The Rise at the Pumps

Mark Boyer | Writer

Prices of gas at Wawa, located at Upper Macungie on April 6th.

Everyone knew where they were and what they were doing when the sudden rise in gas prices slapped everyone in the face like Will Smith recently did to Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars. It wasn’t a good feeling and still leaves a lasting impression.

It’s no secret that gas prices along with inflation as a whole have taken a major toll on the U.S economy and, more importantly, broke, hungry, college students.

“The thing that’s scary is, everything around us is going up but our paychecks are not, which should scare anyone,” said LCCC student Adalena Warmkessel.

Warmkessel used to pay around $45 to $50 to fill up a tank. Now, she pays around $70 to $85.

When coming to terms with how the increase in gas has wiped wallets and credit cards clean, it's imperative to know the cause of the matter. Gas prices had already been increasing before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

According to an article from the New York Times, “Oil suppliers began to battle with the rising demand from consumers and businesses recovering from Covid disruptions. But calls in recent days from U.S. lawmakers and others to ban Russian oil imports have spurred worries about another hit to global supplies”.

Not only has the demand from consumers and businesses ignited a flame within the economy, but now with Russia’s intent of capitalizing on Ukraine, it adds fuel to the fire, creating rifts in energy prices. “I’m still making the same amount of money I was before, so it’s hard when you have a main source of income that can’t support higher prices along with still needing to work to afford other necessities,” said Warmkessel. “It has definitely caused me to have to work more to afford gas as well as other necessities.”

While the expense of gas has started to come down to a dollar or two, it seems that right now, there really is no end in sight for a pricey pump.