Gas prices are more than $1 per gallon higher than last year in South Carolina. | Sippakorn Yamkasikorn
Gas prices are more than $1 per gallon higher than last year in South Carolina. | Sippakorn Yamkasikorn
Aligning with the rest of the country, South Carolina gas prices are on the rise and according to AAA, the cost is a $1.07 increase from last year.
Currently, the average cost of gas in South Carolina is $3.09 per gallon, according to AAA. Nationally, the price of gas is the highest in seven years, at a cost of $3.32 per gallon at the pump.
According to Fox Business, Americans are paying about a dollar more per gallon at the pump compared to last year. Only eight states have an average price of less than $3.
“The nation’s gas prices were also pushed to their highest since 2014, all on OPEC’s decision not to raise production more than it already agreed to in July,” Gasbuddy Head of Petroleum Analysis Patrick De Haan told Fox Business.
De Haan also told Fox Business that oil prices are the highest they have been since 2014, as well, with West Texas intermediate crude oil costing $80 per barrel.
An editorial by the New York Post on Aug. 12 stated that President Joe Biden has created “roadblock after roadblock” in an effort to “decarbonize the U.S. economy.” The New York Post reported that National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that OPEC “must do more to support” the post-pandemic recovery.
He added that Biden has “made clear that he wants Americans to have access to affordable and reliable energy, including at the pump.”
The editorial then says that when Biden arrived in office he “killed the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have brought 830,000 barrels of Canadian oil a day down south.”
Recently Fox News reported that White House Chief of Staff Ronald Klain retweeted a post calling inflation a “high-class problem” and that it wouldn’t be an issue if the unemployment rate rate was at 10%. The tweet, by Harvard professor Jason Furman, added that if the unemployment rate was still at 10% it would be a “much worse problem.”
According to Fox News, Republican National Committee Rapid Response director Tommy Pigott blamed Biden.
“Struggling to pay for food, and housing because of rising prices is not a ‘high-class problem. Biden is making everyone worse off, but instead of stopping the damage, their strategy is to try to gaslight Americans,” Pigott tweeted.
Fox News reported that much of the increase in price was due to container ships being stuck at ports and trucks waiting to be unloaded of their goods. Biden recently announced a deal to help alleviate this at the Port of Los Angeles.
With the winter months ahead, inflation could lead to more economic hardships for Americans. Realpolitics.com reported on Oct. 5 that the prices of natural gas and propane have risen 89%.
CNBC reported on Oct. 13 that a September consumer price index report showed that the U.S. is seeing the largest increase in prices since January 1991 at 5.4% since last year. This was driven by rises in fuel, food and housing costs.
Since last year there have been major price increases, including gas at 42.1%, rental cars usage at 42.9%, used cars at 24.4%, hotel rates at 18%, televisions at 12.7%, furniture at 11.2%, grocery items at 10.5%, new cars at 8.2%, appliances at 7.1%, electricity at 5.2%, restaurants at 4.7% and rent at 2.9%.
The 5.4% year-over-year price increase is less than the 4.6% wage increase during this time.
“The rise in shelter costs will exacerbate the negative financial impact so many households are feeling from higher prices,” Bankrate Chief Financial Analyst Greg McBride told CNBC.
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