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Politics & Government

Can the Government Do Anything to Lower Gas Prices?

President Obama says he will take steps to open more drilling in the U.S., while a Rockland County legislator wants to cap county taxes on gas.

With summer around the corner and Americans frustrated about high gas prices, President Barack Obama said in his weekly radio address he would take steps to open up more oil drilling in the United States.

The administration wants to extend existing oil company leases in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska’s coast. A moratorium on drilling in the Gulf was imposed after the BP oil spill last year. The lease extensions would give companies additional time to meet environmental and safety standards and begin drilling again.

But will those moves help ease the pain at the pump? Most economic analysts say no.

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"There is practically nothing that Washington can do that would materially change the price of fuel in this country," Raymond James, an analyst Pavel Molchanov, told the Associated Press.

James noted that the United States produces about 5 percent of the world's petroleum while consuming about 20 percent. "Given that imbalance, there is simply no policy shift that could plausibly come from the federal government that can significantly change that dynamic," he said.

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Rockland County Legislator Ed Day, R-New City, said that local governments can pass measures to lower prices in their own counties. To stop New Yorkers from driving to New Jersey for gas, Day wants to cap Rockland County's sales tax on gas at $2 a gallon.

In addition to the New York State tax on gas, many counties in the state charge an extra local tax.

“I recognize a lot of this is out of our control,” Day told Patch. “We have no control over speculation, big oil and what’s going on in the Middle East. We do have control over what’s going on in our county. What’s supposed to be bringing more money in is actually taking money away.”

Many Rockland residents travel to New Jersey to fill up, with lower taxes on gas cutting prices as much as 30 cents a gallon.

 Ashfaq Ahmed, who works at the Sunoco station on North Main Street in New City, said business has been much slower the past few months.

“Not only are fewer people coming here, but a lot more come and just get $2 or $3 worth of gas,” Ahmed said. “A lot of people get $5 of gas and tell them that’s just to get them to New Jersey to fill up their cars there.”

On top of that, fewer people filling up there means fewer people are coming into the convenience store to buy other products.

 Naveed Javed, the manager of the Shell station on South Main Street in New City, said customers often ask why they keep raising prices.

“I have to explain it has nothing to do with us here,” he said. “We don’t have control over that. They think we’re doing it here at the station, but I have to tell them it’s not up to us.”

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