Gas Pains?

 A constant complaint I see in the local paper is that gasoline prices are on the rise, and a certain very vocal group blames that rise on President Biden's policies--notably the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline and suspension of new drilling permits on federal land. Of course, the problem is, neither of those decisions have any direct effect on gas prices, and certainly not in the short term we're talking about here.

None of the oil that would have gone through the Keystone XL pipeline would have wound up  in US refineries that produce gasoline. It was all destined for refineries on the Gulf Coast that make products that go into manufacturing plastics used in foreign countries. Any new drilling planned for federal lands now would not have produced oil for years, possibly decades.

What's causing the rise? First and foremost, the OPEC members have all cut production because (after a year of a worldwide lockdown) there's a glut of oil on the world market. Second, as the US comes out of lockdown, more people are driving--but the refineries had cut production over the past year and it takes time to build inventory again.

But I have a question for these complainers: where are you going with that gas in your car? I filled my tank over a week ago...and I still have three-quarters of a tank left. Local traffic is still way below pre-lockdown levels (and I can tell because I live on a main artery). Are you just taking joy-rides, because you're certainly not commuting to work. And business at local stores and restaurants is still way down, so you're not going there.

Why do I have the feeling these are just pro-Trumpers who have to find something to blame Biden for, even though eight weeks of his administration can hardly have had any real impact?