North Carolinians continue to face misery at the pumps. | Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels
North Carolinians continue to face misery at the pumps. | Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels
Gas prices across the country have continued to decline slightly in the last week, but Americans are still facing misery at the pump.
The Gasoline Misery Index on gasmiseryindex.com tracks how much more (or less) the average American consumer will have to spend on gasoline on an annualized basis. As North Carolina's gas average is reportedly $4.36 a gallon, Friday's index for the state currently sits at $907.
As demand for crude oil continues to drop, gas prices in the United States decreased slightly over the past week. North Carolina's average price per gallon has been reported at $4.36, which is $1.45 higher per gallon than a year ago. The latest Gasoline Misery Index shows that on average, North Carolinians will spend $907 more annually on gasoline now than they did at this time last year.
Since February, President Joe Biden has consistently blamed Russia's Vladimir Putin for America's high gas prices. However, in a recent press conference video, Biden can be heard acknowledging high gas prices are a result of his administration's transition away from fossil fuels: "When it comes to the gas prices, we're going through an incredible transition that is taking place that God-willing, when it's over, we'll be stronger and the world will be stronger and less reliant on fossil fuels when this is over," the president said.
"Here's Biden admitting that gas prices have nothing to do with [Russian leader Vladmir] Putin and everything to do with his plan to get rid of fossil fuels," author and comedian Tim Young said on Twitter.
On Thursday, AAA reported that according to the latest data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), total domestic gas stocks decreased by 2.5 million bbl, while gas demand increased from 8.92 million b/d to 9.41 million b/d ahead of the Fourth of July holiday. AAA said that although these supply/demand trends would typically put upward pressure on pump prices, falling oil prices have contributed to lower pump prices.
The Gasoline Misery Index tracks how much more (or less) the average American consumer is paying for gasoline on an annualized basis. Compiled using gas price data from AAA, average fuel efficiency (mpg) data from the U.S. Department of Energy and average miles driven from MetroMile.com, the index tracks the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline and adjusts using the average miles traveled by the average miles per gallon of American cars.
According to the EIA, in January 2021 the national average price per gallon of gasoline was $2.33. When compared to Friday's national average price of $4.72, gas prices have more than doubled. A number that gasolinemiseryindex.com calls the Biden Misery Index, Americans are spending an average of $1,255. In June, Biden called on Congress to suspend the federal gas tax nationally for three months. This would amount to an 18 cent per gallon savings.
Biden's proposal for a gas tax suspension does not appear to have much Congressional support. In fact, it's looking like Biden will have to convince important members of his own party to vote for the suspension. According to CNN, key Democrat senators consider the proposal "shortsighted," "inefficient" and not guaranteed to work.
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