Gov. Tate Reeves has been outspoken in the last few weeks that President Biden is at fault for the increase in average gas prices to $4.58 nationally as of Thursday morning and $4.18 in Mississippi.
Reeves blames Biden’s policies for reducing the flow of oil and gas by restricting where oil can be pumped as one reason for the gas prices.
“Gas prices have more than doubled since President Biden came into office,” Reeves said in a press conference Wednesday. “Nothing says that they are fundamentally out of touch with reality like making political decisions that constrain the supply of oil and gas. Further limiting supply is going to drive the price up even further. It is the reason, I have said repeatedly for two years, that the policies of this administration is the reason that levels (are at the highest) since the Carter administration.”
Gas prices:Jackson gasoline prices are at an all-time high. Here’s what some residents had to say.
In 1975, during President Gerald Ford’s administration, inflation spiked to nearly 12%. During the first year of President Jimmy Carter’s administration, it receded to 6% and then spiked again during the Iranian hostage crisis to almost 14%. The last time inflation was 8%, or higher, was in 1982 during President Ronald Reagan’s administration. One year later, still in Reagan’s presidency, inflation dropped to 4%
“You want to know why it costs 15 or 20% to buy bread or milk? It’s because it costs more to move products from one part of the country to the other,” Reeves said. “Inflation was at 8%, year over year in the most recent report. It was under 2% two years ago. So, flooding the marketplace with trillions of dollars by passing legislation that put trillions of dollars in the money supply, along with the policies associated with oil and gas policy and trying to make our nation become energy independent in 2019 to trying to completely do away with all drilling on federal land, on state land to make it harder and harder to get oil and gas out of the ground are just policies that are really hurting the pocketbook of Mississippians of all walks of life.”
More:Expect to pay more for vehicles. Here’s why
More:Rental housing prices in Jackson area are up but not as much as in other areas in the South
While the national record for gas prices has been broken, it has yet to beat the 2008 record when adjusted for inflation, which would be well over $5 today.
But gas prices are almost always connected with oil prices per barrel. On Jan. 17, the cost of a barrel of oil was $83.30. That was before Russia invaded Ukraine. By March 7, more than a month after the invasion, the cost of a barrel of oil was up to $119.40. On Thursday, the rate was down to $108.55.
But experts believe that the mark for gas prices could be surpassed, and the high cost at the pump will remain.
“We have to accept that the gas prices are probably going to be high for a long time,” Leo Waldenback, co-founder of the online driver’s education program Zutobi, told USA TODAY.
Another factor is the transition into the summer months when demand for gas due to traveling is heightened. AAA said on Monday the switch to the summer blend of gas is already underway, which typically adds 7 to 10 cents per gallon.
Even considering those factors, Reeves’ point has more to do with the Biden administration trying to keep the drilling for oil and mining for other energy sources off sensitive federal lands and waters. This week, it was announced the Biden administration will shut down three planned oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Cook Inlet, effectively halting the potential to sell drilling leases in coastal waters this year, several media outlets report.
“You know, it doesn’t really matter what your political views are when you are going and put gas in your tank so you can go back and forth to work and it cost twice as much or more,” Reeves said. “It’s a real challenge for Mississippians. It’s a real challenge for Americans and it is a direct result of bad public policy by the Biden administration.”
Ross Reily can be reached by email at rreily@gannett.com or at 601-573-2952. You can follow him on Twitter @GreenOkra1.