GREEN BAY (NBC26) — In Northeast Wisconsin, the idea of war with Iran seems like a far-away conflict for many, but the conflict suddenly hits closer to home at the gas pump.
With the United States now in a direct military conflict with Iran, gas prices across the country have gone up. According to GasBuddy, prices are up 37 cents per gallon from last week's average in Green Bay as of March 2.
"What we're really seeing are the economic shocks of uncertainty," said Jason Brozek, an Associate Professor of Government at Lawrence Univsersity.
While many factors influence gas prices, he says this is a clear example of one event having an impact.
"Once in awhile you can point to some international event and identify fluctuations in the market that are responsible for that," said Brozek.
Brozek says outside of the families of the service members killed and Iranian-Americans, most people view the conflict as distant. But that changes when you're filling your car with gas.
"If it lasts a long time and it gets really wide, folks start seeing that at the pump then it becomes less of an abstract war somewhere far away and more of a domestic concern. The gas pump is where most Americans think about international politics the most," said Brozek.
People that spoke with NBC 26 at the pump said they were filling their tanks before another price jump and will have to budget for possible changes.
"I figured with stuff going on over in Iran it was definitely going to start going up. That's why I came in to fill up unfortunately a little later than I should have," said Ashwaubenon resident Dennis Campbell.
"I didn't know where the prices were going so I wanted to get it filled up beforehand before they start to shoot up too much. We'll probably cut back depending on how high it would go. We'll look for what we always do, look for a good price," Ashwaubenon resident Joe Bergner.
Brozek says in addition to gas prices, if American troops were deployed directly on the ground in Iran that would be another factor that would shape public opinion.
