“I’m spending over 100-and-something dollars a week on gas, going to my customers. I’m going to have to surcharge them.” That’s how plumber Rick Santana will cope with skyrocketing gas prices. He paid $4.29 a gallon for regular at an Exxon station in Paramus and will undoubtedly pay more tomorrow, after Pres. Biden banned Russian energy imports.
The U.S. hopes to squeeze Russian President Vladimir Putin’s pocketbook and end the horrific Russian attacks in Ukraine, where bombs devastated a maternity hospital in Mariupol Wednesday, burying children in rubble. Americans support Ukraine, but there’s a cost. Tracy Noble of AAA says gas prices in New Jersey rose a nickel a gallon overnight and by 64 cents in the past week. Spiraling gas prices could convince commuters to carpool, or switch to mass transit, or delay returning to the office at all. Consumer pain will spread well past the pump. Any solutions are complicated, both politically and diplomatically.
