Prices at the pump hit another record high on Monday, the same day President Joe Biden spoke of the United States and the world’s “incredible transition” from fossil fuels.
The new national average is now just under $4.60 a gallon, the highest ever recorded by the American Automobile Association (AAA) gas price tracker.
The median gas price is over $4 in all 50 states. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said during an interview with a local Fox affiliate that it will likely stay there “throughout this year.”
As the White House grapples with rising costs, it is also preparing for turmoil in the cost of diesel fuel – which hit its own record high last week.
The government is considering an emergency declaration to release diesel from a rarely used stockpile to counter a major supply shortage and soaring prices, an administration official said.
Fuel costs had already risen as the economy recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, but shot up when Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year threw the global energy supply chain into chaos.
Much of the president’s strategy to combat the hike, which he calls “Putin’s price hike,” has been to emphasize the need for a faster transition to green energy.
“When it comes to gas prices, we’re going through an incredible transition that’s taking place that when it’s over, God willing, we’re going to be stronger and the world is going to be stronger and less dependent on fossil fuels,” Biden said, suggesting one possible shift in Russia’s status as one of the world’s dominant energy suppliers.
President Joe Biden said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced the world into an “incredible transition” away from fossil fuel dependency
Meanwhile, the average price of a gallon of gasoline nationwide in the US is 51 percent higher than at the same time last year
The new record high of nearly $4.60 a gallon beats the previous benchmark set on Sunday when gasoline prices were just above $4.59 a gallon
“What I could do to stop it getting worse – and it’s bad, the price of gas at the pump is affecting … a lot of families.”
After announcing a ban on all Russian energy imports, in late March Biden ordered the country’s strategic oil reserve to release a historic one million barrels a day for six months in a bid to stabilize prices.
He has also slammed US oil and gas companies for price-gouging and called for consequences for US energy producers sitting on unused well leases.
But those initiatives haven’t stopped prices at the pump from making a new high, surpassing a record of $4.59 a gallon set on Sunday.
That is around 51 percent more than at the same time last year.
Coastal states appear to be hit hardest — California hit a new statewide average of about $6 a gallon.
New York, Oregon, Washington and Alaska are also among the states that saw record-high gas prices on Monday.
Diesel fuel, an alternative to regular gasoline that offers more power and mileage per gallon, saw its national median price hit a new high last week, May 18.
Gas prices above $6.00 per gallon are displayed at a Chevron gas station on May 20, 2022 in San Rafael, California
Regular gas is $4.79 at the 7-Eleven along Rt. 61 in Pottsville, Pa. on Friday May 20th
The current average cost of diesel is $5.55. The record high on May 18 was just under $5.58.
Diesel is vital to the US economy, powering farms and the construction sector, as well as the trucks, trains, and boats that help move goods.
Rising diesel prices will help push up inflation, which has hit a 40-year high.
According to the Labor Department, fuel costs rose 43.6 percent in April from the same point last year.
This is likely one of the reasons the White House is considering tapping into the Northeast Home reserve of heating oil, which was created in 2000 to help with supply problems and was only used once in 2012 after Hurricane Sandy.
The impact of such a release would be limited by the relatively small size of the reserve, which contains only 1 million barrels of diesel.
Inflation hit a four-decade high in March and fell slightly in April to a still-massive high of 8.3 percent
“We have used this reserve option to stay ahead of the problem and will not hesitate to use other levers at our disposal to support families and recovery,” a White House official said.
But for weeks Republicans have been calling on Biden to instead increase the volume of domestic power generation to solve the gas price crisis.
GOP Sen. John Barrasso, the senior member of the Senate Energy Committee, pointed out Monday that Democrats had criticized Trump for “high gas prices” in 2018.
He dug up an old tweet by Senate Democratic Chairman Chuck Schumer attacking Donald Trump over gas pump prices on May 23, 2018.
‘In 2018, [Schumer] criticized the President for inaction on high gas prices. The national average was $2.87/gallon. Today it’s $4.59. [Retweet] if you support America’s energy expansion to bring pump prices back under control,” Barrasso wrote on the platform.
“Four years later, urging @POTUS to fight for lower gas prices is even more important. It’s time for more American energy.”
His colleague on the House Energy and Trade Committee, Senior Member of Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, wrote on the website: “Americans are paying the price for President Biden’s war on American energy.”
“It’s time to #FlipTheSwitch on American power generation,” she said.