Sen. Wyden: “Every trip to the gas station, every shopping run to the grocery store, every flight on an airplane is a lot more expensive than it was before Trump started this foolish, foolish war.”
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), West Virginia State Delegate Kayla Young, and former National Economic Council Senior Policy Advisor Aya Ibrahim participated in a press call hosted by Defend America Action to discuss Donald Trump’s energy affordability crisis.
Trump and Republicans promised to lower energy costs on day one. Instead, gasoline prices are the most expensive they’ve been in years, driven by Trump’s war in Iran and his decision to gut the clean energy investments that would’ve lowered utility bills for millions of American families. Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress have rubber-stamped every step of it, and working families are paying more to heat their homes, fill their tanks, and keep the lights on.
“Summer travel season is kicking off, and drivers are wincing as they pull up to the gas station to $5.30 per gallon, and $6.33 for diesel. If you’re driving a truck or an SUV full of kids, that’s $100 per tank,” said U.S. Senator Ron Wyden. “The backdrop of summer travel here in the West, in Oregon, and all over the country is genuine economic hardship. Every trip to the gas station, every shopping run to the grocery store, every flight on an airplane is a lot more expensive than it was before Trump started this foolish, foolish war.”
“We’re one of the poorest states in the country, and our rates are rising some of the fastest in the nation. West Virginia electric rates have risen 73% per kilowatt hour in the last ten years,” said Delegate Kayla Young. “And yet, Trump won all fifty-five counties and promised to cut bills in half, and we’re not seeing it. Electric bills are rising faster than mortgages are.”
“Even if the war were to end tomorrow, there are some increases that are now just baked in,” said former National Economic Council Senior Policy Advisor Aya Ibrahim. “The other context here that is really important is this administration is undertaking all of these decisions that have innumerable harms to workers and families, and at the same time demolishing the safety net that’s supposed to catch people when they fall.”
A recording of the press call is available here. Defend America Action’s energy affordability fact sheet is available here.
# # #