SACRAMENTO, California — Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, California gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa and state Democratic lawmakers are all piling on California’s climate regulators out of concern that new proposed rules for the state’s carbon emissions market will spike gas prices and drive in-state refineries out of business.
What happened: Lombardo wrote to Gov. Gavin Newsom ahead of Monday’s midnight deadline for comments urging him to direct the California Air Resources Board to reconsider its draft cap-and-trade rules for their possible impact on California refineries, which also provide much of the fuel for Nevada.
“Any major policy change that could alter refinery economics in California must account for the real-world consequences to neighboring states that depend on that infrastructure,” Lombardo wrote. “Fuel affordability and availability are foundational to economic stability, interstate commerce, and national security across the Southwest. Given additional tension in the Middle East, the situation is particularly pressing.”
Villaraigosa, the former Los Angeles mayor now running for California governor, also piled on late Monday, saying in a statement that “as the state considers updates to its cap-and-invest program, the priority should be making sure our policies improve affordability and economic stability.”
