Red flags went flying when I read Joe Mendola’s letter published March 17. He wrote that Biden took office on Jan. 20, 2020 and claimed that “on Jan. 19, 2020, the price of gas at the pump was $1.89/gal.” Biden took office on Jan. 21, 2021 and according to U.S. Energy Information Administration (Weekly U.S. Regular All Formulations Retail Gasoline Prices (Dollars per Gallon) eia.gov), retail prices for regular gasoline during the week of January 18, 2021 were $2.37/gal.

Just looking at gas prices for the past 6 years suggests Mendola’s entire thesis is flawed. Here are some numbers: November 2016 - $2.20/gal.; October 2018 -$2.90/gal.; December 2018 - $2.40/gal.; May 2019 - $2.80/gal.; January 2020 - $2.57/gal.; April and May 2020 - around $1.80/gal.; and January 2021 - $2.37/gal.

The steady uptick in the price of gasoline between Jan. 2021 and Jan. 2022 is the result of high demand caused by the country getting “back to normal” and the inability to meet the demand due to supply chain issues, among other things. Of course, Republicans will blame Biden because that is what they do. The day Russia invaded Ukraine (2/24), gas cost $3.55/gal. Today (3/17) gas costs around $4.31/gal. Americans for the most part blame Russia for that increase and, because they are good patriots who believe democracy should prevail over autocracy, they are willing to pay the price.

Susannah Colt

Whitefield

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