Gas stations statewide are reprogramming pumps for double-digit prices.
QUICK FACTS:
- Gas stations throughout the state of Washington are bracing for $10-per-gallon gas, reprograming pumps, and, in some cases, even running out of gas.
- The Post Millennial reported that stations are starting to “make room” for the skyrocketing prices as record highs are being set across the nation.
- As of Thursday, the national gas price hit a record high for the tenth day in a row at $4.58 per gallon, according to AAA.
OFFICIALS’ RESPONSE TO THE GAS PRICE CRISIS:
- White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed the rising prices, telling reporters Wednesday that President Joe Biden “understands what the American people is going through.”
- American Petroleum Institute senior vice president Frank Macchiarola weighed in, saying that the rising prices are due to the current administration’s lack of response to supply issues:
“Unfortunately, this is becoming a pattern — the administration talks about the need for more supply and acts to restrict it. As geopolitical volatility and global energy prices continue to rise, we again urge the administration to end the uncertainty and immediately act on a new five-year program for federal offshore leasing,” said Macchiarola.
BACKGROUND:
- The price of gas has risen steadily since Biden took office in January of 2021, when he enacted what some call his “war on oil,” including the revocation of permits for the Keystone XL pipeline and Enbridge Line 5 pipelines.
- In a more recent irritation of the issue, Biden also canceled three oil and gas lease sales near Alaska’s coast and in the Gulf of Mexico, prompting Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) to comment, “It’s like they’re intentionally trying to have high gas prices.”
- Biden has, himself, placed the blame on the end of oil imports from Ukraine which began about two months ago.
