High Gas Costs Making a Small Dent in Carbon Emissions

“Gas prices in much of the United States shot past the $5 a gallon mark last month before a slight drop, and Americans have responded by driving a bit less, two sets of data show. June gas sales are about 5% below pre-pandemic 2019 levels and 2.6% below a year ago, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.” Yet, according to an article by Seth Borenstein and Tom Krisher in the Denver Post, “a 6% drop in driving roughly translates to only a 1% drop in overall U.S. carbon emissions, [former University of Michigan professor Michael] Sivak said.”

The article notes that “High gas prices are ‘unequivocally’ good for fighting climate change because people use less fossil fuel and emissions go down, but the poorest people, who don’t have other options also ‘suffer the most,’ said climate economist Solomon Hsiang, director of the Climate Impact Lab at the University of California, Berkeley.” Advocates for higher gas taxes say that while higher gas prices are necessary, the government could provide financial assistance to low-income families without subsidizing driving.

“Biden has frequently said he doesn’t want high gas prices, attacked oil companies’ multi-billion dollar profits, proposed new offshore oil and gas drilling despite campaign promises and proposed a gas tax holiday, which congressional leaders said won’t fly.”