Unified View of Digital Infrastructure Is Critical for Overburdened IT Teams Trying to Achieve More with Less Resources Amidst an IT Staffing Crisis
SAN FRANCISCO, July 19, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A new survey from leading market research firm IDC revealed that a unified view of digital infrastructure is essential for IT teams that must Strengthen the digital customer experience while boosting overall organizational productivity. IT teams at organizations of all sizes are overwhelmed, short-staffed and require more advanced tools that deliver intelligence and actionable insights to help them troubleshoot issues in real-time according to the IDC Signature White Paper, "The Shift to Unified Observability: Reasons, Requirements and Returns" (doc #US49303722, June 2022).
LinkedIn: Survey reveals Unified Observability is key driver of IT productivity and digital customer experience: https://rvbd.ly/3PTEj2b
Sponsored by Riverbed®, the new survey revealed that IT teams are struggling to effectively manage highly distributed digital infrastructures and deliver digital experiences that meet increasingly high customer expectations. The survey of 1,400 IT workers across 10 countries uncovered the following:
90% of respondents currently use observability tools yet 60% of them believe those tools are too narrowly focused and fail to provide a complete and unified view of their organization’s operating conditions.
60% said the lack of unified observability restricts the IT organization's ability to meet business requirements, and 59% said it makes their job and the job of their staff/peers more difficult.
According to respondents the need to unify observability across all IT (applications, network infrastructure, cloud, end-user services, smart end drives) is being driven by staff, security, cloud and resiliency. Specifically, the top 5 drivers cited included: improving IT teamwork and productivity across domains; increasing cybersecurity threats; managing hybrid networks; supporting a hybrid/remote workforce; and resolving problems faster or avoiding problems altogether.
Yet, for IT teams already overwhelmed by their current workloads, the struggle with observability solutions has a direct impact on costs and prevents IT leaders from concentrating on strategic business initiatives:
In this current IT staffing shortage, 56% of respondents agree their organization struggles to hire and retain highly skilled IT staff.
58% of respondents believe that their most well-trained IT staff spend too much time on tactical responsibilities, and 63% of respondents agree their organization needs to find ways to enable lower-skilled IT staff to find and fix issues.
Despite using multiple observability tools, enterprises are still struggling with data collection and are unable to gain actionable insights that Strengthen decision making:
54% of organizations use six or more discrete tools for IT monitoring and measurement, and 61% said the tool limitations hold back productivity and collaboration.
75% of organizations have difficulty analyzing correlations and deriving actionable insights.
"When IT teams use observability tools that span domains, it fosters teamwork and operational success, which is critical during this period of IT talent scarcity," said Mike Marks, Riverbed vice president, of product marketing. "The intelligence and insights delivered through Unified Observability allow even more junior-level IT staff to take fast and decisive action without escalating, letting senior IT leaders focus on strategic business initiatives that Strengthen the customer and employee experience."
As observability becomes the responsibility of C-level technology executives (CIOs, CTOs, CDOs, etc.), companies are also investing more dollars in observability solutions:
"In order to Strengthen service integrity, staff productivity, and the end-to-end digital experience, organizations are taking a more concerted and proactive approach to managing and securing their digital infrastructures," said Mark Leary, Research Director, Network Analytics and Automation, IDC. "Unified observability solutions, with their ability to leverage comprehensive and shared intelligence and deliver precise and actionable insights, benefit IT, end users, and the business."
Download the full IDC Signature White Paper "The Shift to Unified Observability: Reasons, Requirements and Returns," view the infographic here and register for a live webinar "The Shift to Unified Observability: How to Break Through Silos" on July 27, 2022 at 8am PT.
Riverbed Alluvio™ Unified Observability
Riverbed in April announced Alluvio by Riverbed, a differentiated Unified Observability portfolio that unifies data, insights, and actions across IT, so customers can deliver seamless, secure digital experiences. In May, Riverbed announced the availability of the Beta program for its cloud native, SaaS-delivered Alluvio Unified Observability solution, moving it through to large-scale production data environments for enterprise organizations. Beta participants, including lighthouse customers who are already evaluating the solution, will further test, shape and validate Alluvio, which transforms massive amounts of data and alerts that lack context into actionable insights to empower all IT skill levels to solve problems quickly. The highly anticipated general release of the Alluvio Unified Observability solution is expected in the coming months.
Survey Methodology
IDC surveyed more than 1,400 IT professionals from across 10 countries on the current and future state of observability. The survey respondents came from seven industries (financial, manufacturing, healthcare, energy, technology, government, and professional services). Over 75% of respondents represented large enterprises (1000+ employees) and 70% held Director or above positions within their respective IT organizations. All had managerial responsibility for observability and/or IT performance management functions, use, staff, and budgets.
About Riverbed
Riverbed is the only company with the collective richness of telemetry from network to app to end user, that illuminates and then accelerates every interaction, so organizations can deliver a seamless digital experience and drive enterprise performance. Riverbed offers two industry-leading portfolios: Alluvio by Riverbed, a differentiated Unified Observability portfolio that unifies data, insights, and actions across IT, so customers can deliver seamless, secure digital experiences; and Riverbed Acceleration, providing fast, agile, secure acceleration of any app, over any network, to users anywhere. Together with our thousands of partners, and market-leading customers globally – including 95% of the FORTUNE 100 – we empower every click, every digital experience.
Riverbed. Empower the Experience. Learn more at riverbed.com.
Riverbed, Alluvio and certain other terms used herein are trademarks of Riverbed Technology LLC. All other trademarks used herein belong to their respective owners.
Connect with Riverbed
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220719005277/en/
Contacts
Esther Burciaga
Riverbed Technology
esther.burciaga@riverbed.com
EAGLE — Phyllis Johnson has said it in writing, said it in a newspaper story and, this week, the 92-year-old resident said it directly to members of the Eagle Town Board — her private property located adjacent to the planned Eagle River Park is not for sale.
Johnson made her statement at Tuesday’s meeting, during which she shared the history of the 7.5-acre Barnes Ranch property, which she co-owns with Harlan House, of Goodland, Kansas.
The Barnes Ranch extends from the southern side of the Eagle River, across the riverbed and through the eastern edge of the current parking area where the river park is proposed. The ranch encompasses the ground where the existing fairgrounds parking area entrance is located and extends next to the Chambers Park entry. In early artist renderings and conceptual plans for the river park, the land is earmarked for construction of a bike path and future pedestrian bridge connection.
But when she spoke about the land, Johnson didn’t address the river park vision. Instead, she shared personal stories about growing up on the property. She talked about how her admiration for her parents, who worked that land, cannot be expressed.
“Much of the beauty of the land was lost when the river and the highway was changed,” Johnson said, recalling the decision made in the 1970s to route Interstate 70 through her land.
But despite its diminished boundaries, Johnson’s attachment to the ranch remains.
“Neither Harland House or I desire to sell the Barnes property,” she said.
Fighting for what’s hers
After Johnson’s presentation, her daughter, Alexis Kensinger, pointedly addressed the board.
