The Trump Administration Is Adding to the Pain at the Pump
When U.S. families fuel up for the first road trips of the summer this Memorial Day weekend, they will be paying close to $3 per gallon across much of the country—a 50 cent per gallon jump from just a year ago.
These recent increases in U.S. gasoline prices are primarily the result of changes in the global oil market. Since January 2017, oil prices have surged from $52 per barrel to more than $71 per barrel. The International Energy Agency attributes these price increases to rising demand for oil, production declines in Venezuela, and uncertainty about how renewed U.S. sanctions will affect Iranian oil exports, among other factors.
Although the power of any U.S. president to control domestic gasoline prices is limited, the Trump administration shares considerable responsibility for worsening the pain at the pump that U.S. consumers are currently experiencing, as well as for increasing the likelihood that families in America will be paying more for fuel for years to come. The Trump administration’s foreign policy decisions have not only contributed to recent spikes in global oil prices, but its so-called energy dominance agenda is increasing fuel costs for drivers, giving oil companies too much power over taxpayer-owned energy reserves, and making the U.S. economy more vulnerable to oil price volatility.
Here are five things to know about how and why the Trump administration’s energy policies are contributing to higher gasoline bills for U.S. families.
1. President Donald Trump’s announcement that the United States is withdrawing from the Iranian nuclear agreement drove up global oil prices, contributing to an immediate jump in U.S. gas prices. On May 8, President Trump formally announced that he will reimpose economic sanctions on Iran, which will restrict Iran’s ability to sell its oil on the world market and reduce available global oil supplies. Global oil prices rose approximately $7 per barrel and U.S. gas prices climbed 15 cents per gallon in the five weeks leading up to the announcement as traders saw Trump intensify his criticism of the Iran agreement on Twitter and appointed John Bolton, a vocal critic of the Iran agreement, as his national security adviser. “Withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal will support higher oil prices,” one oil industry CEO told CNN after Trump’s announcement.
Much more: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2018/05/23/451163/trump-administration-adding-pain-pump/
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