High gas prices have you doing the electric slide?: Today So Far

When gas prices spike in Washington state, people start making the electric slide. That is, electric vehicles start to look a lot more attractive.

This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for March 15, 2022.

“Not only is there growing consumer interest, there is also more availability of EVs," Bloomberg energy reporter Jennifer Dlouhy told Seattle Now this morning.

"One caution ... inflation is affecting everybody. And while EVs can potentially have a lower costs to fuel them and maintain them, there’s a big upfront cost."

On top of that, Washington state will charge electric vehicle owners an extra $150 each year in registration fees. I drive a hybrid, so Washington hits me with $75. It's sort of like Washington is saying "We really need to drive green and cut down on fossil fuels," while slapping you in the face at the same time. There was a proposal to offer EV buyers a $7,500 rebate in Washington to help sweeten the deal, but lawmakers nixed that last month.

Looking at Google trends from Washington state, there has definitely been a considerable spike in searches for "EV" over the past couple weeks. The highest interest is coming from Northwest hubs (Seattle, Tacoma, Yakima, Spokane, Portland). It's the same trend for "electric car" or "electric vehicle," etc.

As Dlouhy said, it's likely the sight of gas signs I've seen around Seattle, exceeding $5, that have folks rethinking their cars.

We have it a bit worse around here than other parts of the country, largely because of the region's lack of oil infrastructure and higher gas taxes. (It should be noted that we do have oil refineries in the Northwest.)

“What you are experiencing on the West Coast is more aggravated, frankly, than some other states," Dlouhy said. "The West Coast tends to be where you see higher gasoline costs."

That's why you're going to start seeing a "temporary fuel surcharge" when you use Uber or Lyft. And yes, this applies to your Uber Eats order. Customers will be paying between 35-55 cents.

Sure, Russia's attack on Ukraine is partially to blame for the higher prices. But as I've talked about before, the U.S. only gets roughly 7% of its oil from Russia, which is why it's so easy for us to ban it. The truth is, we were in this situation before tensions rose. The pandemic prompted gas demand to tank and spike, leading to instability. Now we have more demand than we do oil, and that is likely to worsen in the days ahead.

It could be worse — it could be the late 1970s. As Dlouhy points out, gas prices shot up to $2.68 per gallon back then. Which sounds pretty great until you factor for inflation — that's about $8 in today's money.

“We’ve been here before, we will probably be here again," Dlouhy said.

Hear more of Dlouhy's insights on today's episode of Seattle Now.

It's hard to talk about fossil fuels without bringing up the fact that this form of energy is greatly impacting our climate. University of Washington researcher Eric Steig knows this well. Ancient ice can tell us a lot about how our planet has warmed and cooled throughout the past, and some of the best ice samples come from Antarctica. Steig is like a translator who can tell us what the ice is saying. But Antarctic ice is melting, quickly, and is expected to reach record lows in 2022. Hear more of this story on Soundside.

AS SEEN ON KUOW

Kaylyn Richards says she was fired after making a clerical error related to filling out her timesheet at an Amazon Fresh store in Seattle. Richards believes Amazon allowed her firing to go through because of her membership at her store's new union, Amazon Workers United. (Joshua McNichols / KUOW)

DID YOU KNOW?

You hear the term "oligarch" thrown around in news reports and quotes. And you think you get the general impression: a super rich person. But every country has super rich people. So what's an "oligarch" exactly?

Just as the term "monarchy" implies that a single person is in charge (mashing "mono" and "archy" together), oligarchy mashes together "olígos" (few) and "archy," meaning a few people rule. It's all Greek to me.

But when talking about Russia, an oligarch refers to a person who gained immense wealth after the fall of the Soviet Union. When the USSR ended, industries that were once controlled by the government were taken over by private parties, who may have been a bit ruthless in their methods. That earned them wealth, and that further translated into power over the country. Add up these wealthy Russians, and you get a "few" who are influencing the government. However, as NPR recently pointed out, Putin has cut down on oligarchs' influence. Today, they are less political and mainly benefit from the success of the status quo.

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Dolly Parton removes herself from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominations

Country music legend Dolly Parton announced Monday she is bowing out of this year's nominations for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. "I do hope that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will understand and be willing to consider me again — if I'm ever worthy."

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