Editorial: gas pains
How about those gas prices?
Our friends at GasBuddy.com report we in New York are paying nearly 26 cents per gallon more than we were a month ago and a whopping $1.05 per gallon than one year ago.
Surely someone is to blame, right? Presidents take credit when the price at the pump plummets, so they’re certainly within criticism range when the price rises. Vladimir Putin gets a good bonk on the noggin, too, for his Ukrainian exploits. COVID uncertainty rattles the market – an increase in consumer demand as we head back out on the roads post-pandemic and prepare for our typical summertime driving. The gas companies – for Pete’s sake, how is it that gas prices are so quick to go up when the price of oil rises but seem to take forever to drop when the price-per-barrel falls.
And it’s an election year.
Gird yourself, then, for press releases out of Albany proclaiming bills to halt the eight-cents-a-gallon sales tax on gasoline, plans couched with wallet-friendly phrases like “we need to give New York drivers and working families a break” and “it’s a small step we can take to relieve the pain at the pump.” Some media outlets will jump at the opportunity to give that glimmer of hope that there might be some relief in store.
Don’t fall for it.
