Jakob Thorington
Arizona Capitol Times
Republican lawmakers are blaming Gov. Katie Hobbs for high gasoline prices consumers have paid this year and not taking urgent action to try to reduce costs.
But Hobbs’ office acted no differently than previous governors have in the last two decades, according to Arizona Department of Weights and Measures Regulatory Compliance Administrator Michelle Wilson.
During a Joint Legislative Ad Hoc Study Committee on Air Quality and Energy hearing on Oct. 16, Wilson told the committee that Hobbs’ office didn’t request a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency after receiving a letter in March from petroleum refiner HF Sinclair warning of a fuel supply shortage in Arizona.
Wilson said Weights and Measures and the Governor’s Office presented all the information they had about the upcoming fuel shortage to the EPA, but the EPA informed Hobbs that the emergency wasn’t critical enough for a waiver to be granted.
“During the meetings, EPA continued to state that it did not meet the requirements of the Clean Air Act,” Wilson said.
Republicans criticized Hobbs for acting passively because HF Sinclair itself asked the Governor’s Office to seek a waiver in an attempt to allow an alternative fuel type to be brought into the state and avoid price hikes. They also noted this was the first time in five years an energy producer advised the state to request a waiver.
