California Gas Prices Keep Climbing, and Experts Say the War May Decide What Comes Next

California drivers are watching the price of gas creep higher and higher, and for many, patience is wearing thin.

As of Tuesday, the average price of gas in the Bay Area topped $6 a gallon, about $1.80 more than the national average. In some spots, prices are approaching $8. UC Berkeley energy economist Severin Borenstein says the biggest reason for that gap is what Californians pay in taxes and environmental fees. "About $1.08 of that right now is due to higher taxes, higher environmental fees, and particularly our cap and trade program and our low carbon fuel standard," he said. California's total sales tax on gas sits at 70 cents per gallon, the highest in the country, with Illinois coming in second at 66 cents.

Borenstein has floated a different approach: tying the tax to the price of oil, lowering it when crude prices rise and raising it when they fall. "We wouldn't get as big fluctuations as we get right now in gas prices when the price of crude oil goes up and down," he said.

The state adjusts its gas tax for inflation every July, though Borenstein says that may not be the next moment drivers feel a pinch at the pump. When asked what will most shape prices going forward, his answer was straightforward: "By far the biggest factor in predicting future gas prices is what's going to happen in the war."