Jesse Watters has a warning about America's gas prices under Democrats

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Jesse Watters: The Democrats' war on energy

'Jesse Watters Primetime' host reacts to the Democrats' 'green dream' and gas prices in California versus the rest of the country.

Fox News host Jesse Watters pieced together Democratic policies that led to California's high gas prices on Friday's "Jesse Watters Primetime," pointing to extra taxes and regulations as a leading cause.

JESSE WATTERS: Let's talk about why prices are so high [in California]. It's because of progressive policies. The state of California has high energy taxes already, but on top of that, it requires this specialized gas blend meant to lower emissions, and it's very expensive. In 2012, the price of gas in California really wasn't that much different than other parts of the United States — about 30 cents more. Nothing really to worry about. But a year later, costs surged. In 2013, Democrats decided to put in place a cap-and-trade program for refineries. And since the refiners were paying more because of cap-and-trade, they just passed the cost to consumers. That cost was an extra 25 cents a gallon. But that was just the start. In 2015, the state added more regulations, making refiners use more biofuels, which added another 22 cents a gallon. And then in 2017, California said, "We're not done yet." They added a 12-cents-a-gallon excise tax. It all makes sense now, doesn't it? Democrats want high gas prices. 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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Democrats in California created higher gas prices with extra taxes and regulations. Now are car and truck emissions going down in California? No, they're going up. So high gas prices and cleaner fuel isn't saving the world like liberals promised. California drivers are paying over 70 cents in taxes per gallon on top of the other fees and getting nothing back for it, except traffic. Plus, California's green dream is completely crushing the oil and gas industry and its own citizens. It's forcing refineries to either shut down or just relocate out of state. The state's losing the ability to refine oil into gasoline, and that pushes prices even higher. Even if the cost of oil comes down nationwide, this is a California problem. So as long as these policies stay in place, nothing's going to change. 

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Now, those of you watching at home might be asking, "Why would I care about what's happening in California?" Well, I'll tell you why. If Democrats get their way, all of America will soon look exactly like liberal California.