Cars. It is every teenager’s dream to get a license and plunder the world. But what a lot do not realize is the cost of owning a car. Unless your parents are paying for every vehicle-related expense you have, you must have a job to maintain a car. It needs stuff like oil changes, tire changes, brakes that need work, etc. Arguably the biggest cost of owning a vehicle is gas. 

Most vehicles today run on gasoline or diesel. The price of gas has been insane over the past few months. According to AAA, just a year ago, gas was only priced at 2.98 per gallon in Indiana. Now the price for a gallon of gas in May of 2022 is 4.22 in Indiana. It is even worse for vehicles that run on diesel. A year ago diesel prices were 3.27 a gallon, while this month it is 5.36 a gallon! To put this in perspective, if your vehicle gets 20 miles to the gallon, it costs 4.22 to drive only 20 miles. For people that live in Logansport but go to Lewis Cass, like myself, It costs 4.22 every round trip from home to school. 

Now why have gas prices increased so much since last year? The reason could be trickier than expected. There are a multitude of different reasons that may have caused this surge in gas prices to happen. One reason could be Covid. Gas prices dropped in the surge of the pandemic because people were traveling less, so oil tycoons produced less of it. Though with Covid slowly going away, they now need to ramp up production again. 

Another reason could be the ongoing Russia-Ukraine Conflict. Russia produces a lot of oil. When the conflict happened we stopped importing oil from Russia as a political statement. Over 30 countries have joined the US when it comes to the banning of Russian oil. 

Another issue that might have caused this is the Keystone Pipeline extension cancellation. The extension was canceled when President Biden revoked their permit to build the pipeline. This pipeline would have allowed us to import more Canadian oil.  Though this might not have contributed much because the pipeline was not planned to be finished until 2023 anyway. 

What can we do to stop the increase in gas prices and make them go back down? Politicians are looking at different ways to combat the problem. One suggested temporary solution is to get rid of the gas tax for a period of time. Another potential solution would be to ban the export of oil. Though banning exports would raise other issues. It would increase the reliance on Russian oil, which would have the opposite effect that we want. Another solution is the simplest, just make more domestic oil! Exxon plans to increase oil production by 100,000 barrels a day, while Chevron plans to increase it by 60,000 barrels a day. The US is also looking at importing oil made from Iran or Venezuela to help alleviate the problem. Overall, I hope the prices quit rising because I am on a shoestring budget. 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/03/08/fact-sheet-united-states-bans-imports-of-russian-oil-liquefied-natural-gas-and-coal/

https://www.foxla.com/news/fact-check-why-gas-prices-are-so-high