PHILADELPHIA – Gas prices continue to climb across the country, with Pennsylvania averaging $4.67 per gallon and some Philadelphia stations charging more than $5. President Trump says he wants to pause the federal gas tax to help drivers, but he will need Congress to make it happen.<\/p>\n
Gas prices hit new highs in Pennsylvania and beyond <\/p>\n
What we know:<\/p>\n
Gas prices have jumped about $1.50 since February.<\/p>\n
The national average is now $4.52 per gallon, with Pennsylvania at $4.67, New Jersey at $4.52 and Delaware at $4.34.<\/p>\n
At a Lukoil station on Delaware Avenue in Philadelphia, prices have already passed $5 per gallon. “It\u2019s about $.50 more than the national average, yeah. Last week I was looking at 4.69 and it\u2019s been ramping up every time I come by the gas station,” said Anna Negron, who said she is driving less and cutting back elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Drivers say the higher prices are forcing them to change their routines, with some traveling to New Jersey or shopping at warehouse stores to save money.<\/p>\n
Why prices are rising and what could change <\/p>\n
The backstory:<\/p>\n
Gas prices are higher than they have been in several years, which can be attributed to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the months-long war in Iran. President Trump is proposing a temporary suspension of the federal gas tax, which is about 18.5 cents per gallon.<\/p>\n
When asked how long the tax suspension would last, Trump said, “Till it\u2019s appropriate, yeah it\u2019s a small percentage, but it\u2019s still money.” The move would require congressional approval.<\/p>\n
Small business owner Darnell Wright said, “I\u2019m a Republican and American I voted for Trump. I believe in some of his policies do work but the gas prices in this worn on we didn\u2019t vote for that and we want change.”<\/p>\n
Some drivers are making changes to save money, including driving to New Jersey for cheaper gas or filling up at Costco.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I only do it once a month. I have a hybrid car. It\u2019s an easy commute for me from Philly to here,” said Joanna George. “Getting it at Costco really helps it\u2019s cheaper than some of the other places. This is a big fan. It\u2019s 100 bucks to fill it up. We\u2019re a church organization so we\u2019re filling the pinch a little bit,” said Glenna Harkins.<\/p>\n
Many drivers say they are feeling the impact of the price increases and are looking for ways to cut costs.<\/p>\n
What we don’t know:<\/p>\n
It is not yet clear if Congress will approve President Trump\u2019s proposal to pause the federal gas tax or how quickly any relief could reach drivers.<\/p>\n
The Source: Information from FOX 29\u2019s Joann Pileggi and interviews with local drivers.<\/p>\n
Economy<\/a>Philadelphia<\/a>Donald J. Trump<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA – Gas prices continue to climb across the country, with Pennsylvania averaging $4.67 per gallon and some…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[30741,83,139,539,523,69,71,70,593,8153],"class_list":["post-189713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-donald-j-trump","tag-money","tag-news","tag-pa","tag-people","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-us","tag-us-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}