US Senate Votes to Overturn Governor Newsom’s 2035 Ban on the Sale of Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles

Recognizing the potential national, state and regional economic consequences of California’s 2035 ban on the sale of new internal combustion vehicles and stricter emissions standards, President Trump, House Speaker Michael Johnson, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune have responded to California State Senator Brian Jones’ warnings about California gasoline prices and stepped in on behalf of the California consumer. 

By 51-44, the U.S. Senate voted to overturn Governor Newsom’s 2035 ban on the sale of new gasoline powered vehicles and emission standards. California Minority Speaker Brian Jones summed up the vote:

“This is a major victory for hard working Californians. Newsom’s car ban is virtue signaling for extreme environmentalists who want to dismantle our economy, no matter how much it hurts families already struggling to make ends meet.”

Predictability, the Governor and State Attorney General Rob Bonta have announced that they will sue the federal government, which as Senator Jones notes is simply, “Newsom and Bonta (are) using our tax dollars to try and take away Californians’ freedom of choice.” If filed, it’ll be the 23^rd lawsuit by California against the Trump Administration. As Senator Jones noted, “Newsom wants to take this failed policy nationwide, even though Californians don’t want it, and neither do Americans.”  

The president and CEO Alliance for Automotive Innovation, John Bozzella, noted:

“The Senate (and the House before it) deserve enormous credit. Instead of kicking the can down the road or waiting for regulatory failure and its consequences, they voted to restore a degree of balance to U.S. vehicle emissions regulations.”

Senator Jones, and others, including this author, have long warned that California’s restrictive policies and costly regulations have contributed to make the price of gasoline in California the highest in the nation and have precipitated the imminent shutdown of two major refineries by April 2026. The exiting of the two refineries from California represents the possible loss of up to 10.5 million gallons a day of in-state gasoline production. Consequently, California’s need for foreign sourced gasoline is likely to increase, and with regulatory costs associated with the state excise tax, cap and trade, and the new LCFS likely increasing the cost of gasoline, Californians are facing the potential for gasoline price increases to possibly $6.04 to over $8.00 a gallon, inclusive of the replacement costs to make-up the nearly 10.5 million gallons a day deficit in in-state gasoline production. 

Transporting foreign sourced gasoline at the potential volumes necessary to support California’s economy requires large maritime vessels to bring volumes of finished product from possibly as far away as India and China. A potential unintended consequence could be an increase in the total “source to pump” GHG emissions and port congestion, as well as the possibility of greater GHG emissions near California’s port cities and shorelines. Additionally, refineries in those countries receive their crude oil, which is used to make gasoline, from sources such as Iran, Russia and Venezuela, as well as the Middle East. Furthermore, the storage costs for gasoline are generally higher than that of unrefined crude oil, therefore potentially adding to consumer prices.

The price of gasoline today in California is the highest in the nation.

Some of the contributing factors for the higher prices include:

(1) there are no in-bound pipelines for gasoline into California

(2) the number of in-state refineries has decreased by 63% since 1990

(3) California in-state oil production has dropped by 68% since 1981, and

(4) California has the highest tax, fees and cost burden per gallon of any state in the nation, just to list a few.

Moreover, California is the most dependent of all fifty states on foreign oil. Since the 1980s, California’s foreign oil imports have increased by 712%. Where once California satisfied over 60% of its petroleum needs in-state, today, it produces less than 25% of needs from in-state production and, as CEC indicates, is highly dependent on oil from sources such as Iraq, Saudi Arbia, Brazil, Ecuador, and Guyana. With the closure to two major refineries California’s dependency on foreign sources of gasoline to meet its daily needs is expected to grow. Two important issues are.…(1) at what cost to the consumer? and (2) from what foreign source?

President Trump’s expected signing of the bipartisan bill, which is the first of a long series of steps to help bring much needed relief to the California consumer, is consistent with the 10-Action Steps to help stabilize and reduce gasoline prices outlined in my paper, Ensuring California’s Gasoline Security For the 21^st Century, dated May 5, 2025, (the Study). The Study provided action steps for the rescission or rollback of Governor Newsom’s 2035 ban on the sale of new internal combustion vehicles, and the need for the Federal Government to intercede on behalf of hard-working Californians to help ensure that refineries remain in California and that consumers will have choices in transportation products and access to affordable gasoline.

For everyday Californians, the issue isn’t the number of lawsuits, personal agenda or the 2028 Presidential Election…it’s the highest gasoline prices in the nation, which today, are 52% higher than the national average. On May 23, 2024, the price differential was 43%.