Tipsheet

Bloomberg Out with Another Incredibly Stupid Op-Ed, This Time on Gas Prices

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  July 22, 2022 7:00 PM

Bloomberg Opinion has posted some exceedingly dumb op-eds with elitist takes on economic issues that everyday Americans are suffering through. They've had multiple on inflation, and on Wednesday, on gas prices, with Eduardo Porter's "The Earth Wants Biden to Keep Gas Prices High." 

The Biden administration has been playing quite the game when it comes to the lowering and raising of gas prices. As reporters have pointed out during briefings, President Joe Biden can't be blamed when gas prices go up, but he's supposed to be showered with credit and praise when they come down. The drops we have seen have been modest, though.

As Porter sees it, Biden should work to keep gas prices high because, you know, the climate, though he at least acknowledges here and throughout his piece that it's not likely. He does go on to provide evidence emphasizing how the pain is the point: 

But here’s one bold move that Biden is unlikely to make, despite the real dent it would put in the emission of heat-trapping carbon dioxide that is causing such havoc with the weather: Stop the fall in gasoline prices.

As any economist will tell him, the most efficient way to reduce fossil fuel consumption is to raise its price relative to alternatives, encouraging people and businesses to switch to cleaner sources and use less energy altogether.

Porter goes on to write, "Biden must... keep [gas prices] from falling back," as "The climate would thank him." 

Just as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has incessantly done, in a stunningly tone-deaf manner, Porter calls for electric vehicles, even despite rightfully conceding "Not everybody can switch to public transit or buy a Tesla." 

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But then the pain really becomes the point: 

Cars and trucks account for 22% of US carbon emissions. Gas prices in the $5 range would inevitably trim their contribution. For instance, driving a Ford F-150 at $5 a gallon would set the average driver back by about $281 a month, assuming a fuel economy of 20 miles per gallon over 13,474 miles driven per year. That is about $85 a month more than if gas had stayed at $3.50, where it was in early February, before Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine.

...

Higher energy prices will eat into consumers’ pocketbooks and slow the economy. What’s important for the president to understand is we have no choice. Fossil fuels must become more expensive. Lacking perfect zero-carbon alternatives that we could switch to cheaply at scale, we must recognize that higher energy prices are an inescapable component of any strategy to mitigate climate change.

There is a still open question: How much should we be willing to pay, to save the climate? It may be that $5 a gallon is too high a price to pay to save California from additional forest fires a decade down the road. But the answer cannot be zero.

If Porter wants to talk about the emissions from cars and trucks, he might also want to discuss how much emissions come from John Kerry, Biden's climate czar. There are no criticisms or even mention of Kerry, though. 

Porter also wants Biden to be able to keep gas at $5 per gallon by presidential fiat (talk about abuse of executive privilege), as he casually compares it to the minimum wage. 

At least Porter closes his piece by showing that Biden is facing backlash from all sides. "Will the president do anything like this? Given his immediate political prospects, most probably not. Indeed, he has been spending his political and strategic capital (a trip to Saudi Arabia comes to mind) on trying to bring down the price of gasoline. All of which makes one wonder what to make of a president who invokes a climate emergency yet fails to understand climate change," he concludes. 

Porter tweeting and retweeting his op-ed received backlash far and wide. 

Others also called on Democrats to run on this and mocked the op-ed in other ways. 

Polls show that Americans are worried about gas prices, while climate change ranks far below on their list of priorities.