Written by Sasha Reva
California gas prices are the highest prices among all states. Some places have reached $6 per gallon. All drivers are hoping to see a drop in fuel costs because the high prices have put lots of pressure on people’s pockets.
According to AAA, it might take many months for the prices to go back to $5 again. President Joe Biden is trying to prevent the rising fuel costs by releasing 180 million barrels of oil from the reserve in the next six months. This idea might bring some short-term relief to drivers.
Unfortunately, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy said “I don’t really see the next time California or the Bay Area’s going get under that $5 mark – maybe later this year.”
Los Angeles gas stations are skyrocketing, their prices are $6 and even higher at some of the locations. The Bay Area is just as bad. James Sweeney, a professor of management science and engineering at Stanford, estimated an 11 cent to 16 cent drop in gas prices, which means that it will be still over $5 prices.
President Biden and his colleagues blame Russia for the rise in gas prices, however, even before the Russia-Ukraine invasion, California’s gas prices were already $4.60 a gallon.
Because California has higher taxes than everyone else, because of the “special” environmental regulation usually gas prices are $1.20 higher than the national average.
The effect of the Russia-Ukraine conflict will still be felt for years because we are all depending on Russia for their fuel, while we can start working on our own production. But our government worries too much about the environment and slowly kills a weak population who cannot survive inflation.
“There’s going to be some scars,” said De Haan. “Nobody is going to go back to business as normal.”
Photo Cred: Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
