Five dollars, four dollars… and now the national average is over $3 per gallon. A lot of people think that it is because of their state government, local policies, or ongoing global conflicts.
To the populace residing in Washington State, prices for all products have skyrocketed. This includes gas prices, egg prices, cases of water, and much more. Residents are complaining about these increasing prices and for all who don’t know, Washington State is among the top ten nationally-ranked in most expensive to live in, according to the World Population Review.
Due to expensive gas prices, you are unable to save money and are theoretically required to spend more because of increasing prices, and this can vary from a day-to-day basis, Jayden Perez (‘29) said.
“Surely the government’s just bumping it up for their own reason.” Andrey Bushta (‘26) said. He also thinks the increase in gas prices is due to the war in Iran currently. Moreover, because of the war in Iran, it has shut down the travel of container ships within the Strait of Hormuz. Ships travel daily to several countries including: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates to retrieve crude oil. At this time, they are unable to do so because the United States and Iran are in a standoff within the Strait of Hormuz, the only by-water transit route for those ships in order to reach those countries.
“I don’t really notice it yet because like I don’t have my own car and stuff, but it does like make it harder to travel further.” Bushta said. However, he doesn’t drive often, and only drives to church and for other essential reasons. He drives about “once a month, or a couple.”
“I pay about almost $80 for a full tank,” And when it was cheaper, “It was like $60” Kaylynn Mcintyre (‘26) said. “It makes it harder to travel on the streets.” On a week-to-week basis, “I try to only get gas once a week, but sometimes two.” Doing so will allow you to prevent yourself from purchasing gas and spending money often.