VICTOR JOECKS: Biden doesn’t care about high gas prices

If it weren’t for the looming November elections, President Joe Biden would be openly celebrating high gasoline prices. He and other Democrats can barely contain themselves as it is.

On Tuesday, Nevada gasoline prices hit a record high of more than $5.30 a gallon. That’s the third-highest average in the country. A year ago, the average price was under $3.65 a gallon. Those prices once seemed obscene. Now, that’s the good ol’ days.

The national average was $4.62 a gallon on Tuesday. That was a record, as well. A JPMorgan analyst predicted the national average could be $6.20 later this summer. Given Nevada’s higher average, that could mean $7 a gallon gasoline here.

It’s an understatement to note this is straining family budgets. Economist Ed Yardeni found that, on an annual basis, the average family is spending around $2,000 more on gasoline than a year ago.

Biden can hardly hide how excited this makes him.

“When it comes to the gas prices, we’re going through an incredible transition that is taking place that, God willing, when it’s over, we’ll be stronger and the world will be stronger and less reliant on fossil fuels when this is over,” Biden said last week.

He’s not the only one. Last week, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said high gasoline prices are an “exclamation point” on the need to use fewer fossil fuels.

In March, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg touted the “cost savings” of electric vehicles.

A recent Politico article noted that an entry-level electric vehicle costs $15,000 more than a comparable gas-powered model. The expected savings would be only $5,000 over a decade. Not a great return on investment.

To Democrats, high gas prices aren’t a problem. They’re an opportunity to push the “green” policies they’ve sought for years. Green energy generally can’t compete with fossil fuels absent government interventions. High fossil fuel prices make alternative power sources more economically viable.

To address high gasoline prices, “Congress could help right away by passing clean energy tax credits and investments that I have proposed,” Biden wrote Monday in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.

Don’t expect non sequiturs such as that to fool the public. “Clean energy” isn’t bringing down prices at the pump. You need more supply to do that, especially an increase in domestic oil and gas production. But that’s exactly what Biden doesn’t want. During his presidential campaign, Biden said, “We are going to get rid of fossil fuels.”

While Biden and Democrats have succeeded in raising gasoline prices, they’ve been less successful in avoiding the predictable political consequences. High gasoline prices are about as popular as bedbugs. They’re a major contributing factor to Biden’s plummeting approval ratings.

They’re impossible to spin away, too. Drivers pay the bill directly and on a regular basis. Plus, they’re advertised all over town. The consequences of the left’s green agenda is staring you right in the face.

If you like exorbitant prices at the pump, Biden and his fellow Democrats have more than earned your support. Expect most voters, however, to have a different perspective.

Contact Victor Joecks at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on Twitter.