Great Lakes Wire

This week's Gas Misery Index reports that drivers in the state of Michigan will spend $779 more on gas than they did a year ago.

The report noted that the median price for a gallon of gas in the country is hovering above $4, accounting for Americans spending an average of $735 more on gas annually and motorists in Michigan paying an average of $4.35 per gallon.  

The index uses the median price of a gallon of regular gasoline and modifies the data with median miles traveled by the median miles per gallon of U.S. cars that is gathered from the price of gas data from the American Automobile Association (AAA), the U.S. Department of Energy data on the median fuel efficiency (mpg) data from and typical miles driven from MetroMile.com.

"Americans today will have collectively spent over half a billion dollars more on gasoline compared to a year ago. ~$550+ million more to be exact," Patrick Haan, oil and refined products analyst at GasBuddy, wrote on Twitter.

The Energy Information Administration reported that when President Biden took office in January 2021 the usual price for a gallon of gas stood at $2.33, a 90% surge compared to the current median price of $4.43. The Gas Misery Index has dubbed the report the “Biden Misery Index” because motorists are spending $1,003 more on gas annually than when he became president.

Earlier this month, Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan (D-MI) was among 44 Senate Democrats who voted against Sen. Barrasso’s (R-WY) motion to require the immediate development of a new five-year federal offshore oil and gas leasing plan. The plan, which is intended to ease energy prices in the U.S., mandated lease sales for oil and gas exploration in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Alaska. 

President Biden announced in March that he was tapping into the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to release $180 million barrels of crude oil to reduce gas prices, according to The Hill.

The article noted that the administration was set to allow oil and gas lease sales in Alaska's Cook Inlet and the Gulf of Mexico, but canceled them due to a lack of interest from oil conglomerates.

With oil prices driving much of the inflation in the country, Biden’s approval rating among voters is also tanking with Republicans going on record that his administration has not done enough for motorists to find relief at the pump, according to The Hill.