JILLIAN SYLVESTER

Republicans like congressman Jim Jordan and senator Chuck Grassely have made claims that President Biden is the reason for higher gas prices over the past year. Between June 2020 to June 2021, gas prices increased 86 cents, however the statement that President Biden is to blame is Fiction. 

If there is anything to blame for the rise in price, it’s the pandemic which caused the global production of oil, like many other products, to slow. When demand decreases, in this case due to a pandemic, the supply will decrease. As the pandemic has started to become less of a burden to our day to day lives, supply needs to catch up. This “catching up” is what is raising the gas prices.” As president, it is difficult to control or change oil prices. Oil prices are based on taxes, how much it costs to market and distribute, refining, and the cost of crude oil. 

In 2020, crude oil production fell 8 percent. Personally, I also am not a fan of the rise in gas prices. I drive a car that takes mid-grade gas and most weeks, 30 dollars only fills my tank half-way. However, I understand that the rise in gas prices is due to a recovering economy and not political policy. If we want to make it through this pandemic, we must recognize the effects recovering will have on our economy. Raising demand again will result in higher prices for a while, but we pay it in hopes that it will lower, maybe due to Biden’s policies, maybe not. As of right now, Biden’s plans for climate change solutions has not significantly affected the oil sector. 

Sources:

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/23/politics/joe-biden-gas-price-fact-check/index.html https://www.npr.org/2021/11/14/1055068583/gasoline-prices-gas-energy-inflation-biden