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Numbers of the Day May 9, 2026 · 12:41 am ET Source: New York Post

$6.16 — What Sacramento's Squeeze Costs at the Pump

$6.16
California's statewide average gas price — $1.62 above the national average of $4.54

Two California refineries shut in the past six months. The state now imports nearly a third of its foreign crude through the Strait of Hormuz — a shipping lane currently threatened by war. Sacramento's Cap-and-Invest program alone piles at least 20 cents per gallon onto working Californians' fuel bills, even as the governor refuses to suspend a single cent of gas taxes. Said Pat McDonald, CEO of Carbon Energy Corporation: "You could see $10 diesels and $8.50 gasoline." Meanwhile, the governor is suing to block six new offshore lease sales that would boost domestic production and cut that foreign-oil dependence. The boardroom didn't build this crisis — Sacramento did.

Source: New York Post · link AffordabilityEnergyExecutiveCalifornia