The Hill News

With gas prices climbing and many experts predicting that U.S. gas prices will peak as high as five dollars a gallon this summer, public voices are rising as well, asking how we can bring prices down and avoid straining our still-recovering economy. Still, with so many factors impacting the price we see at the pump, our focus must go beyond any short-term fix, and focus on how we can finally relieve ourselves of the ongoing burden of our nation’s petroleum addiction.

We know that gasoline prices are cyclical, typically increasing during the summer; it was in the summer of 2008 that we saw our previous average high price for gas, at $4.11 a gallon.

However, this summer’s prices also reflect - once again - ongoing tensions in the Middle East. While sanctions against Iran have slightly reduced oil supplies, more general fears of how tensions in the region will affect future oil shipments are having a greater impact on oil prices overall. With one fi! fth of the world’s oil supply transiting the Strait of Hormuz - a flow of roughly 17 million barrels a day - Iranian threats to blockade the Strait, along with fears of the effects of an Israeli attack on Iran, are leading to efforts to stockpile crude, driving up prices.

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