Gasoline prices are considerably higher than they were in November, with the possibility of reaching $3 per gallon by summer. It sparked controversy over whether President Joe Biden, who has been president for fewer than two months, is to blame.
Biden likely to push gasoline price even higher
SAN ANSELMO, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 03: A customer pumps gas into his vehicle at a 76 gas station on March 03, 2021 in San Anselmo, California. Gas prices have increased across the United States to a national average of $2.72 per gallon, an increase of 30 cents from one month ago. Gas in California has an average price of $3.68 per gallon, the highest in the nation.
Since the inauguration, Republicans and right-wing analysts have taken every chance to link the price increases to Biden's policies and warn that the worst is yet to come. "Average gasoline prices have jumped more than 50 cents per gallon since President Biden took office," Florida Senator Rick Scott said in a written statement this week, opposing the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill enacted by Democrats in Congress.
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"Gas prices have gone up since President Biden took office," Scott's press secretary, McKinley Lewis, replied via email when asked if Gov. Scott would clarify how Biden triggered the increase in gasoline prices. However, organizations such as the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which publishes weekly gas price forecasts and analysis, claim that price increases are due to increasing demand and stagnant supply.
Unleaded daily prices in the United States increased at $2.94 in June 2018, $2.88 in October 2018, and $2.89 in April 2019 under President Donald Trump. Most drivers recall the summer of 2008, when gas prices reached $4 per gallon, shortly before the Wall Street meltdown ushered in the Great Recession, SunSentinel via Yahoo reported.
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Expert says Biden wants gasoline price even higher
According to AAA, the average price of a gallon of gasoline has risen 30 percent nationwide since November, from $2.20 to $2.85, and shows no signs of slowing down, as per an analyst. The Washington Times reported that petrol rates topped $3 in nine states over the weekend, and some experts say $4-per-gallon gas is on the way.
The biggest factor pushing up prices is supply and demand. The Association of Petroleum Exporting Countries announced it would prolong its oil production cuts for another month amid growing demand for gasoline as the global coronavirus pandemic eases. Though high gas prices are nothing new, there is fear that they could surge if President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress implement policies that restrict the use of nonrenewable energy sources.
According to Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute's Center for Energy and Environment, liberal proposals to combat climate change will be a losing problem politically. Still, Democrats might be able to take the risk. The decision by OPEC to maintain the same amount of supply cuts, along with Biden's willingness for the U.S. to move to renewable oil, is a nightmare for American consumers, as per The Western Journal.
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