strange as it might seem, it does. for a few reasons:
1 - if gas is more expensive, people do start being more frugal. what's more, as prices go up, so do hybrid car sales. that's def a good thing, albeit a draconian way of achieving
2 - people are really overblowing the fact that suddenly all oil producers will leave california. if they're idiots, they will. otherwise the won't. what's more, in the long run, if they leave than that just means they'll come back here when it gets relatively cheap again, and we can fleece them at that point if we choose to lol. but honestly, no one is going anywhere. the income tax hasn't exactly lead to people quitting work. and all other oil-producing states charge taxes as well – hell, alaska wouldn't exist if it weren't for those taxes.
 

I suppose 1) would make more sense if there wasn't a specific provision that the price increases wouldn't be passed on to the customers. Of course, everyone knows that's bullshit, but it takes a special kind of cognitive disonance to even put something like that in.

If nobody's going anywhere, what's going to change?