Gas prices across Lake County jumped way past $4 a gallon this week. Let the howling begin.
It is already happening, as average Americans are caught in the geopolitical squeeze of the first land war in Europe since American fathers and grandfathers helped liberate the continent from fascism. There’s a cost to pay for freedom, so get ready for the bill.
The spike at the pump means we’re paying nearly double for a fill-up compared to March 2021. The last time gas was this high was back in 2008 when it slid over the $4-a-gallon mark, to the $4.10 bench mark price, during the administration of President Barack Obama.
As of Tuesday night, gas was $4.59 a gallon at a number of stations in central Lake County. That historic figure have been surpassed by today.
Some of us recall the shock of the Arab oil embargo of 1973-74 when gas prices leapt from about 30 cents a gallon to 50 cents. Remember how really cheap gas was back in the day?
Higher fuel prices undoubtedly will keep stoking inflation, which currently is the highest it has been in the U.S. since the 1980s. The stock market is reeling, so ignore the losses in your 401(k) and IRA.
The rising expense to top off our gas-powered vehicles is from economically punishing the Russians for Vladimir Putin’s savage onslaught in Ukraine. Economists say pain at the pump will increase, especially after President Joe Biden decided Tuesday to ban oil from Russia, the world’s third-largest producer, from entering the U.S.
The price may climb to over $5 a gallon, some oil market watchers predict, or higher. Is this the tipping point where we all run to car dealers and beg to buy electric vehicles and join the green revolution?
Meanwhile, while our pocketbooks are suffering, Illinois companies continue to do business in Russia as of Wednesday, according to the so-called “Yale List” compiled by Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld. Those include county firms Abbott Laboratories, AbbVie and Caterpillar. Other state companies are Deere, Mars and Mondelez.
The U.S. may be the largest producer of fossil fuels on the globe, but it won’t help if energy firms don’t start upping production, which dropped during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. We certainly didn’t hear griping about low pump prices or saving money on gasoline while working from home.
But there is something Lake County officials can do for their constituents to ease the rising whammy of high gas prices: Roll back that 4-cent-a-gallon gas tax the Democrat-controlled Lake County Board adopted last summer.
Or at least suspend it for a year, as Gov. J.B. Pritzker proposed for the state’s 39.2-cents-per-gallon portion of the gas tax during his January budget address. Without a freeze, the state tax would increase to 41.4 cents on July 1.
Even some Democratic U.S. senators have called for suspending the federal gas tax of 18.4 cents, in effect since 1993, to help drivers struggling with soaring fuel prices. Like Lake County and Illinois, gas tax money is used to fund federal road construction projects.
The county tax hike took effect last July 1, in the midst of the coronavirus health crisis, after it was adopted by a 14-7 vote. The tax increase was added to some of the highest property taxes in the U.S. that Lake Countians pay. It took effect just when the county was rebounding from the pandemic.
As of the other day, Illinoisans pay the seventh-highest gas prices in the nation, much of it fueled by taxation at the pump. Fuel prices have skyrocketed from $3.62 a gallon a month ago, and $2.77 a year ago.
States surrounding Illinois, especially Indiana and Kentucky, all have lower gas prices. Gas is cheaper in Wisconsin, just a quick trip over the Lake County line.
Illinois is one of the few states that adds a separate sales tax to each gallon of fuel — essentially taxing each purchase twice. County Board members who voted for the increase — by the way they all will be up for nomination in June and election in November — pointed to a backlog of road projects they contended were needed to ease traffic and improve highway safety.
Certainly those projects can wait as county residents continue to face an economic crunch. Four cents a gallon isn’t going to ease the sting at the pump, but it could be a symbolic gesture.
Shelving the gas-tax hit for a bit would show County Board members’ constituents they feel their pain. Or voters could show them their appreciation for their gas-tax votes when they head to the polls.
Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor.
Twitter: @sellenews