“While my mom is living her life as she has done for years, the river park is now imposed upon her and she must fight, once again, for what is hers and has been hers for the better part of a century,” Kensinger said.
Kensinger detailed an April 21 letter from the town of Eagle, signed by Mayor Anne McKibbin, that noted acquisition of 1.49 acres of the Barnes Ranch located on the north side of the river was needed to construct “a key part of what we have been proposing.”
“We do not anticipate significant impact or diminution of value to your property on the south side of the river, as much of the property we seek to acquire has been fenced and used by Eagle County as ingress/egress to the fairgrounds for decades, while the remainder is a steep river embankment,” reads the town’s letter.
The town stated that an appraisal of the 1.49-acre parcel estimated its value at $111,320.
“Accordingly, the town of Eagle is offering to pay you $166,980, a 50 percent premium over the appraised value,” states the letter.
But Kensinger noted the Barnes Ranch owners are not interested in subdividing their property to sell off the northern parcel.
“In regard to the inquiry to sell the land on the north side of the river, the owners have repeatedly said no,” said Kensinger, detailing a series of meetings and written communication about the matter. “We will not subdivide the property. We believe the river is valuable to our land and we get to decide. This is America.”
Adverse possession
Kensinger also singled out a sentence in the town’s letter related to an adverse possession taking of the property. The town letter stated, “We believe that Eagle County has a strong argument that it has obtained much of the property we are willing to pay for through adverse possession. We offer this premium to resolve this matter amicably outside of any further acquisition proceedings.”
“It is clear that adverse possession is on the table,” Kensinger said. “It is also clear that my mom and Mr. House have paid taxes on the Barnes property, including the truck parking lot owned by them, for many years with no offer from the county for the reimbursement for the use of our land, whatsoever.”
Kensinger noted the property taxes on that land recently tripled and the land has suffered environmental degradation as a result of its use as a truck parking area.
“To recap, the town is threatening adverse possession,” Kensinger said. “That is basically to take the land in the truck parking lot. Is that what we are about in Eagle these days? Taking private land from a local? I wonder how that will play out on the stage of popular opinion — to take land from a 92-year-old lady who has had the land in her family for 90 of those years?”
Mixed Messages
Kensinger said the town has been giving mixed messages about the Barnes property. In some documents, the town says the land is necessary for the project, while in others, the town indicates it can proceed without the property.
“Many people have approached us to apologize for voting for the river project, unknowing that it involved private property, and we believe that going to the voters without control of or consent from the owners of the property was just wrong,” Kensinger said.
Kensinger said Eagle Town Manager John Schneiger has never met with the property owners to discuss the situation.
“You have made no attempt to meet any member of our family in person or to reach out in any way,” she said. “I believe that working to establish a personal relationship is a basic tenant of leadership, and my mom lives 2 1/2 blocks away.”
In conclusion, Kensinger appealed to members of the Town Board to reject any adverse possession actions and to respect her mother’s stated desire to be left alone.
“It is obvious to us and should be to you that you put the cart before the horse, so to speak, and have moved forward with a project that you told the voters you could deliver,” Kensinger said. “Where is the leadership that will pull us back from the abyss the town has created? We as private landowners and taxpayers need you to do the right thing.”
Following the comments from Johnson and Kensinger, the Town Board did not discuss the river park issue in open session. Members thanked them for their presentation, and discussion of the river park property happened later in the evening during executive session. At the conclusion of the closed-door session, Town Board members said no decisions had been made regarding the river park and the Barnes Ranch property.
The last formal statement from the town indicated the park plan could proceed without the Barnes Ranch property.
“We remain hopeful that we can continue to work with them to respect their ownership and the values they place in the property,” read the town’s April 18 statement.
This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — On a recent, scorching afternoon in Albuquerque, off-road vehicles cruised up and down a stretch of dry riverbed where normally the Rio Grande flows. The drivers weren't thrill-seekers, but biologists hoping to save as many endangered fish as they could before the sun turned shrinking pools of water into dust.
For the first time in four decades, America's fifth-longest river went dry in Albuquerque last week. Habitat for the endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow — a shimmery, pinky-sized native fish — went with it. Although summer storms have made the river wet again, experts warn the drying this far north is a sign of an increasingly fragile water supply, and that current conservation measures may not be enough to save the minnow and still provide water to nearby farms, backyards and parks.
The minnow inhabits only about 7% of its historic range and has withstood a century of habitat loss as the nearly 1,900 mile-long (3,058-kilometer) river was dammed, diverted and channeled from Colorado to New Mexico, Texas and northern Mexico. In 1994, the U.S. government listed it as endangered. Scientists, water managers and environmental groups have worked to keep the fish alive — as required by the Endangered Species Act — but the efforts haven't kept pace with demand for water and climate change.
Years of drought, scorching temperatures and an unpredictable monsoon season are zapping what's left of its habitat, leaving officials with little recourse but to hope for rain.
“They're adapted for a lot of conditions but not to figure this out,” said Thomas Archdeacon, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist in charge of a program to rescue the fish. “When you have flow one day and no flow the next for miles, they don’t know how to get out of that.”
When parts of the river dry out, officials use hand nets and seines to pull fish from warm puddles and relocate them to still-flowing sections of the river. The minnow's survival rate after being rescued is slim — just over 5% — due to the stress of warm, stagnant water and being forcibly relocated.
Still, leaving the fish in the pools is a certain death sentence, said Archdeacon. He and the other biologists drove over miles of dried riverbed to where the water picked up again — at the outflow of a sewage treatment plant. Only a handful of the 400 rescued fish would survive, with their best chance swimming through treated sewage.
Over the years, the government has bred and released large numbers of silvery minnows, but for the species to recover, it always comes down to habitat, officials say.
And few options remain to get significantly more water into the river.
“Climate change is coming at us so fast right now that it’s outstripping those tools that we developed over the last few decades,” said John Fleck, a water policy researcher at the University of New Mexico.
Historically, one way to send more water into the river has been to release it from upstream reservoirs. But this year, New Mexico has been unable to store extra water because of a downstream debt it owes Texas as part of a compact. Deep into the driest period the West has seen in 1,200 years, the river wasn't replenished by rainstorms that came in June.
“The timing and the placement of the storms weren't in the right place to keep the river flowing,” said Dave Dubois, New Mexico's state climatologist.
To keep more water in the Rio Grande, the state and irrigation districts are offering to pay farmers to leave fields unplanted, but so far, few have opted in. In New Mexico, small-scale farming is the norm and many farmers water their fields with centuries-old earthen canals that run through their backyards, maintaining the land for cultural reasons, too.
By fallowing their fields, farmers would help save water for the minnow and alleviate the debt to Texas. But officials say that in one key district on the river, only 5% of land was left fallow this year.
“We need more people to do it,” said Jason Casuga, chief engineer for the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District. But the program is just in its second year, and farmers want to grow crops, Casuga said.
