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Tell Governor Newsom to veto SB 842 and hold Big Oil accountable for price gouging

Categories Climate Justice Fossil Fuels
Last Chance Alliance activists in support of a price gouging penalty on greedy oil corporations, which SB 842 would undermine if signed. Photo: Oil and Gas Action Network
Last Chance Alliance activists in support of a price gouging penalty on greedy oil corporations, which SB 842 would undermine if signed. Photo: Oil and Gas Action Network

On October 7, 2023, Governor Newsom vetoed SB 842.

SB 842 would have undermined the price gouging penalty passed at the beginning of 2023, which holds the oil industry accountable for excessively raising gasoline prices to pad their profits. In a last-minute deal reached just before the end of the legislative session, SB 842 was gutted, amended, and passed with no debate to weaken the price gouging law that thousands of Californians fought for. 

Oil companies are raking in outrageous profits by driving gas prices higher and higher at the expense of Californians. If SB 842 had passed, it would have prevented the California Energy Commission from stopping unnecessary refinery maintenance without consulting with industry stakeholders and the Department of Industrial Relations.