(Headline USA) Just as Americans gear up for summer road trips, the price of oil remains stubbornly high, pushing prices at the gas pump to painful heights, largely the result of President Joe Biden’s failed domestic agenda.
Drivers were paying $4.37 for a gallon of regular Tuesday, on average, according to AAA. That’s 25 cents higher than a month ago, and $1.40 more than a year ago.
“The price of gas is ridiculous,” said Joel Baxter, a nurse, who was filling up his car at a BP station in Brooklyn, New York, so that he could commute 26 miles to work.
“The money, your salary, is practically the same, and everything is going up, so they should do something about it.”
That sentiment is in line with a majority of the public, despite cheerleading from a leftist media trying to convince people that Biden’s economy is thriving.
A barrel of U.S. benchmark crude was selling for around $100 a barrel Tuesday, a price tag that has been climbing throughout the year.
The high price of oil is largely because of the Biden administration’s early decision to pull back the Trump-era policies that had led to US oil independence, including the closure of the Keystone XL pipeline on Biden’s first day in office.
Moreover, while courting rogue terrorist nations like Iran and Yemen, Biden has alienated traditional US allies and trade partners such as oil-rich Saudi Arabia, leaving America beholden to its enemies to supply its energy needs.
Following a raft of Biden sanctions, many buyers are also refusing to purchase Russian oil because of its invasion of Ukraine.
The European Union also is considering an embargo on oil from Russia, which is a major supplier. Those pressures leave less oil to go around.
Still, Biden supporters have routinely deflected from his responsibility, claiming the situation is out of his control.
“There are very few things that a president can do to help lower the cost of oil, and this administration tried to do pretty much everything that it can,” claimed Andrew Gross, spokesman for AAA.
In November and March, Biden released oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve—the country’s emergency ration, which former President Donald Trump had replenished during the prior administration. Nonetheless, prices shot back up and stayed stubbornly high.
Experts are not expecting relief at the pump any time soon.
“We will see this trend continue probably throughout summer, mainly because of demand,” Gross said. “The weather’s getting warmer. The days are getting nicer. People are hitting the road.”
That’s particularly hard on people who drive for a living, or those who must drive to get to work.
“It’s expensive,” said Peter Lector, 28, who spent $60 Tuesday to fill up his tank in Brooklyn. “I’m doing Uber, so it’s costing me a lot of money every morning.”
If the price of gasoline keeps going up, he feels like he might have to find another job, he said.
Still others have accepted that high gasoline prices may be here to stay.
“It is what it is,” said David Stephen, who was also buying gasoline in Brooklyn. “Everything goes up, never comes down …. You can’t do anything about it.”
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
