America is answerable for steep fuel prices, not Russia-Ukraine war [Pulse Editor’s Opinion]

Biden stickers Pulse

On the sticker, a picture of President Biden is placed to look like he is pointing to the fuel price, with the words ‘I did that!’. The stickers have become so viral that they have attracted global media attention.

The stickers blaming Biden for the steep fuel prices have gained popularity amid claims by the Biden administration that the Russia-Ukraine war is responsible for the high gas prices, a claim that is repeated in Uganda for the rise in fuel and commodity prices.

Biden stickers Pulse

Many people question this claim as fuel prices were already high last year, long before the Russia-Ukraine war started in February.

Why fuel prices rose

The ‘I did that!’ stickers first spiked in popularity in America early last year as fuel prices were observed to rise in America. Why did they rise? Economy commentators pin it Biden’s first day in office.

When he assumed presidency in January last year, Biden signed an Executive Order banning all oil drilling on federal land in the US and also shut down the Keystone Pipeline XL that was being constructed to transport cheap crude oil from Canada to US refineries.

The rationale behind these two decisions by Biden was that the US would veer off the oil-powered economy towards green-energy solutions like battery, solar, and wind power to apparently nip global warming in the bud. However, the consequences were that fuel prices started rising sharply soon after he signed that Executive Order.

By the stroke of a pen, Biden had made US-made fuel scarce to the world’s number one economy and consequently increased demand for imported fuel. The biggest consumer of oil in the world suddenly pressed high demand on OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) causing the fuel prices to shoot up across the world due to the law of demand and supply – the higher the demand, the higher the price.

For comparison, the price of fuel under president Trump when the US was fully producing its own oil averaged at $1.86 while under Biden prices have averaged at $4.33 per gallon of regular petrol. A gallon measures about 3.8 liters.

Trump tweet about low fuel prices during his presidency Pulse

Biden stickers Pulse

Americans are mad enough to become sticker vigilantes and Biden’s approval ratings are in the dumps, mostly because of this.

In Uganda, the prices are high not because of the Russia-Ukraine war but because the US placed a high demand on the world’s fuel when it stopped drilling its own oil last year.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Pulse as its publisher.