Gas prices in the United States have risen year-over-year by roughly $1.25 per gallon.
According to AAA’s National Average Gas Prices tracker, the cost for a tank of regular gas was $3.40 as of October 29. One month ago, the average was $3.19; one year ago, the average was $2.14. The price of diesel fuel has also risen significantly — from $2.37 last year to $3.63 today.
California, which will effectively ban the sale of certain new gas-powered lawn equipment as soon as 2024, is facing a price of $4.59 per gallon — up from $3.18 one year ago. The Daily Wire reported that gas prices in one California town have reached $7.59 per gallon.
During a recent town hall on CNN, President Biden said that his administration does not have a “near-term answer” for reducing fuel costs.
“My guess is you’ll start to see gas prices come down as we get by — going into the winter — I mean, excuse me, into next year, in 2022,” Biden said. “I don’t see anything that’s going to happen in the meantime that’s going to significantly reduce gas prices.”
Earlier in October, however, the United States Energy Information Administration’s winter outlook predicted the largest winter heating price increase in thirteen years. Nearly half of American households that warm their homes with natural gas can expect 30% higher heating expenditures than last year’s season.
“We are very concerned about the affordability of heat this winter for all customers, but in particular those who struggle every day to afford their utility services,” National Consumer Law Center staff attorney Karen Lusson commented to The Wall Street Journal.
Meanwhile, Biden — who campaigned on the promise of making America “the world’s clean energy superpower” — recently argued that the $1.75 trillion version of his social welfare bill would “set the United States on course to meet its climate goals.”
“The framework will cut greenhouse gas pollution by well over one gigaton in 2030, reduce consumer energy costs, give our kids cleaner air and water, create hundreds of thousands of high-quality jobs, and advance environmental justice by investing in a 21st-century clean energy economy — from buildings, transportation, industry, electricity, and agriculture to climate-smart practices across our lands and waters,” said the Biden administration.