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DEAR EDITOR:
We all are feeling the pain of high gasoline prices, and there is lots of misinformation on why this is happening. While most of us support Ukraine's fight against the Russian invasion and hope more can be done to support Ukraine, many want to blame President Biden for the high gas prices that have come with this invasion. But the facts do not support blaming the president.
Gasoline prices rise and fall on the supply and demand from the public. When the demand goes up, price goes up, as shown by gas prices rising in the summer when people travel more. Demand for gasoline fell during the pandemic, with people not going to work or traveling. Now, as the pandemic hopefully winds down, we are getting a double whammy of rising demand and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. While the U.S. gets only about 3 percent of our total oil consumption from Russia, Europe relies on Russian oil more. With sanctions against that oil, the price of crude oil is rising around the world.
The U.S. imports about only 20 percent of our crude oil. We have been the world's largest producer of crude oil since 2012. Biden's administration has approved 34 percent more leases for drilling on federal land than the Trump administration did in its first year. Thousands of permits go unused, as oil and gas companies struggle with capacity issues and seem to prefer profits over investment in refineries that could increase oil production, thus lowering prices. The Biden administration released oil reserves and plans to do more.
Gasoline taxes also increase the cost of gas. The federal gas tax is 18.4 cents per gallon and has not risen since 1993. In Ohio, we pay 38.5 cents in gas tax, which was increased by 10.5 cents in 2019 by Gov. DeWine. Some want a gas tax holiday, but these taxes support our state and federal budgets. Do we want higher deficits?
President Biden said, "Russia's aggression is costing us all, and it's no time for profiteering and price gouging." As of Tuesday, oil prices have fallen about 8 percent. Hopefully, we will see this relief at the pumps.
For the future, we need to accelerate clean energy. This is the only way to improve our earth and reduce our dependence on global oil. We are seeing the effects of that dependence every time we fill our tanks.
CATHY PHIFER
Warren