The average electric vehicle still costs $10,000 more than your average car, and the high cost of the electricity needed to charge such a vehicle rival even the high cost of gas in California. Q: How do you strike a balance between reducing the state’s dependency on fossil fuels and addressing energy affordability issues, including the high cost of gasoline?Ī: While it’s unlikely that we will be able to move commuting, middle-class Californians out of their gas-powered cars by 2035, we must have goals and work towards them. I support a gas tax holiday through the duration of this crisis to provide relief to Californians, and I also support long-term reductions to the gas tax to ensure the state is not collecting more than it needs to complete necessary road repairs and expansions. Not only do we add a 51-cents-per-gallon state tax, but the state also tacks on additional fees that brings up the total tax burden on a gallon of gas in California to $1.18. Q: What would you do to address the surging gas prices in California?Ī: California has had the highest gas prices in the nation long before this recent spike. The Legislature should move immediately to do more to prevent wildfires, protect our beaches and waterways from exposure to oil or other toxic substances, stabilize the bluffs along the coast, and make sure disadvantaged communities get the same level of environmental protection our wealthy communities have. California is already the most environmentally friendly state in the nation, but we can still do more to protect and improve what we have. What immediate steps should California lawmakers be taking to address it?Ī: All Californians want clean air and clean water and to protect the natural wonders that make our state so beautiful. Q: From wildfires to sea level rise, the climate emergency is increasingly affecting California.
Hall at are Matt Gunderson’s responses and a link to other responses. If you have comments or questions about the election or any of the candidates after reading this interview, please email Editorial and Opinion Director Matthew T. The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board sent them a 13-question survey, and is publishing their responses here. The top two vote-getters will advance to a Nov. They are Encinitas Mayor Catherine Blakespear and retired fire captain Joe Kerr, both Democrats, and small business owner Matt Gunderson, a Republican. There are three candidates on the June 7 ballot in the campaign for state Senate District 38, which runs from southern Orange County through Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas and Vista south to Carmel Valley, La Jolla, Pacific Beach and Mission Beach.