EDITORIAL: Gas is really expensive . . . so let’s burn more of it

The price of gasoline in Ozaukee County this week is about the same as the national average of $4.50 per gallon, which is 30% higher than in October 2025. Because transportation is a necessity of life and almost everyone has to buy gas, the higher cost is a burden on families across society and a cause of inflation that has made most household goods more expensive.

Given this state of economic angst, it seems like an odd time to impose policies that will make it necessary for Americans to buy more gas, while denying them cheaper, cleaner alternatives to fossil-fueled transportation.

Yet on Monday, the Trump administration moved to weaken fuel efficiency rules meant to reduce gasoline consumption. The government standards that for years have steadily improved the miles-per-gallon rating for cars and light trucks are being discarded.

The action is in line with an administration agenda aimed at curtailing government support for climate-change initiatives and electric vehicles.

In February, the Environmental Protection Agency revoked all limits on air-polluting emissions from cars. This followed the ending of a federal program that encouraged EV sales with tax credits for buyers.

By any measure, these moves are taking the U.S. backward on the most crucial issues of the times, but their impact is magnified by the war the Trump administration started and can’t seem to finish.

Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off about 20% of the world’s oil supply and driving up the price of oil-based fuel to levels that threaten national economies, has put a spotlight on the political, environmental and economic consequences of oil dependence. The Iran war debacle exposes the folly of resisting the transition to renewable energy sources.

The meeting in Washington last week of the presidents of United States and the People’s Republic of China brought together leaders who are taking their countries in opposite directions on renewable energy. While President Trump blocks wind and solar electricity generation and impedes the progress of the EV market, President Xi Jinping presides over a nation that accounts for 80% of the production of the world’s renewable energy infrastructure and 60% of EV production.

Chinese-built EVs can be bought for as little as $11,000 (though not in U.S. due to a 100% tariff). A top-of-the-line Xiaomi model sells for $42,000 in China and comes with a luxurious interior and a 600-horsepower electric motor that has a range of 300 miles.

Electric car sales have powered China’s share of the worldwide electric and gas auto market to more than 40%. America’s share is about 12%.

Meanwhile in the U.S., EV sales have been sinking rapidly since the tax credit ended. Automakers, which had been encouraged to ramp up EV production by the government incentives, rescinded billions of dollars in investments and some had to lay off workers.

An average cost of a gas tank fill-up that approaches $100, as it does today, makes the government damper on EV sales in America both an economic and environmental mistake.

Motor vehicles are the largest source of planet-warming greenhouse gases in this country. Thanks to the gutting of fuel efficiency rules, their impact on climate change will only get worse.

Disdain for renewable energy seems to be a personal foible for President Trump. Indulging it comes at high cost in many ways for the country he leads. That exorbitant price at the pump is only one of them.