Oil and gas companies in the U.S. are taking advantage of the tense energy situation for higher profits.
By Sophie Carter
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, photos of gas station billboards advertising prices up to $5.57 per gallon in California have shocked and stressed consumers. These record-setting prices, averaging $4.24 per gallon, are estimated to add $2,000 more in gasoline costs to the typical household budget this year. For everyday people who need to fill up to get to work, get their kids to school, or go to the doctor, these prices are a blow to carefully planned budgets, and disproportionately disrupt the lives of the more than 64 percent of Americans who live paycheck to paycheck. In a country that lacks a robust and efficient system of public transportation, these painful gas prices constitute a major crisis.
The prevailing narrative surrounding the cause of these skyrocketing prices is the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the United States’ subsequent response. Earlier this month, President Joe Biden instituted a ban on Russian oil and gas imports as a response to Russia’s aggression in Eastern Europe, sparking a 20 percent spike in oil prices. Against the existing backdrop of economic trouble caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation, it is easy for regular consumers to feel like these prices are just a natural result of the current state of affairs.
The spike in oil and gas prices is being sold to Americans as a necessary sacrifice in the attempts by the U.S. to punish Russia, and this story is working. In a recent poll by Quinnipiac University, a vast majority of Americans from both parties support banning imports of Russian oil and gas, no matter what the price consequences may be at the pump. This patriotic attitude toward accepting sky-high prices in exchange for “defeating Putin” is misguided.