Travelers heading out for Thanksgiving will notice that gas prices are almost the same as they were a year ago, and the current rates still mark the cheapest pump prices this holiday season since the pandemic. According to AAA data, the average cost for a gallon of regular gasoline on Wednesday was $3.055, just a nickel lower than the $3.056 recorded last year.
This marks the second consecutive Thanksgiving where drivers benefit from prices that are well below the November averages seen during the Biden administration—$3.49 in 2021, $3.80 in 2022, and $3.44 in 2023, per the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
During President Trump’s term, fuel prices fluctuated far less from month to month than under President Biden. AAA credits the steadiness to “low crude oil prices and no major storms affecting Gulf Coast refineries.”
Yet the current average remains at least 25 cents above any Thanksgiving price recorded during Trump’s first stint as president, prompting polls that indicate growing concerns among Americans about affordability and rising costs.
In an interview with The Post, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers blamed “Democrat‑led states like California, Hawaii, and Washington that have carried on with Joe Biden’s failed energy policies” for pushing the national average upward. She pointed out that while Californians pay over $4.60 per gallon—$1.60 above the national average—more than half of U.S. states see prices under $3.00, urging Democrats to abandon the “Green New Scam experiment” and adopt Trump’s energy agenda.
AAA reports that the nation’s three priciest gas markets are indeed in blue states: California leads at $4.59 a gallon, followed by Hawaii at $4.44 and Washington at $4.19. Only Nevada, Alaska, and Idaho are in the top‑10 for low prices and are run by Republican governors. The states with the cheapest fuel—Oklahoma at $2.50, Mississippi at $2.60, and Louisiana at $2.62—also have GOP leaders. Among the ten lowest‑priced states, only Colorado, Kentucky and Kansas trail with Democratic governors.
One White House official singled out California Governor Gavin Newsom’s “failed experiment with the Green New Scam” as a causative factor for the state’s high fuel prices, noting a troubling trend of refinery closures due to escalating state regulations.
California’s gas tax stands at 71 cents per gallon, the highest in the country, and the California Energy Commission estimates that environmental compliance costs contribute an additional $0.54 to each gallon. Newsom’s office has not yet responded to a request for comment from The Post.
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