Donald Trump’s 2020 prediction that gas prices under President Biden would reach $7.00 per gallon came true this week.
The price of gas in Gorda, California, reached $7.59 on Sunday. Fuel stations in Los Angeles County were also selling premium gasoline for more than $7.00 a gallon. One gas station in Los Angeles was advertising gas for $6.99.
The average price for gas in California is $5.343. Nationally, the average price of gas is $4.065, up over one dollar from last year.
Trump predicted gas would reach $7 under Biden on November 3, 2020, right before election day. It took just over a year after Biden assumed office for Trump’s prediction to come true.
Trump doubled down with his prediction in May. “Gasoline is going to stop at six, seven dollars, I think, based on what I’m seeing,” he said before pooh-poohing renewable energy as impracticable.
“They [wind farms] ruin the environment, they kill the birds and they cost a fortune,” Trump explained. “We have natural gas…costs us nothing. Actually nothing. They burn it off. When you look at all of those flames on top of the wells, that’s natural gas that they burn off. They throw [it] away…and we want to give that away for windmills.”
The average price of gas is just six cents away from breaking the all-time 2008 record of $4.11. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, oil prices have continued to surge and gas prices have increased to over $4.00 per gallon.
Instead of supporting American energy independence, Biden is likely seeking a substitute for Russian oil, which finances the Russian invasion of Ukraine, though Biden has not sanctioned relevant Russian energy suppliers. Russia provided ten percent of global supply last year.
Over the weekend, the Biden administration secretly met with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro about producing more oil. Other than meeting with Maduro to reduce oil prices, Biden has promoted renewable energy to address the spiking price of gas. Yet renewable energy is not a long- or short-term solution.
In 2020, Biden promised he would “transition” away from the oil industry.