For the past four years, Ron Moya has farmed about 50 acres (20 hectares) of hay and produce near Albuquerque. A retired engineer, Moya said he answered a calling to work the same land that generations of his family had cultivated before him. Last year, Moya left 10 acres (4 hectares) of his plot unplanted in exchange for several thousand dollars, but said he wouldn’t do it this year — even though he was offered more money — because he wanted the moisture to keep the soil on his farm alive. Moya is skeptical that fallowing alone will achieve much.
“There’s people whose livelihood depends on growing their hay. That’s what they know. Can you imagine the whole valley being fallowed? That just seems silly,” he said.
Nor is there much water to squeeze out of New Mexico's biggest city, Albuquerque. Like other Western metropoles, the city of roughly 563,000 has dramatically cut its per-capita water use, from about 250 gallons (946 liters) per day in 1994 to to 119 gallons (450 liters) in 2019, according to data provided by the city's water utility. Albuquerque also uses groundwater and water from the Colorado River.
According to Mike Hamman, New Mexico's state water engineer, “the low hanging fruit has already been picked in Albuquerque, so now it gets a little harder."
The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
One day in early July, Hopkinton high school student Gelson Correa watched as a veterinarian and employees of a South African game reserve dragged a dead zebra behind a truck to lure a four-year-old male lion close enough to hit him with a tranquilizer dart. The goal was to swap the lion, who lived on the 50,000-acre reserve with his mother’s pride, with another male lion from a different game reserve to encourage genetic diversity and improve the longevity of both prides.
Correa, along with seven other Hopkinton High School students, hung back as the vet sedated the lion but came nearer after they moved it into an open area. They watched as the vet collected DNA samples, administered vaccines and tended to the wounds of the sleeping lion before loading him into a crate on a truck for transportation.
“We got to be within arm’s length of a male lion,” Correa said. “Watching him sleep, he was very elegant in his own way. When he woke up it was incredible to hear him growl.”
Correa, a 16-year-old rising junior, was one of eight students and two teachers from Hopkinton High School who traveled to South Africa from June 20 to July 7 to study the ecology and wildlife of the land near Kruger National Park. Hopkinton science teacher Chris Borg and special services coordinator Holly Charron led the trip, with expert guides Lee Gutteridge and Kersey Lawrence from the education organizations Nature Guide Training and Original Wisdom, who taught the students about wildlife tracking.
“We're not just looking at identifying what animal made this track, we're asking questions about what was this animal doing,” Borg said. “Trying to connect interactions among animals and even the plant communities, looking at how they forage and looking at where they're coming to get water and at what times. Through a track, you learn all things about the ecology of an ecosystem.”
The Hopkinton science trips to South Africa originated with former teacher Scott Semmens, who led trips in 2015 and 2017 according to Borg, who took over from Semmens and led his first trip in 2019. Borg said going abroad helps students understand the diversity of the planet and get an appreciation for ecosystems they don’t often see in person. Every Hopkinton High School student is eligible to go on the trip, but Borg said interest has been low enough so far that they haven’t had to do an official application process.
Rising junior Izzy Affenbach, 16, initially signed up for the trip because she was interested in traveling to a new place, but quickly became interested in learning more about the complexity of the politics around conservation and poaching in the region. She said studying Track and Sign – learning how to interpret animal tracks and understand animal behavior – enhanced the trip.
“It's amazing to look back and realize how much knowledge we had to learn in such a short amount of time,” Affenbach said. “We were able to identify it's not just a bird track, but ‘oh that's actually a double-banded sandgrouse’ or something, before not even knowing what that species was.”
Throughout the two weeks, the students stayed either in tents or in structures at research stations. On a typical day, they would wake up at 5:30 a.m. to the sound of birdsong and set off on a bushwalk or a game drive to try and spot some of the animals they were learning to track: buffalos, rhinoceroses, elephants or lions. The group would return to camp for a meal, and spend the afternoon studying or listening to presentations from the guides or guest lecturers from the game reserves or nearby organizations who spoke about conservation biology. Then there was usually free time, followed by an evening game drive to spot more animals, and then dinner and an early bedtime.
“Wilderness in general is a very humbling experience. Wilderness in a place where there's apex predators is extraordinarily humbling,” Borg said. “It makes people think differently about their place in the universe. Wildlife there is literally in your face, we had encounters on a daily basis with some really incredible megafauna, but also with the small things that run the planet: insects, birds, et cetera.”
Charron, who led team-building exercises with the students on the trip, said it offered a level of experiential learning they can’t get from being in a classroom. As part of their learning, each student studied a specific animal and presented about it to their classmates. They made plaster casts of animal tracks they found in a riverbed. Partway through the trip, the students took a four-hour Track and Sign field examination that measured their abilities.
“In order to learn you have to do,” Charron said. “The opportunity to actually do hands-on things blows learning up and gives you such a different perspective.”
Over the course of their two weeks, the students saw a variety of diverse animals including zebras, cheetahs, hyenas, elephants, giraffes and hippos. One time, Affenbach recalls, they watched as a whole family of elephants cross the road in front of them. A herd of impala liked to feed and sleep near their camp, according to Correa, and one night a group of hyenas came through camp, and the students who were awake in their tents could hear them conversing with one another.
Borg is already planning the next trip for 2025.
“Leaving South Africa, one of my primary goals is that it plants a seed within their mind about their place in this world, and perhaps ultimately have a greater appreciation for the diversity of our planet beyond humanity,” Borg said.”It's all about getting people, young people to appreciate this planet, because we’ve got only one.”
Dolphins are making their way into the iconic New York skyline as the city's rivers are now cleaner than at any point since the Civil War, according to environmental experts.
Anthony Obas, a Harlem resident, was lingering along the East River at the lower Manhattan waterfront when he saw a dolphin appear, The Wall Street Journal reported.
'I was like, that's a dolphin,' he told the paper. 'Oh no! In the dirtiest river in New York?'
Recent improvements in the city's water, however, have made the waterways safer for dolphins and their food supply, and in turn increased sightings of the aquatic mammals, scientists say.
'The harbor and connected waterways are cleaner today than they have been since the Civil War,' NYC Environmental Protection spokesperson Ted Timbers told Dailymail.com.
Photos from Gotham Whale show dolphins leaping out of the water in front of the New York City skyline
Dolphin sightings have been increasing in New York City rivers as the water is claimed to be as clean as before the Civil War
The river waters are tested regularly to compare the cleanliness of the waterways to previous years
'The Hudson is generally more difficult for the mammals to make their way through due to off-shore wind developments and vessels - but more sightings have occurred in the East River,' Timbers said.
The aquatic mammals typically flee towards New York City's water during the warmer months between spring and fall for feeding season, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.
To keep water safe, a nearly $50 billion project dating back to the mid 1980's is an ongoing investment to reduce the amount of pollution that gets discharged into the water ways.
To sustain and Strengthen the water, scientist are testing its health regularly to compare how much cleaner the waterways have become - made possible through a portion of funds from state water bills.
