilizing for years — that if we act to guard Californians, they’ll depart our state or improve costs.
That’s bogus.
Oil firms are usually not going to out of the blue pull up stakes and abandon the fourth-largest financial system on the planet.
A number of surveys have proven that two-thirds of Californians assist efforts to carry the oil business accountable, with sturdy majorities in each area backing our proposal.
Now it’s time to get this achieved for California. Whereas the oil business will use its limitless assets to unfold misinformation and attempt to scare us away from performing, we’re not backing down. Laborious-working Californians need to be protected in opposition to any enterprise that pads its earnings at our expense.
State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, represents the East Bay shoreline from San Leandro to Rodeo.