California Air Resources Board bucks calls for transparency ahead of vote impacting gas prices

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The California Air Resources Board appears to be resisting calls to be more transparent ahead of a key vote next month that’s expected to raise gas prices. The board, which is an unelected group overseen by Gov. Newsom’s administration, is set to vote Nov. 8 on updates to the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standards program. The update will include changes that will financially impact the oil and gas industry that the board has acknowledged will translate into increased costs for customers at the pump. The board has been inconsistent about what exactly those costs might be, and as of Friday was unwilling to give an estimate. In an effort to understand what gas prices will soon look like for California drivers, KCRA 3 repeatedly asked CARB for an interview over the course of the last seven days. “To the degree they should provide more, I’m for more transparency, absolutely,” Gov. Newsom said Monday when KCRA 3 told him CARB had ignored requests for information last Friday on the upcoming vote. After the exchange with Gov. Newsom, KCRA 3 on Tuesday morning reached out to CARB again for a response to the request. On Tuesday night, CARB spokesperson Lys Mendez did not acknowledge the interview request but said in part in a written statement, “There is no historical relationship between LCFS credit prices and what consumers pay at the pump.” Mendez ignored the continued requests for an interview on Wednesday and Thursday, and essentially repeated the prepared statement in emails on Friday. CARB has been unable to keep its story straight about what the LCFS update will mean for California drivers. Last year, the board estimated in an initial report that it could cost up to 47 cents more per gallon starting in 2025. The board has since walked back the number, telling lawmakers in a hearing on Sept. 18 that it was a “snapshot” in time. “The most salient data we have is from the refiners themselves and it’s not even close to 47 cents, it’s much lower than that,” CARB’s executive deputy officer Rajinder Sahota told lawmakers at the hearing. “I think if I remember correct, it’s 8 to 10 cents.” This week, Republican state lawmakers echoed the call for transparency in a letter sent to CARB, urging the board to delay its vote and to be upfront with the public about costs to consumers. CARB has yet to respond to the letter, officials confirmed Friday. “Can we have a breather? Can we know how this is going to impact working Californians?” State Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa-Bogh told KCRA 3 in an interview. “I thought their analysis on the 47 cents was realistic,” Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association, told KCRA 3 in an interview. “To, at this point in time, not have that same positioning on being transparent on these numbers is surprising.”During the state legislature’s special session on gas prices and fuel supply, lawmakers from both parties scolded CARB for not responding to a request from Republicans for information on the LCFS program they had sent in May. “Republican or Democrat, when a legislator sends a letter to any regulatory agency, they should respond,” Assemblyman Joe Patterson, R-Rocklin, said in the hearing last month. “I do think it’s unacceptable, I think anybody should have the courtesy,” said Assemblyman Mike Gipson, D-Los Angeles. Aside from the LCFS issue, state lawmakers from both parties have also expressed frustration with the board’s lack of transparency on an alternative blend of gasoline referred to as E-15, which contains 15% ethanol. Lawmakers have noted that E-15 could help California with its gasoline supply and prices issue. Every state in the country uses it, except California. “Nobody is saying E-15 is a silver bullet,” said Assemblyman Heath Flora, R-Ripon in a hearing on the issue on Sept. 19. “To hold up a type of fuel that in 49 other states is accepted, and in California we try to be too cute? That’s unacceptable to me.” CARB started working on a report about the alternative fuel in 2019 and finished a draft in 2022 but has yet to release its findings to the public. Lawmakers in the Assembly passed bipartisan legislation to nudge CARB to release the report, but the Senate blocked the effort. “Those timelines seem wholly incompatible with the sense of urgency many of us and many of our constituents feel,” said Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Irvine, in response to CARB’s E-15 report. “The California Air Resources Board was created by the Legislature and its appointees and the Board’s budget are approved by the Senate. We take this responsibility very seriously,” said State Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire in a statement on CARB and transparency broadly. “At the end of the day, if CARB takes actions against the public’s interest, we will move on a course correction. We will always push for continued transparency and the protection of California consumers.” McGeorge School of Law professor Chris Micheli noted when state lawmakers return for the legislative session in 2025, they face a key vote to renew California’s environmental program known as Cap-and-Trade. The program is meant to lower greenhouse gas emissions by major businesses or entities that emit carbon. Several Democratic legislative sources told KCRA 3 ahead of that vote that the lack of transparency from CARB on a handful of issues makes it difficult for lawmakers to determine how to move forward with protecting the environment and the state’s economy. “We could potentially see the legislature negotiate with the governor to not only changes to the Cap-and-Trade program, but to CARB’s authority, either limiting it or expanding it,” said Micheli. The board has a meeting scheduled in Sacramento on Oct. 24 at 9 a.m. on business unrelated to the LCFS update. It is taking public comment, according to the agenda. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter

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