Gasoline cost about $1.46 per gallon when yours truly started driving, Save Jerseyans. It was cheap to drive around aimlessly as the young like to do! And we did.
By 2022 (twenty years later), the cost of a gallon of regular unleaded had quadrupled. The kids who had been cruelly deprived of an in-person high school experience due to Covid-19 dealt with the added indignity of not being able to afford to drive anywhere.
The pendulum is swinging back. Over Fourth of July weekend, notwithstanding substantial demand on the state’s roads, the average gallon fell to $3.122 representing an almost 37-cent decrease from this time last year.
Why’s it happening? For starters, the Trump Administration is prioritizing improving America’s energy production capacity over subsidizing “green” technologies – a clear contrast to the prevailing strategy in Trenton.
“@Interiop is streamlining permitting and infrastructure projects in our country to deliver reliable, affordable energy to all Americans!” Secretary Doug Burgum tweeted on July 5th. The Trump Administration is also opening up new lands to drilling in an attempt to secure our country’s energy independence and dominance.
“Americans are paying much cheaper prices for gasoline this summer,” added White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shortly before the holidy weekend. “We currently have the lowest gas prices at this point of the summer since 2021! As President Trump continues to unleash American energy, our country will have even more efficient, reliable, and affordable energy to protect our national security and fuel our people.”
So yes, it’s possible the Class of 2026 may gas up for Senior Week and pay $2.90 per gallon. Adjusted for inflation? They’ll have more cash to NOT spend on beer (of course!) than I did. They’ll have POTUS to thank for their good fortune.
