Central PA News

The price of gasoline is sitting at a little over $4 per gallon nationally, Friday's information from AAA said. It's even higher in the Quaker State at $4.17, which is $1.20 per gallon more than it was when compared to one year ago. 

While President Joe Biden has blamed the Russian invasion of Ukraine for the high prices at the pump, some Republican legislators beg to differ. 

"On the day that President Biden took office, the average gallon of gas was $2.38," Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) tweeted. "At the time of Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the average price was $3.53. This isn't Putin's price hike — it's because of Joe Biden."

In Pennsylvania, the price at the pump one year ago was $2.97 per gallon, which shows the stark difference. There are, however, signs that the price of gas is starting to drop, slowly but surely. A month ago the price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $4.41, and a week ago it was $4.24. 

Nationally, the price of regular gas was $2.86 per gallon a year ago. One month ago the national price was $4.32, and a week ago it was $4.14.

Gas prices in the U.S. increased 32.8% from the time President Biden took office the week of Jan. 18, 2021, to when Russia invaded Ukraine during the week of February 14, 2022; a St. Louis Federal Reserve report showed. From the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine up to the week of April 11, American gas prices went up 13.6%.

Biden's strategy has been to place blame for the rise in American prices—particularly the price of gas—on Russia's war with Ukraine that began in March. His administration coined the hashtag phrase #PutinPriceHike on Twitter and frequently stated that price increases have "nothing to do" with his administration's policies, a Thursday Fox News report said.

"Make no mistake, the current spike in gas prices is largely the fault of Vladimir Putin," Biden said in the report.

On Tuesday, April 12, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for the 12 months ending with March 2022. The data showed an 8.5% all-items annual increase, which is the largest increase since 1981—more than 40 years. 

The BLS report showed that increases in the gasoline, shelter and food indexes were the largest contributors to the seasonally adjusted all-items increase. The gasoline index rose 18.3% in March, accounting for more than half of the all-items monthly increase.