By Heather A. Craig @ Shutterstock.com
Anticipating a bad inflation report, the White House tried to deflect the negative news. Rising gas and food prices (inflation), according to the White House, is thanks to Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Since March of 2021, overall energy costs for fuel, electricity, and utility gas have increased 32%, reports BRIGHT editors.
The truth is, since Biden first assumed office in January of 2021, prices of gasoline, food, rent, and other items have skyrocketed.
These price hikes only worsened after Congress passed Biden’s $1.9 trillion federal spending bill. As a result, inflation has outpaced wages for months and put a strain on Americans’ wallets.
Biden’s poor handling of the inflation crisis is not lost on voters who blame him and his policies for their pricey bills. New polling suggests a whopping 63 percent of U.S. voters say they disapprove of the president’s handling of the economy.
Energy prices in the month contributed heavily to the increase, and some of that owes to the disruptions in oil markets since the invasion, reports the WSJ.
But so-called core prices, excluding food and energy, rose 6.5% over the last 12 months. Service prices excluding energy, which weren’t supposed to be affected by supply-chain disruptions, were up 0.6% for the month and 4.7% over 12 months.
… the overall price news is terrible for American workers and consumers. … Real average weekly earnings fell a striking $4.26 in March alone, and they’ve fallen nearly $18 during the Biden Presidency.
If you want to know why Americans are sour about the economy even as jobs are plentiful, this is it. Their real wages are falling while the prices of everyday goods and services are rising fast. The average worker Democrats invoke when they demand more federal spending is getting crushed by the inflationary consequences of too much federal spending.
Who Sells E-15?
According to President Biden, E-15 can save drivers 10 cents a gallon on average. The EPA waiver, however, will have a negligible outcome on gas prices nationwide because so few stations sell it.
Another Head Fake
In an effort to help bring down prices at the pumps, the Biden administration announced Tuesday, that the Environmental Protection Agency will issue a waiver allowing gas with 15% ethanol content (E-15) to be sold nationwide from June 1 through September 15. In case you are wondering, only about 1.5% of gas stations nationwide are able to safely store and sell E-15 gas.
The Clean Air Act has prohibited the sale of E-15: higher ethanol blends can increase smog in hot weather. E-15 also erodes older car engines, gas pumps, storage tanks, and pipelines.
Most U.S. gas contains 10% ethanol, and E-15 is typically prohibited due to its polluting. The move is likely to have a limited effect, as the vast majority of gas stations don’t offer E-15. Furthermore, corn prices have also spiked after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
To date, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not approved the use of E-15 in motorcycles, older cars, or other gas-burning vehicles like lawnmowers or boats. Higher ethanol content in E-15 can damage engines. E-15 gas is only compatible with passenger cars made since 2007, according to some industry groups.. (Automakers have changed the formulation of the affected components. The EPA has certified vehicles in the U.S. fleet made in 2001 or newer, and all Flex Fuel–capable vehicles (able to use up to an 85% ethanol, 15% gasoline mix) as E-15 compatible.)
Fuel Efficiency?
Ethanol contains one-third as much energy as gasoline, so a car burning E-15 gas will get slightly worse fuel efficiency than the same car running on E-10 gas.
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