The harbor is the cleanest it's been in the last 100 years, and there has been an 80 percent reduction in sewer overflows since the mid-1980s.
The improvement has resulted in an uptick of dolphins and their main source of food - bunker fish or menhaden.
While there are several hypothesis about why dolphins may be increasing in the area, it's expected that the increase in menhaden might be the key, according to Sarah Trabue, a WCS research assistant.
'This is supported by our finding that dolphins were foraging in the majority of days that they were present in the New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary, which suggests that this area serves as a feeding ground for the migratory population of dolphins that use these waters from spring to fall each year,' Trabue said.
Fishing regulations implemented over the past few years have also prevented overfishing of menhaden - a staple food choice in the mammal's diet.
The rivers used to be some of the dirtiest, but are now mostly cleansed of the toxic chemicals and pollutants it absorbed in the past
Trabue also suggested that the big ticket effort to restore the quality of the habitat in the rivers is drawing in the marine mammals.
The Hudson River, which stretches more than 300 miles past the tip of Manhattan, is home more than 200 species of fish and a variety of birds feeding from it's waters.
The condition of the water has gone downhill as the city's population has increased - and abused the river's natural resources, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
The Hudson also experienced an increase in sewage - making the river vulnerable to bacteria and toxic chemicals that killed off millions of species and their food.
A 2020 photo displays the river at one of its worst times for a sustainable habitat
Efforts to preserve and clean up the water way, which naturally splits New Jersey and New York, began in the 1960s - prompting a sewage cleanup act known as the 1972 Clean Water Act.
In May, the Clean Water Act turned 50 - triggering environmental studies of the Hudson to be conducted.
Data showed that 'about 80% of samples taken from the Hudson meet Environmental Protection Agency criteria for safe recreation,' according to a study conducted by the environmental advocacy group Riverkeeper.
'If these samples were taken at public beaches, the beach would be open for swimming,' Riverkeeper explained, adding, 'which is essential, given that people swim not only at the Hudson’s few public beaches, but at dozens of shoreline access points.'
'Is 80% good enough? No. Is it better than 50 years ago? Certainly. Many of the Hudson River’s tributaries, and many New York City shoreline locations, are far, far riskier.'
ExxonMobil and Chevron both reported record massive profits thanks to record gasoline prices during the quarter.
Exxon's profit, excluding special items, came to $17.6 billion in the second quarter, nearly double what it made in its very profitable first quarter as oil and gas prices started to soar in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Second-quarter profit was up 273% from the same period a year ago.
Chevron earned $11.4 billion excluding special items, up 74% from the first quarter and 247% from a year ago.
Including one-time items, both earned hundreds of millions more: ExxonMobil's net income reached $17.9 billion, while Chevron brought in $11.6 billion.
ExxonMobil's net income came to $2,245.62 every second of every day of the 92-day long quarter. On that basis, Chevron earned $1,462.11 per second.
Since it takes about two minutes to pump 20 gallons of gas, that means between them the two oil giants earned more than $400,000 between them in the time it took you to fill your tank.
Reuters reported that this was a record profit for both companies — though neither mentioned that in their statement, as companies typically do when their earnings reach all-time highs.
Oil prices have started to fall recently, and gas prices are falling along with them. AAA puts the average gas price Friday at $4.26 a gallon. That's down 76 cents a gallon, or 15%, from the record of $5.02 a gallon reached on June 14.
FILE - High gas prices are shown as a pedestrian waits to cross the street in Los Angeles, June 16, 2022. Oil companies were swimming in record profits the last few months. They were benefiting from high energy costs at a time when Americans struggled to pay for gasoline, food and other basic necessities.
But one of the major reasons for that decline is growing fears among investors trading in oil and gasoline futures that the nation is hurdling toward recession. And if it is, a major reason is that the Federal Reserve is hiking interest rates at a historically fast pace in an effort to bring inflation under control. And high gas prices is a major driver of those price increases.
The US economy has shrunk in size each of the last two quarters, which is a popular shorthand for a recession. Although economists are debating whether or not the economy is already in a recession, or if one lies ahead, many consumers feel like we're already in an economic downturn. High gas prices are one of the reasons they feel that way.
Shares of ExxonMobil and Chevron both rose in premarket trading on the better-than-expected earnings. ExxonMobil shares are up more than 50% this year through Thursday's close, while Chevron shares have gained more than 30%, making them among the best performers in the Dow Jones industrial average.
Since the introduction of Henry Ford’s Model T in the early 20th century, cars and driving have become synonymous with American industry and culture. Our wheels have become more than just a way to get from A to B—they're a way to shape and define our identity.
Gasoline prices have been relatively reasonable as of late, but it wasn’t long ago that Americans were trading in their H2 Hummers to avoid paying exorbitantly high gas prices, let alone waiting in line for hours at the pump in times of severe shortages. But for nearly every mile driven, American consumers find themselves inextricably linked to a complex global commodity that can have a major impact on the cost of cruising: fuel.
But that may change in the coming decades. General Motors announced on Jan. 29, 2021, an ambitious plan to sell only zero-emission cars by 2035, phasing out cars using gas in favor of electric cars. The company seeks to become wholly carbon neutral by 2040, joining a broader effort to fight global climate change. The company's announcement is expected to prompt more auto companies in the U.S. and around to work to make similar commitments. In just a few decades, the new car market will look radically different than it does today, and the gas and oil industries, whose fortunes are tied to the auto industry, will also experience radical change.
Most of the time, both the highs and the lows of gas prices are out of drivers’ hands. During the Arab-Israeli War in 1973, Arab oil manufacturers banned exports to the U.S. due to their support of Israel, leading to a gas shortage and sky-high prices. In exact years, an increase in demand for oil in developing economies alongside an expansion in production from countries (like the U.S.) that once imported most of their oil, led to a sharp drop in oil prices. In the early months of of the COVID-19 pandemic, stay-at-home orders caused oil prices to crater as demand for oil bottomed out.
To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in January 2021), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.
Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.
You may also like: Iconic American companies started the year you were born
- Absolute gas price: $0.19
- Inflation-adjusted price: $3.41 (#10 most expensive year in 84-year span)
After President Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in 1933, the economic state of the country seemed hopeful: Americans were beginning to emerge from the financial wreckage of the Great Depression, and unemployment rates dropped more than 10% in just a few years. In 1937, the nation was hit by yet another period of economic downturn, during which unemployment spiked once more. A number of federal economic decisions, such as switching to a contractionary monetary policy, impacted inflation and led to relatively high gas prices.
- Absolute gas price: $0.18
- Inflation-adjusted price: $3.30 (#13 most expensive year in 84-year span)
In an effort to protect smaller gas station operators from the aggressive pricing of bigger companies, the state of New Jersey instituted a law in 1938 that prevented gas stations from raising prices more than once a day. In 2005, this law was put to the test when civil action was taken against 20 gas stations for doing exactly that. 1938 also brought about a recovery of the economic downturn that had begun in 1937.
