Many Americans are cutting back on everyday expenses as gas prices soar due to President Donald Trump’s war in Iran, now approaching the 10-week mark. About 44 percent of Americans said they’re driving less due to high gas prices, while 42 percent said they’ve slashed household expenses, according to a Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll. In addition, the poll revealed that 34 percent have altered travel or vacation plans. Americans are changing their behaviors as national average gas prices hit $4.43 per gallon Saturday, according to the AAA motor club. This time last year, the national average was just $3.15 per gallon. Patrick de Haan, a petroleum analyst for GasBuddy, said Saturday’s average price marked a sobering new record. “The national average price of gasoline has never been higher on the second day in May than it is today,” he wrote on X.

  • taiyang@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    You know I didn’t think too much about the daily expense of gas since we drive relatively fuel efficient cars, but I looked up the mpg for some of the trucks and stuff near me and… How the fuck do people commute with mpgs as low as 12, sometimes?

    Like, you shouldn’t commute over an hour anyway, but at 60 miles one way, some cars burn 5 fucking gallons. This has gotta be wrecking his truck driving supporters.

    • azimir@lemmy.ml
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      14 hours ago

      A couple of years ago I got to see a guy shoehorn his personal Ford F650 into a Starbucks parking lot. He was so proud of his massive waste of resources that he used daily for commuting and errands. It was utterly sickening with how much he was excited to talk about how much he was wasting to “stick it to those horrible environmentalists”.

      The Ford F650 is generally reported to get about 6.75 mpg. Gas prices up? Fuck that asshole. He deserves it.

    • yeehaw@lemmy.ca
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      9 days ago

      Never go full r tard.

      Sorry for those of you I’ve offended for this tropic thunder quote.

  • NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip
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    8 days ago

    Not cutting out driving?

    I had to deal with an office in the US recently. Still meeting together, still taking trips for “team building”. All while complaining about the high cost of fuel to travel. The remote work for the most part, but the higher up you go in their corporate ladder, the more travel and luxury they afford themselves. And then ask all their lowest workers to join in too, on their own dime.

    Morons the lot of them.

      • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        This is such a bullshit excuse, because while it’s true, there is no reason why Americans haven’t regulated cars to be more energy efficient, and why they haven’t built better public transport since the 70’s.
        On average European cars have about 30% better mileage than American cars, and almost all energy saving technologies were invented and implemented in either Japan or Europe.

        USA is a shitty country, first because they DEMAND these shitty huge cars with poor safety records, second because they DEMAND they are cheap to use, with no regard for climate change.

        Americans drive more, and they drive less fuel economic than other places in the world with better regulation.
        The net result is the average American pollute 2-3 times more than average for developed countries.

        USA is a country of selfish psychopaths (on average), that refuse to take responsibility for their actions.

            • bthest@lemmy.world
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              7 days ago

              Getting defensive and huffy about it doesn’t help. Americans as a whole are responsible for the how the rest of the world views them.

              • Soggy@lemmy.world
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                7 days ago

                “Chinese as a whole are responsible for all the stereotypes against them.”

                See how crazy that sounds? Fuck off.

  • Ironfist79@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    I guess it takes gas hitting $5/gallon for people to start riding bikes around here. It’s also strange how empty the gas stations are today.

    • Psythik@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      Lucky! Where I live, it’s too hot to ride a bike for 7 months out of the year, and public transport does not exist outside of the suburbs.

      A round trip Uber/Lyft to work is $110, and I make $120/day after taxes/insurance/investments.

      A round trip drive takes two gallons of gas, so even at $45/gallon it would still be cheaper to just drive.

      • Joelk111@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        If gas were $45/gallon I think it’d be cheaper to invest in clean energy and drive an electric car or, better yet, the city invests in trolly busses or trains.

      • phx@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        Yeah, frozen groceries aren’t going to make it home unspoiled if I bike down and up the significant hills between my place and Costco, and because of the way the buses work it’s also a 1-2h trip each way instead of a 10-15m drive so that’s not really viable either.

        I also can’t see myself carrying the 2x4x10’s or slats for my fence replacement on the car.

        Biking to work is somewhat more of an option, though the way back does need to deal with the aforementioned massive hill so in that case I’d rather go down by bike and up by bus.

        • alsimoneau@lemmy.ca
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          7 days ago

          That’s why people are pushing for 15 minutes cities. If you had a small local grocer within a mile of your house and did trips every few days instead on one big trip every other week, then it’s doable by foot/bike.

          North American cities are designed for cars, and it’ll take decades to change if we start now. But we need to do it sooner or later.

        • Soggy@lemmy.world
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          7 days ago

          The anti-car crowd would have you believe that delivery is a viable, economical solution for all your woes.

    • Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz
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      9 days ago

      Probably depends on the opposition. If the dems run on “we’re going to end the Iran war day 1 and remove the tariffs on chinese EVs, batteries, and solar panels so gas prices go down”, there’s a decent chance the people activated by gas prices switch.

      If the dems run on “we’re going to carry out the war more competently and start a comittee to investigate a study of potential market-based means-tested tax-credits for small business owners who drive American trucks between 3 and 8 years old”, they’re certainly going to vote Trump again.