GREEN BAY, Wis. (NBC 26) — The high prices of gas probably have many of us wondering — why is it so expensive?
"I think it's terrible," Ashwaubenon resident Richard English said.
"I hope it doesn't continue to go up anymore," said Green Bay resident Chris Kalishek.
People clearly not happy with these high fuel prices offering their two cents as to why.
"I think they (the government) are just using an excuse to make money," Kalishek said.
"The greed of gas companies to just do this to all of us?," Green Bay resident Mary Wolfe said. "Why would they? Why?"
"Coming off a pandemic, everybody wants to travel," Madison area resident Dave Halvensleben said.
AAA-Wisconsin director of public affairs Nick Jarmusz says the pandemic and the war in Ukraine are mainly to blame.
"It's frustrating, you know, for everyone," Jarmusz said.
Jarmusz says oil companies are gradually increasing production, but they are still not caught up with demand.
"They've been letting demand lead the way," Jarmusz said.
The ongoing war overseas matters, too. The European Union, which contains 27 countries, is banning oil imports from Russia. The U.S. has already embargoed taking in Russian oil.
Jarmusz says this hurts the global market.
"And that also has a big impact on the pump prices that we pay here at home," Jarmusz said.
"Is Biden at fault here?" NBC 26 reporter Tyler Job asked.
"There are some policies that could be having an impact, but there are other policies that actually are not," Jarmusz said.
Prices in the Green Bay area are lower than in Milwaukee but higher than in La Crosse and Eau Claire. Jarmusz says part of that is because of demand, and the other has to do with where you live.
"So, the closer that you are located to a pipeline terminal, the less that the gas you buy actually has to be shipped over the road by a truck," Jarmusz said.
But no matter where you go, the story doesn't change. And some of us are changing our summer plans because of it.
"I always go to Alabama to see my grandparents, and this year, I'm not going," Wolfe said. "I just can't afford it."
Jarmusz says when you are driving, you can save trips to the gas station by slowing down.
