Gas Prices Are Finally Going Down
Some hope for fuel cost relief may finally be on the horizon, gas prices may finally see significant price drops.
This article is more than 2 years old
With global gas prices continuing to soar, President Biden took his frustration to social media with an uncomplicated note to fuel companies. “My message to the companies running gas stations and setting prices at the pump is simple,” the tweet said. “This is a time of war and global peril. Bring down the price you are charging at the pump to reflect the cost you’re paying for the product. And do it now.” Unfortunately, what was supposed to read as a strong call to action was not received well by his detractors, supporters, or the business sector.
Amazon boss, Jeff Bezos criticized the President’s call for oil executives to reduce gas prices with his own tweet which said, “Inflation is far too important a problem for the White House to keep making statements like this. It’s either straight ahead misdirection or a deep misunderstanding of basic market dynamics.” In response, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre noted that oil prices have dropped by about $15 over the past month. But prices at the pump have barely come down, The New York Post reports. That’s not basic market dynamics. It’s a market that is failing American consumers.
According to AAA, the average nationwide price of a gallon currently stands at $4.807. This is about 20 cents down from the high of $5.016 recorded on June 14. But it’s still up more than $1.67 from this time last year. Critics of the Biden administration have blamed the White House for high gas prices, accusing the executive of stifling production of oil and natural gas. The US Oil & Gas Association even mocked the tweet demanding the lowering of prices at the pump. The group even asked that the “intern” who posted the tweet registers for Economics 101 for the fall semester.
Meanwhile, the National Security Council’s John Kirby defended the Biden administration’s weekend tweet urging companies to lower their gas prices. “I think anybody that knows President Biden knows he’s plain-spoken and he tells exactly what he’s thinking in terms that everybody can understand,” Kirby said on Fox News Sunday. Speaking to Mike Emanuel in a far-ranging interview, Kirby also rejected the criticism from Jeff Bezos. “The American people are facing pain at the pump, clearly now, we are at $5 a gallon. The president is working hard across many fronts to try to bring that price down.”
Kirby also cited the President’s recent efforts at the G-7 summit and the release of oil from the nation’s strategic oil reserve, as a sign that gas prices will improve. “If everybody cooperates on this, we can bring the price down at least by about a dollar a gallon,” Kirby said. “So he’s working very, very hard to do this because he knows the impact that high gas prices have on the American household.” But Biden’s critics aren’t that optimistic. They’ve also maligned his green agenda and the administration’s push for people to buy pricy electric vehicles.
The President previously asked Congress to declare a 90-day gas tax holiday. And for every state to follow suit. But once again, his efforts to even temporarily lower gas prices received a lukewarm response from lawmakers, including Democrats.