- Absolute gas price: $0.17
- Inflation-adjusted price: $3.16 (#16 most expensive year in 84-year span)
1939 marked the official end of the Great Depression, and therefore the beginning of America’s return to a more stable economy. This year also marked the beginning of World War II; entering the war two years later, though devastating, would greatly invigorate the American economy and workforce. Gas prices began to drop at this time, as the U.S. teetered on the edge of a period of revitalization.
- Absolute gas price: $0.17
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.99 (#19 most expensive year in 84-year span)
Between 1940 and 1941, absolute gas prices rose by a cent, but inflation-adjusted prices dropped by 2 cents. This is due to the fact that at this moment in history, inflation was rising faster than actual prices; in fact, the inflation rate in 1941 was nearly 10%. At the tail end of the year, the United States finally entered World War II, thereby igniting a shift in global politics and economics.
You may also like: What retirement is like in 50 places around the world
- Absolute gas price: $0.18
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.85 (#23 most expensive year in 84-year span)
The United States was now a player in World War II, which meant the introduction of gas rationing. Gas rationing had little to do with a shortage; what the United States armed forces needed was rubber, so nonessential rubber usage (like car tires) had to go. In order to stop people from wearing out their tires and needing rubber that could have gone to military efforts, the U.S. decided to ration gas, limiting the number of gallons various driver classes could purchase per week.
- Absolute gas price: $0.19
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.84 (#26 most expensive year in 84-year span)
While World War II succeeded in reinvigorating the American economy, it also brought multiple industries to a complete stop. Over the course of the war, only 139 cars were produced in the United States. Instead of making cars, key players like Chrysler and General Motors were busy producing things like guns, tanks, and aircraft components. Therefore, the gas prices in 1943 applied only to American-made cars that were already in existence, as getting a new domestically produced set of wheels at this time was not an option.
- Absolute gas price: $0.19
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.79 (#33 most expensive year in 84-year span)
Between 1943 and 1944, though the absolute price of gas remained steady at $0.19 a gallon, the inflation-adjusted price dropped by several cents. This has to do with a strengthening American economic state: the war necessitated such a high degree of productivity that real wages rose by 50% between 1939 and 1944, allowing Americans to save and spend more. The war created new industries, pulled women and African Americans into the workforce, increased overtime pay, and encouraged Americans to participate in their own economy from an ideological standpoint.
- Absolute gas price: $0.19
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.73 (#39 most expensive year in 84-year span)
After years of conflict and a global loss of 70 to 85 million lives, World War II came to an end. Consequently, the end of the war also brought about the end of gas rationing in August of 1945, as well as the removal of limitations on automobile production. Many automobile companies announced plans to expand their facilities, and begin producing at rates far higher than before the war in order to meet the pent-up demand of American consumers.
- Absolute gas price: $0.19
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.52 (#26 least expensive year in 84-year span)
The postwar era brought both relief and complications for the automobile industry. Big names were ready to return to production and capitalize on an American public that suddenly had money to spend, but workers were also demanding more rights; an early 1946 steelworker strike brought production to a halt. Once matters were resolved (steel companies settled after pressure from President Harry Truman), cars began to roll out, including new models from Ford and a Chrysler convertible.
You may also like: History of gold and which countries have the most
- Absolute gas price: $0.21
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.43 (#24 least expensive year in 84-year span)
Today, full-service gas stations have largely gone the way of drive-in movie theatres and travel agents: While they're not entirely gone, pumping your own gas is certainly a more common practice. The slow death of full-service gas stations began in 1947 when Los Angeles gas station operator Frank Ulrich advertised cheaper prices in exchange for customers pumping their own gas. It was a hit, with the tiny station selling hundreds of thousands of gallons in a single month. Within a few decades, self-serve gas was commonplace across the nation.
- Absolute gas price: $0.24
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.57 (#31 least expensive year in 84-year span)
1948 marked a monumental discovery in the world of oil, which would impact the ways in which the U.S. and the world received crude oil. In the early 1940s, American geologists working for Standard Oil of California were searching for oil in Saudi Arabia. They discovered a geological bend in a riverbed that indicated an underlying oil field. Further exploration was put on pause during the war, but in 1948, a test drill hit oil. This was the beginning of a series of discoveries about the Ghawar Field, which would turn out to be the largest oil field in the world.
- Absolute gas price: $0.25
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.71 (#40 most expensive year in 84-year span)
Petroleum, also known as crude oil, was found in underground reservoirs and used to make gasoline, and therefore the global price of crude oil began to directly impact the cost of gas. The United States both imported and exported petroleum, though for many years the nation imported far more than it exported. In 1949, the United States exported more petroleum products than it imported, making it a net exporter. This would not happen again until 2011.
- Absolute gas price: $0.25
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.68 (#38 least expensive year in 84-year span)
The 1950s may conjure images of sock hops and “Leave It To Beaver”-esque viewing material, but nothing defines this decade more than its cars. In 1950, the automobile industry produced nearly 8 million vehicles and capitalized on popular features like the hardtop convertible. The automatic transmission also continued to grow in popularity, with an estimated 1.5 million automatic units sold in 1950.
- Absolute gas price: $0.26
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.58 (#32 least expensive year in 84-year span)
American gas and consumption reached an all-time high in 1951: The per capita consumption of gasoline was 295 gallons, and U.S. oil production hit 6.2 million barrels a day. While Americans consumed more oil, the U.S. did not always increase its production rate. In 2000, for example, oil production dropped to 5.8 million barrels a day. It would eventually rise again, and in May 2019, the United States hit a crude oil production average of more than 12 million barrels per day.
You may also like: College majors that make the most money
- Absolute gas price: $0.26
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.53 (#28 least expensive year in 84-year span)
In the 1950s, competition in gasoline retailing became an issue. Competitors would constantly drop prices in order to remain appealing to customers, winning over potential buyers with the promise of freebies, like car accessories. In Philadelphia, concern over the practice of competitive pricing reached such a scale that a faction of retail dealers asked the governor to look into some retailers' dishonest practices and initiate preventative legislation.
- Absolute gas price: $0.28
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.71 (#42 most expensive year in 84-year span)
The national average gas price in 1953 may have been $0.28 a gallon, but for those looking for a bargain, Omaha, Nebraska, was the place to be. Omaha native Lynn Folgate remembered getting gas that year (her first year driving) for the low price of $0.18 a gallon, according to recollections shared with the Rockford Register Star. Folgate also recalled that during her years as a “pump jockey,” people often purchased gas by demanding a specific gallon amount, rather than a dollar amount, perhaps as a relic from years of gas rationing.
- Absolute gas price: $0.28
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.69 (#39 least expensive year in 84-year span)
The U.S. experienced a slight recession between 1953 and 1954. In the wake of the Korean War, actions taken by the Federal Reserve and Treasury caused a rise in interest rates, leading to general pessimism towards the American economy. This brought upon a decrease in aggregate demand (the total demand for goods and services within the economy) and set in motion a three-quarter economic decline. Though the absolute gas price remained steady from 1953 to 1954, consumers overall spent less money during this time, and the GDP contracted 1.9% in the first quarter of 1954.
