Fuel Impact Explained by Experts from My Texas Jobs

As we all know, the gas price is moving up and down. It is so volatile that no one can ever predict where it would go next. That’s just the reality. Even professionals who are applying on My Texas Jobs will find it impossible to identify the next price movement. Its price was even crazier when the pandemic hits the world. Prices dropped from 4 dollars per gallon to just 1 dollar real quick.

Is it Going Up or Going Down?

Prior pandemic, things like geopolitical tensions, storms, and increased travel were the primary factors that increase gas prices.

Whenever the gas price is high, it means that consumers are paying more at the pump and have less purchasing power for other services and goods. On the other hand, higher gas prices are affecting more than the cost of filling up gas stations. This is because higher gas prices directly impact the country’s economy as a whole.

On the contrary, when it falls, it’s a lot cheaper to fill up the tank both for businesses and households. At the same time, it eases the cost of industries that are focused on logistics and transportation such as trucking businesses and airlines.

Experts on My Texas Jobs Explain Impact of Gas Prices

According to industry professionals, the cost of oil drags the economy either for the good or bad. In the next lines, we are going to concentrate on the direct as well as indirect impact of higher gas prices.

Retailers

The adverse effect of high gas prices is it hampers consumer spending as they are spending a bigger portion of their budget on gas. Additionally, a higher price means that shoppers will be driving or commuting less.

While customers might not drive, they tend to do online shopping often when gas price increases. There have been several studies showing that online shopping searches drastically increase with the increase of gas prices.

This forces retailers to pass the higher expenses to consumers either with increased shipping fees or higher prices for their products. Anything that needs to be transported or shipped will cost more as the gas price increases.

Public Transport

The higher gas prices could lead to an increase in the cost of public transport. Public and shared transportation might be more appealing if the prices keep rising. It’s for the simple reason that it offers a cost-effective alternative to sitting in traffic and thinking of the costly fuel to fill the tank.

Senator Wants the EPA to Take Tougher Position Toward Car Makers

Delaware Democratic Senator Tom Carper wants the Environmental Protection Agency to set tougher rules on the auto industry in the manufacture of electric cars. Through a missive sent directly to the agency a day after Pres. Biden reported to Congress about his administration’s achievements and goals, Senator Carper is urging the EPA to act forcefully particularly toward car makers.

In order to help the Biden administration achieve its climate goal by 2030, the Delaware Senator is proposing for the EPA to impose the emissions standards set forth in the framework of California’s 2019 agreement with five car makers. The deal requires BMW, Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and Volvo to manufacture hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and zero-emission battery electric vehicles to bring down greenhouse gas emissions by 3.7% annually, starting 2022 through 2026.

Senator Carper, who heads the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee explained in his letter to the EPA that the country is at risk, not only of facing increased public health impacts caused by pollution if there is no robust policy in place to achieve countrywide deployment of zero-emission vehicles. Since other nations have already taken the lead in electric vehicle adoption, the U.S. is also at risk of losing leadership of the global automotive industry, which could eventually lead to loss of automotive jobs.

Additional Info About California’s 2019 Car Manufacturing Agreement with Automakers

Actually, the agreement entered into by the state of California with the 5 car makers was met with setbacks, after ex-president Trump prevented the state from imposing tailpipe pollution standards on automobiles.

However, as President Biden has taken steps to reverse Trump’s orders, a coalition of car makers are currently in talks with the new President to lower the mileage standards set forth by the 2019 California deal.

Nonetheless, since the Biden administration is also poised to increase corporate tax to 28%, the California deal will entitle car makers to receive tax credits if they meet the requirements for manufacturing zero-emission electric vehicles, whether powered by electric battery or hydrogen fuel cell.

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