Here’s why gas always costs more in California

as prices in the US have slid from their all-time peak in fall 2022, but there are drivers in at least one state that still pull up to the pump and cringe.

Gas prices in the United States have slid from their all-time peak in fall 2022, but there are drivers in at least one state who still pull up to the pump and cringe. The current average gas price in the US is $3.10. In California, it’s $4.49, according to AAA. That’s not an anomaly ­— Californians consistently pay more for gas than the rest of the country. A confluence of factors join together to increase the price of gas in The Golden State, including environmental restrictions, higher taxes and a shrinking number of regional refineries. One of the more notable factors is that the state now actually burns the cleanest gas in the world, according to Severin Borenstein, faculty director of the energy institute at the University of California Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. That’s because California has its own specific blend of fuel that emits fewer greenhouse gases when burned, Borenstein said. California has historically led the way in lowering emissions. Due to a carve-out in the 1970 US Clean Air Act, California is the only US state that can set stricter emissions standards than the federal government.