- Absolute gas price: $0.29
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.79 (#31 most expensive year in 84-year span)
Smack in the middle of a thriving economy, and with more and more people relocating to the suburbs as a result of the baby boom, 1955 was a particularly fruitful year for the automotive industry. Automobile manufacturers were experimenting with style and substance, introducing new technology in impressive designs. One of the most significant cars from this year was the Chevrolet Bel-Air, from Chevrolet's three “Tri-Five” series.
- Absolute gas price: $0.30
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.85 (#25 most expensive year in 84-year span)
In 1956, inflation-adjusted gas prices and absolute gas prices increased slightly from the previous year. As more people began living in suburbs outside of centralized industrial hubs, Americans began using more fuel—between 1955 and 1956, the average gallons per vehicle jumped from 761 to 771, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Americans were also beginning to get fewer miles per gallon, meaning they were likely spending more on gas overall.
You may also like: 50 best colleges on the West Coast
- Absolute gas price: $0.31
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.85 (#24 most expensive year in 84-year span)
The federal gasoline tax has remained at 18.4% since 1993 and exists with the intention of raising money to pay for infrastructure like roads and highways. The current structure of this tax dates back to 1957, when a system was set up to send all money made from the gasoline tax directly to the federal Highway Trust Fund. The general public expressed support for the idea of this tax being spent on things that would help them navigate their cities. Since then, that cash supply has been put toward other projects.
- Absolute gas price: $0.31
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.77 (#34 most expensive year in 84-year span)
The 1958 recession signaled the sharpest economic downturn during the generally prosperous era between World War II and the 1970s. Many industries were deeply affected during this time, with the automobile industry as a prime example. 1958 was the worst year for automotive workers since the industry-wide wartime halt a decade earlier. This period of economic distress lasted less than a year, but impacted unemployment, spending, and the strength of the dollar.
- Absolute gas price: $0.31
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.75 (#37 most expensive year in 84-year span)
There was a shift in America's attitude towards oil at this time. President Dwight Eisenhower introduced the Mandatory Oil Import Program, placing restrictions on the amount of oil that could be imported into the United States. His reasoning was based on national security concerns and a desire to prevent America from becoming too reliant on other nations for energy.
- Absolute gas price: $0.32
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.79 (#32 most expensive year in 84-year span)
Throughout the 1960s, new cars continued to blend exciting new technology with increasingly sleek design. Style was moving away from the 1950s “bigger is better” mentality, and towards a pared-down but intensely powerful world of automobiles. Muscle cars, which originated in this decade, are a perfect example of this new ideal. Additionally, 1960 marked the founding year of OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries), made up of the world's biggest oil producers. This force exerted its power over oil and gasoline prices for the United States and the rest of the world.
- Absolute gas price: $0.32
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.76 (#36 most expensive year in 84-year span)
In January 1961, John F. Kennedy took office as the 35th president of the United States. This marked the tail-end of a short recession, which led to a period of immense economic expansion (the longest in history up to that point), lasting until 1969. Some cars that were introduced in 1960 include the Mazda B Series, the Fiat 2300, and the Oldsmobile Cutlass.
You may also like: Best states to start a business
- Absolute gas price: $0.32
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.74 (#38 most expensive year in 84-year span)
There was no change in the absolute price of gas between 1961 and 1962, and the inflation-adjusted price dropped by just by two cents. The world was shaken on Nov. 22, 1963, when President Kennedy was assassinated during a presidential motorcade in Dallas, Texas. Though experts agree that Kennedy's economic legacy is complicated—his tax cuts remain a popular point of discussion on that front—he certainly presided over a period of immense economic prosperity in the United States, leading to low unemployment rates even after his death.
- Absolute gas price: $0.32
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.70 (#40 least expensive year in 84-year span)
The 1960s were not necessarily a time of great environmental concern or awareness, but Americans were starting to take notice of factories and cars negatively impacting air quality. In 1963, the Clean Air Act was officially passed. This legislation allowed for the creation of a program that researched methods of controlling air pollution, in an attempt to control current levels.
- Absolute gas price: $0.32
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.67 (#36 least expensive year in 84-year span)
In 1964, the median income for American families was $6,600 a year. This marked a strong year for consumers—this median income was 5% higher than it had been in 1963, and more than double what it had been in 1947. Absolute gas prices once again remained steady at $0.32 per gallon, meaning that at this time, a gallon of gas made up a slightly smaller percentage of a person's total income than it did in 2018.
- Absolute gas price: $0.33
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.71 (#41 least expensive year in 84-year span)
The Clean Air Act of 1963 was an important move in the direction of environmental awareness, and the 1965 amendments to this law specifically targeted automobile emissions. The amendments, known as the Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act, prioritized setting specific standards for car emissions, beginning with 1968 car models. The amendments also raised awareness and promoted research on how pollution in the United States could impact air quality in Mexico and Canada.
- Absolute gas price: $0.34
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.71 (#41 most expensive year in 84-year span)
Few cars can sum up the automobile style preferences of the 1960s like the Ford Mustang. Beginning with the Mustang I, a two-seater that prioritized style over substance, the car eventually morphed into its 1966 identity: often a red convertible with all the flair of the popular muscle car ideal. In 1966, Ford sold approximately 500,000 Mustangs Coupes, making it one of the most popular and lasting models the brand ever produced.
You may also like: 50 most congested cities in America
- Absolute gas price: $0.35
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.71 (#42 least expensive year in 84-year span)
In 1967, the United States was in the midst of the Vietnam War. By this point, the U.S. troop count in Vietnam was nearing half a million, casualties were rising on both sides, and American anti-war sentiments were becoming increasingly prevalent. Elsewhere in the world, the scene was being set for the 1973 oil crisis, during which gas shortages plagued America, as major global oil suppliers like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Kuwait temporarily banned shipments. This came in response to the Six-Day War between Israel and Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, which occurred in 1967. Use of oil as a tactical playing card in this way is referred to as the “oil” weapon.
- Absolute gas price: $0.35
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.60 (#33 least expensive year in 84-year span)
There might be no more picturesque image than sitting behind the wheel of a Mustang California Special, driving up the Pacific Coast Highway with the wind in your hair, perhaps on your way to grab a 50-cent hamburger—because it's 1968. The Ford Mustang California Special coupe was produced in a limited run (only about 4,000 were sold) and sold primarily in California in the 1968 auto year. This car is a strong example of 1960s style and the West Coast glamour that was idealized at the time.
- Absolute gas price: $0.36
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.53 (#27 least expensive year in 84-year span)
At the end of Richard Nixon's first year as president in December of 1969, unemployment had fallen to 3.5% (a low that has yet to be matched), and inflation was at 6.2%. Because of this, prices generally rose, even as overall spending remained about the same. This may have contributed to gas prices rising a cent from 1968, from $0.35 to $0.36 per gallon.
