California’s Energy Policies Are Making Gas Travel Thousands of Miles Before Reaching the Pump
California drivers are paying the highest gas prices in the nation. Thanks to years of extreme energy policies and regulatory failures, the Golden State is increasingly importing gasoline through the Bahamas. This costly, convoluted detour adds thousands of unnecessary miles before the fuel reaches the pump.
The New York Post reports,
“California is increasingly importing gasoline through the Bahamas — a workaround to a 106-year-old US shipping law that forces domestic fuel shipments onto costly American vessels. More than 40% of the gasoline California imported in November was routed through the Caribbean hub, a record high which comes as drivers in the state are paying an average of $4.58 per gallon, the most in the country, according to Bloomberg News. Gasoline refined along the US Gulf Coast — primarily in Texas and Louisiana — is first shipped roughly 1,100 to 1,300 nautical miles to Freeport in the Bahamas, where it is stored at large transshipment hubs before being re-exported.”
Why the detour? To avoid the Jones Act, a 1920 shipping law that requires fuel transported between U.S. ports to be carried on U.S.-built and U.S.-crewed vessels. This problem has been exacerbated by California’s own policies. The closure of the Phillips 66 refinery in Los Angeles last October has forced the state to rely even more heavily on imported fuel. Gasoline imports are now at their highest level since 2016.
As Daniel Turner, Founder and Executive Director of Power The Future, put it,
“Gavin Newsom’s green crusade now requires shell games with oil tankers in the Bahamas because his mandates gutted in-state refining,” said Daniel Turner, Founder and Executive Director of Power The Future. “Just days ago, Newsom was in Munich attacking President Trump and lecturing about leadership, while back home, working families are paying more at the pump because of his failed policies. Sure, Newsom’s energy agenda is responsible for the highest gas prices in the nation, but that’s a price he is willing to make families pay.”
Governor Newsom can posture on the world stage all he wants, but back home, his energy agenda is forcing families to pay the price. Higher costs, longer supply chains, and record gas prices aren’t accidents. They’re the predictable result of policies that punish American energy and ignore economic reality.
February 17, 2026