Some popular Facebook posts accuse President Joe Biden of increasing gas prices in the country, linking it to the decision to lift the Keystone XL pipeline and the oil and gas rental moratorium at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska cancel. But energy experts believe that the rise in gas prices is mainly due to supply and demand, and this is a sign that the economy is slowly recovering.
Chris Nichols, reporter for CapRadio’s PolitiFact in California, spoke with anchor Mike Hagerty about these allegations in this week’s Can You Handle The Truth. segment.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Maintenance points
About how many gas prices have risen since Biden’s inauguration
They went up quite a bit. Nationwide, average retail price hit $ 2.95 per liter this week. That’s nearly 50 cents higher since Biden took office in January. according to federal data.
In California this week the price of gas is much higher $ 3.88 per liter. You will remember that one year ago, when the pandemic shut down a large part of the economy, gas prices dropped to below $ 2 per liter.
But since then, they have gone up again, and some of the rise has taken place under former President Donald Trump. This is continuing under Biden, although prices are now rising faster.
On Facebook, Biden blames the rise in prices
According to energy experts, the increase is largely due to supply and demand, rather than any presidential policy. People drive more, there are also more air travel as the economy slowly bounces back.
Experts believe the recent production cuts by the OPEC oil cartel and Russia have contributed to the price increase.
About Biden’s decision to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline and the moratorium on oil and gas leasing in Alaska
PolitiFact asked energy experts about it and found that the decision does not change today’s offer – the pipeline is not working yet. They also said that any impact will occur until the future.
For similar reasons, the decision to lease gas and oil did not affect prices. This is because the current oil supply is not affected. Experts said it was possible that Biden’s policies could ultimately affect costs. But again, Americans will probably only see the impact in a few years.
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