Governor Newsom takes action to help lower prices amid Trump’s nationwide gas and diesel price spike
Action allows winter-blend gasoline to enter the California market a few weeks early as Trump’s war in Iran continues driving fuel costs higher nationwide
What you need to know: Trump’s Iran war is driving up gas and diesel prices, forcing working families to pay more at the pump, truckers to pay more to move essential goods, and farmers to pay more to grow our food. While the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress have left Americans behind, Governor Newsom is taking action to deliver relief to drivers, businesses, and communities across California.
SACRAMENTO – As President Trump’s war in Iran continues to drive up fuel costs for families, farmers, and small businesses across the country, Governor Gavin Newsom today suspended California’s seasonal summer-blend gasoline requirement for the remainder of the season and directed state agencies to take steps to allow winter-blend gasoline to be manufactured, imported, distributed, and sold in California immediately. In just seven months, Trump’s Iran war has cost Americans more than $120 billion in extra fuel costs, $428 per California household — weakening the United States’ economic and energy security.
Trump’s war in Iran has driven up the price of oil around the world, and Californians have been paying the price every time they fill up. For over seven months, the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress have failed to protect working families from their nationwide gas and diesel price crisis – and there is still no end in sight to the war. California will keep doing what we can to bring costs down and protect consumers – but states cannot indefinitely insulate families from a global oil shock. Trump must end his war.
The choice could not be clearer: Donald Trump is doubling down on the volatile, expensive fossil fuels that leave Americans exposed to wars, price spikes, and Big Oil’s greed. California will keep building a future where California families are no longer at the mercy of global oil markets.
Governor Gavin Newsom
California is taking immediate new action to turn that commitment into relief at the pump. Governor Newsom today sent a letter suspending the state’s seasonal summer-gasoline requirement and directing the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and California Department of Food and Agriculture to enable winter-blend gasoline to be manufactured, imported, distributed, and sold in California immediately, as provided for by the Legislature in Senate Bill 237 (Grayson, 2025). In response to Trump’s price spikes, other states have also made temporary adjustments to seasonal fuel blend requirements.
The Governor also directed the California Energy Commission (CEC), in consultation with CARB and the Division of Petroleum Market Oversight (DPMO), to publish a regular public spot-market report for gasoline and diesel. Because a small number of spot-market trades can influence the price of far more gasoline and diesel sold across the state, a public spot market report would bring additional transparency into whether quoted prices reflect broad trading activity or only a handful of transactions. The letter also directs CEC to collect information on renewable diesel and consider reporting renewable diesel prices separately from petroleum diesel prices, to ensure that California consumers see the benefit of renewable diesel — which does not come from expensive crude oil — now making up such a large share of California’s diesel market. This action builds on the Newsom administration’s nation-leading work to bring transparency and accountability to the transportation fuel markets.
Read the Governor’s letter here.
Lowering costs today, building a more secure future
Today’s action builds on the Governor and Legislature’s work to help Californians save at the pump, including expanding affordable fuel options and reducing California’s exposure to volatile global oil markets.
Earlier this month, Governor Newsom signed legislation to further accelerate the sale of E15 gasoline in California and help give drivers access to another lower-cost fuel option as Donald Trump’s Iran war drives up prices at the pump nationwide and across the U.S. economy. Last week, CARB also adopted amendments to support the availability and use of E15 fuel in California, providing further certainty to fuel producers and providers interested in selling E15 in the state.
The Newsom administration continues to make investments that help Californians move beyond costly fossil fuels. Since Governor Newsom took office, California has committed approximately $6.6 billion to clean cars, trucks, and charging infrastructure. And when the Trump administration took money away from Americans by canceling electric vehicle incentives that made clean cars even more affordable for California families, the Golden State stepped up with instant MyFirstEV rebates and provided additional support to fund clean trucks and buses to reduce diesel dependence.
California will keep doing what Washington won’t: protect Californians at the pump today and give them a way out of this cycle of fossil fuel price spikes.