$6.01 gas, $3 gas, and high-speed rail showdown

California’s gas prices hit $6.01 per gallon, with voters split between Becerra’s call for cleaner energy and Hilton’s promise to bring them down to $3 a gallon. Both candidates blame each other for the high cost of living, with Becerra pointing to Trump’s policies and Hilton to Newsom’s regulations. The debate over gas prices is just one part of a larger fight over climate policy, electric vehicles, and the state’s high-speed rail project, all of which will shape the next governor’s agenda.

In California, gas prices have become a central issue in the race for governor, with both candidates vying to bring down the cost of living. Hilton has made $3 a gallon gasoline a central plank of his affordability campaign, arguing that he can achieve the target by repealing ‘outdated’ environmental regulations and issuing more drilling permits in California. He even pointed to Kern County as a potential source of cheaper gasoline, saying that instead of shipping it halfway across the world, we could be producing most of it here and sending it to the refineries in a nice clean pipeline.

Becerra, on the other hand, has expressed a desire to lower costs but has released scant details about how he would do it. He has raised concerns about the transition to zero-emission vehicles, saying that while the goal is great, it has to match the reality of our families. If our families can’t afford to keep pace with the goal, then what good is the goal? The two candidates’ vastly different views on gas prices, electric vehicle mandates and the state’s long-delayed high-speed rail project will shape the next governor’s agenda.

Hilton would ‘cancel’ all high-speed rail funding, which he said would save more than $3.7 billion per year. Becerra is concerned by the project’s delays and cost overruns, and he would ‘clean shop’ at the authority, which signed off on hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel expenses that should not have been approved, according to a recent audit. He said that if we build, it’s gonna be because we can get this done the right way. We’re not gonna have this overspending, we’re not gonna have this misspending.

With the race for governor heating up, voters will have to decide whether to support Becerra’s call for cleaner energy or Hilton’s promise to bring gas prices down to $3 a gallon. The debate over gas prices is just one part of a larger fight over climate policy, electric vehicles, and the state’s high-speed rail project, all of which will shape the next governor’s agenda.