Wednesday, January 13, 2015 – 09:00 a.m.
It's time for California taxpayers to float bonds to construct and lease, at a minimum, two mega-gasoline refineries within the state.
The latest round of "unscheduled" maintenance shutdown of three Tesoro West Coast refineries, combined with a plan to conduct early spring maintenance, by other oil companies, will undoubtedly translate into future false claims of gasoline shortages in the state.
Those claims will be followed by artificial price spikes at the pump, meant to cause California drivers to pay more, thus cushion weakening oil company profit margins.
It's actually a novel idea.
Oh! Let's not forget the usual non-injury refinery explosion that causes further disruption.
As the price of crude oil continues its collapse, driver's in most other states are paying well below $2 per gallon for regular unleaded. But not in the Golden State.
In California, the price has been hovering around $3 per gallon.
Yes. Float a ballot initiative to pony-up the dough, exempt the project from state environmental laws to speed construction in regions away from densely-populated areas, and we're in business.
Use net gas sale proceeds to pay off the bonds.
The impact will put an end, once and for all, to state drivers being price gouged.
The state could request proposals from private companies to operate the facilities.
The post InlandPolitics: Gas Price Manipulation: Time for taxpayers to build and lease refineries appeared first on InlandPolitics.com.
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