- Absolute gas price: $0.36
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.40 (#23 least expensive year in 84-year span)
Despite past political efforts, by the early 1970s the United States had developed a reliance on imported oil. Technological advances meant that more oil and gasoline than ever before was required to maintain daily life, but the U.S. was producing less and less oil domestically. This would ultimately develop into the 1973 oil crisis. The economy also took an overall hit this year—GDP growth was only 0.2%, down a substantial amount from the year prior, and inflation continued.
- Absolute gas price: $0.37
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.36 (#21 least expensive year in 84-year span)
Gas prices climbed in 1971, as did taxes, due to inflation and general economic instability. The situation became so dire that President Richard Nixon issued a 90-day freeze on all prices and wages in the nation. He demanded that everyone, from the individual to the corporation, cooperate voluntarily. The freeze brought about mixed reactions, and though it did initially inject some much-needed life back into the stock market, the success was short-lived.
You may also like: Most successful fast food companies
- Absolute gas price: $0.37
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.29 (#19 least expensive year in 84-year span)
The 1973 gas crisis caused widespread panic and national gasoline shortages. This event caught most by surprise, but not Stewart Udall, a writer for The Atlantic who predicted the crisis in 1972. Udall was convinced that insufficient American oil production, coupled with an unstable market in the Middle East would prove problematic, and wrote that “the impact of these tremors can already be anticipated.”
- Absolute gas price: $0.41
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.38 (#22 least expensive year in 84-year span)
The most famous historic event to do with gasoline and gas prices, the 1973 oil crisis began when the members of OPEC declared an embargo against nations that had supported, or appeared to support, Israel during the Arab-Israeli war earlier that year. This embargo meant that the United States, which had become extremely reliant on foreign oil, suddenly faced gasoline shortages. In response, gas prices soared, and lines at gas stations got longer. The impact of this crisis ultimately stretched far beyond availability; in fact, the crisis shifted the balance of global politics and forced America to take a position in the Middle East in order to end the embargo.
- Absolute gas price: $0.55
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.88 (#21 most expensive year in 84-year span)
When 1974 began, the United States was still very much in the midst of the oil crisis that had begun the previous year as retaliation against nations that OPEC believed supported Israel. This was accompanied by a stock market crash that lasted throughout 1973 and 1974, and gas prices continued to skyrocket. In some states, license plates ending with odd or even numbers could fill up only on certain days. Eventually, negotiations resulted in Israel withdrawing its troops from the Suez Canal in exchange for lifting the embargo.
- Absolute gas price: $0.59
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.83 (#27 most expensive year in 84-year span)
By 1975, the public was scared and suspicious; two years of waking up at the crack of dawn to wait in line for gasoline had taken its toll on morale, and gas prices increased once again. Along with changes in price, however, came changes with how money was spent. Throughout the 1970s, the credit card was gaining popularity, and women were beginning to demand equal rights in the realm of credit and finances. In fact, a year after the Senate passed the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, a bank opened that was geared specifically toward women.
- Absolute gas price: $0.61
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.77 (#35 most expensive year in 84-year span)
Absolute gas prices rose by two cents between 1975 and 1976, though inflation began to slow down around this time. The inflation adjusted price dropped by five cents between the two years. Though the oil embargo that had caused gasoline shortages had been lifted, the United States now faced another energy crisis: a natural gas shortage that resulted in layoffs in the automobile industry. Businesses and homeowners alike struggled to function and stay warm as winter approached.
You may also like: Successful U.S. companies started by immigrants
- Absolute gas price: $0.66
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.81 (#30 most expensive year in 84-year span)
Unemployment in 1976 had reached 7.7%, and President Jimmy Carter inherited a nation that was still in recovery from years of oil shortages, inflation, and general economic instability. Gas prices jumped up again this year, from $0.61 in 1976 to $0.66 in 1977, but the economy did prosper during Carter's first year in office, and unemployment rates fell for the two ensuing years.
- Absolute gas price: $0.67
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.65 (#34 least expensive year in 84-year span)
Just a few years after the 1973 oil shock, a second crisis reared its head. Consumer inflation was steadily increasing, and though the Federal Reserve tried to combat this issue, it proved ineffective—prices were about to jump once more. The worst of the crisis would occur the following year, and the beginning of the Iranian Revolution helped set the stage.
- Absolute gas price: $0.90
- Inflation-adjusted price: $3.20 (#15 most expensive year in 84-year span)
The Iranian Revolution began in January 1978, disrupting the country's oil exportation process. Availability dropped as a consequence, but in reality, Iranian oil exportation only dropped by a small percentage. Nevertheless, the panic was enough to send gas prices around the globe skyrocketing once again. America was, for the second time in a decade, faced with high prices, long waits at the gas station, and extreme inflation. In November, the global situation worsened as the 444-day Iranian hostage crisis began.
- Absolute gas price: $1.25
- Inflation-adjusted price: $3.92 (#5 most expensive year in 84-year span)
After the oil crisis of 1979, gas prices surged once more in 1980, jumping from $0.90 to $1.25 per gallon as global oil prices peaked. Jimmy Carter's presidency was marked by inflation, gas shortages, and international crises, and despite his 1979 “crisis of confidence” speech, Carter was defeated by Ronald Reagan.
- Absolute gas price: $1.30
- Inflation-adjusted price: $3.48 (#9 most expensive year in 84-year span)
The automobile industry struggled throughout the 1980s, and one unlucky victim of this hardship was the DeLorean. Made iconic by its role in the “Back to the Future” franchise, the Delorean was already famous due to the lavish legacy of its founder, John Z. DeLorean. In October 1982, however, DeLorean shuttered its doors. Perhaps the option of a 24-karat gold-plated DeLorean, retailing at $85,000, simply didn't have enough mass-market appeal.
- Absolute gas price: $1.24
- Inflation-adjusted price: $3.22 (#14 most expensive year in 84-year span)
Gas prices still hovered at levels far above their pre-crisis numbers in 1983. Just five years prior, gas was $0.67, almost half the price in 1983. The “oil glut” of the 1980s was causing prices to drop to the point where major oil suppliers marked down their crude oil to as little as $5 a barrel. This came in sharp contrast to the globally jacked-up oil prices of just a few years prior, but since demand for gasoline had fallen so sharply, oil suppliers were forced to slash prices.
- Absolute gas price: $1.21
- Inflation-adjusted price: $3.01 (#18 most expensive year in 84-year span)
Between the 1960s and the 1980s, global awareness of the fossil fuel industry's impact on the environment grew rapidly. A 1969 oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara garnered public condemnation of offshore drilling, and in the early '80s, Congress banned new offshore drilling in most parts of the country's coastal waters. However, offshore drilling continues in areas of the Gulf of Mexico, and as regulations shift, this practice makes up a higher and higher percentage of the United States' total oil production.
