Gas prices have hit yet another new high. The national average is nearing $5, sitting at $4.919 as of Tuesday, more than five cents higher than it was just one day earlier.
The national average is up $0.30 from a week ago, $0.62 from a month ago and $1.87 from a year ago. Diesel, primarily used for shipping goods and food, is also at a record high, sitting at $5.684 nationally.
Memorial Day weekend travel has been cited by AAA as a major contributing factor to rising prices this week. Oil prices also continue to rise, sitting at $117.5 at the time of this writing.
“People are still fueling up, despite these high prices,” Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson said in a statement. “At some point, drivers may change their daily driving habits or lifestyle due to these high prices, but we are not there yet.”
California has the highest gas prices in the country, sitting at $6.37. That is far above the second highest state, Nevada, which sits at $5.52. Hawaii is third with an average gas price of $5.48 per gallon.
The other states currently at or over $5 a gallon include Oregon ($5.46), Washington ($5.46), Illinois ($5.45), Alaska ($5.42), Michigan ($5.17), Arizona ($5.16), Indiana ($5.15), Maine ($5.00), Massachusetts ($5.00), and New Jersey ($5.00)
Washington, DC is also over $5, sitting at $5.14.
OPEC+ announced that it will be increasing production to 648,000 barrels of oil in July and August, but that is unlikely to decrease prices much as the market prepares for the European Union’s sanctions on Russian oil set to be implemented over the course of the year.
Even the cheapest states in the country have a price per gallon of over $4.00. The cheapest gas in the country can be purchased in Georgia, where the average price sits at $4.33. That is higher than even California was just one year ago.
President Biden has taken measures in an attempt to lower prices. In March, he authorized the release of 180 million barrels of oil from the strategic reserve. He has also publicly attacked oil and gas companies for padding their profits. However, these attempts only had a temporary effect, if at all.
On Tuesday, White House Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo admitted that there is little the White House can do to tackle gas prices.
According to recent polling, the price of gas could hurt Democrats come November. Seventy-four percent of voters say that gas prices will be a major deciding factor when they head to the polls. Only 27% of those polled said they approve of Biden’s handling of gas prices.