With about 66 percent of UH students commuting to campus everyday, the rising gas prices have become a huge issue. This is not only an issue in Texas — we have decently average gas prices compared to other states.
The price of gas in Texas on Tuesday was $3.72, yet the increase in price seems never-ending. According to the CPI, we have seen a 19.2 percent rate of inflation over the last 12 months, with the price increasing another whopping 6.8 percent in the last month, according to an article published in The Washington Times by James Robbins.
So what is the president doing? Nothing. When President Barack Obama took office, the average price per gallon of gas was about $1.79.Today the national average is around $3.78. Oil is being traded at approximately $110 a barrel and prices have been increasing steadily thanks to the instability in the Middle East.
We have plenty of oil in the US. According to geologists, the Anwar oil field in Alaska has over 10.4 billion barrels of crude. When gas prices were rising under President George W. Bush, he ordered oil companies to tap our domestic oil — and gas prices dropped dramatically.
This is the exact opposite of Obama’s plan. After the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a moratorium was issued and prevented any companies from drilling in the Gulf. This halted nearly all domestic oil production and gas prices rose even further.
Obama claims that there is nothing he can do to alleviate consumer strain at the pump in the short term.
“Gas prices are going to still fluctuate until we can start making these broader changes,” Obama said. “And that’s going to take a couple of years to have serious effect.”
Middle-class America is already tightening its collective belt amidst lay-offs and pay cuts to stay afloat in this economy. When they are forced to pay nearly $50 per vehicle on average to fill up every week, the strain gets closer to the breaking point.
Students are feeling the pressure as well. Able Salazar, a biology sophomore, said, “My budget for expenses practically revolves around me being able to fill my tank at the end of the week.”
“I’m most likely going to start taking the Metro to and from school again in the fall,” Marvin Cabrera, an engineering sophomore, said.“It makes it very hard to drive around.”
The federal government seems to be taking direct action against decreasing the oil prices. This is forcing citizens to pay the price, once again, for Washington’s irresponsibility.
Historically gas is still pretty cheap. The real problem is that wages haven't kept up with inflation since the 1970s.