- Absolute gas price: $1.20
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.88 (#22 most expensive year in 84-year span)
As environmental awareness and concern began to take root, the government turned its attention towards the automobile industry with regards to fuel economy standards. In 1975, Congress introduced the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, which set standards intended to double the average car's fuel economy by model year 1985. As a result, the average mileage in a passenger vehicle jumped from 13.5 miles per gallon in 1975 to 27.5 miles per gallon a decade later. Light truck fuel economy also increased, and many Americans paid less for gas in total (even though prices per gallon were still fairly high at $1.20).
- Absolute gas price: $0.93
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.19 (#16 least expensive year in 84-year span)
Oil prices collapsed in 1986, as Saudi Arabia changed course in its approach to the oil market. Rather than drumming up prices as it had in the past, it increased production in an attempt to dominate its share of the global market. Oil prices were plummeting and gas prices dropped 27 cents from the year prior, with a sweeping impact on the American economy and job market. The oil and gas extraction industry lost 150,000 jobs over the course of the year.
You may also like: The most unionized states
- Absolute gas price: $0.95
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.16 (#13 least expensive year in 84-year span)
Heading into 1987, many feared lasting damage as a result of the oil price collapse. However, in December 1986, several OPEC members agreed to cut production, thereby raising prices. The cuts would bring OPEC oil prices up to $18 per barrel, and in 1987, gas prices began to stabilize. OPEC had previously used a fixed-price system of this kind, the abandonment of which had been an attempt to dominate the world market, but led to plummeting gas prices.
- Absolute gas price: $0.95
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.07 (#9 least expensive year in 84-year span)
In 1988, OPEC leaders met once again to discuss oil production limits, which had previously been established as 16.6 million barrels per day. Bringing production down to this level was intended to raise prices globally and meet a benchmark oil price of $18 per barrel. With these cuts and limitations in place, gasoline prices in 1988 matched those of 1987, signaling that the falling prices had come to an end.
- Absolute gas price: $1.02
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.12 (#11 least expensive year in 84-year span)
Though not exactly a time of prosperity for the automobile industry, 1989 brought about two important additions to the American world of cars. The Lexus LS 400, born from Japanese car giant Toyota, launched this year, and changed the world of luxury cars forever. On an episode of “Top Gear,” the model was described as “petrifyingly good.” This wasn't the only way in which Japan solidified itself as a key player in the American luxury car industry: Nissan also introduced the Infiniti this year
- Absolute gas price: $1.16
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.29 (#19 least expensive year in 84-year span)
The first federal gasoline tax, of $0.01 a gallon, was put into place in 1932. The gas tax was always intended to create revenue to be used towards new infrastructure, but in 1990, that changed. Congress approved a package in which the gas tax would be raised from $0.091 to $0.14 a gallon, but half of the additional revenue created would be put toward reducing the national deficit. Some experts believe this permanently altered public attitude towards the gas tax. Instead of seeing it as a necessary and even helpful price for maintaining roads, it had transformed into a federal cash pot.
- Absolute gas price: $1.14
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.16 (#14 least expensive year in 84-year span)
At the start of 1991, the United States was still in the midst of the Gulf War, which had begun in August 1990 when Saddam Hussein's forces invaded Kuwait. This Iraqi invasion caused a decrease in oil production, leading to a spike in oil prices keenly felt by a country in recession. The average price of gasoline in 1991 remained fairly inflated at $1.14 per gallon.
You may also like: Counties with the fastest-falling population in every state
- Absolute gas price: $1.13
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.08 (#10 least expensive year in 84-year span)
In 1992, Bill Clinton defeated George H.W. Bush in the presidential election. A factor politicians often point to in terms of the victory was a rising unemployment rate. Though gas prices also spiked under Bush's watch, they were on the decline by the election. Clinton used the previous recession as a means for painting Bush's economic strategies as problematic, and famously had the phrase “the economy, stupid” scrawled on a campaign headquarters whiteboard as a reminder of how much Americans cared about this issue.
- Absolute gas price: $1.11
- Inflation-adjusted price: $1.98 (#7 least expensive year in 84-year span)
Throughout 1992, 10 million Americans were unemployed, the poverty rate hit 15.1%, and inflation was still impacting family income. As a response, President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore launched an economic strategy that slowly began to shift the economy forward. This strategy involved eliminating the deficit, prioritizing education as a means for creating American jobs, and opening foreign markets.
- Absolute gas price: $1.11
- Inflation-adjusted price: $1.93 (#3 least expensive year in 84-year span)
Gas prices remained steady from 1993 to 1994, hovering at $1.11 per gallon. Some of the most popular cars for that model year included the 1994 Lexus SC, the Cadillac DeVille, and the BMW 3 Series. This same year, the introduction of the North American Free Trade Agreement changed the way that cars would be produced. Because of NAFTA, the United States was able to trade freely with Canada and Mexico; Mexico has since become a key player in automobile manufacturing.
- Absolute gas price: $1.15
- Inflation-adjusted price: $1.95 (#4 least expensive year in 84-year span)
The '90s were a time of economic prosperity, job growth, and increased productivity that paved the way for a technological revolution. Although some of this growth was due to political strategy, many factors could be considered “lucky mistakes” or unpredictable. For instance, Clinton's effort to reduce the deficit shouldn't necessarily have helped with unemployment rates, but it did. The reduction of the deficit aided in bank recapitalization, which pumped up the economy and reduced unemployment as well.
- Absolute gas price: $1.23
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.02 (#8 least expensive year in 84-year span)
From 1995 to 1996, gas prices jumped substantially, and some cities hit prices far above the national average. Some pumps in New York City spiked as high as $1.56 per gallon. Analysts blamed the price hikes on the rising costs of crude oil, which hit $25 a barrel in the spring, forcing those who refined crude oil into gasoline to bump up their prices as well. Higher prices were also caused by higher national demand for gasoline, which some believe resulted from increases in speed limits across the country.
You may also like: Colleges with the best student life in every state
- Absolute gas price: $1.23
- Inflation-adjusted price: $1.98 (#6 least expensive year in 84-year span)
In 1997, a one-day gas boycott brought down prices by 30 cents per gallon overnight—or at least, so says a 2012 Facebook post that received wide circulation as it called for a similar boycott. When officials from various agencies looked into this claim, however, they found no federal records or news archives in reference to a 1997 “gas out.” In truth, gas prices remained fairly steady throughout 1997 and matched average prices of the year prior, save for changes in inflation.
- Absolute gas price: $1.06
- Inflation-adjusted price: $1.68 (#1 least expensive year in 84-year span)
Gas prices fell substantially from 1997 to 1998, dropping from an average of $1.23 per gallon to just $1.06 per gallon, the lowest since the government began tracking gasoline prices. In some states, average costs fell below a dollar. These low prices were caused by the falling costs of crude oil, which was selling on the New York Mercantile Exchange for less than half of what it had been a year prior. While cheap gasoline is usually welcome news for consumers, the same can't be said for the oil industry. Some small oil producers were forced to shut down entirely, as bigger corporations faced layoffs and extreme cost-cutting measures.
- Absolute gas price: $1.17
- Inflation-adjusted price: $1.81 (#2 least expensive year in 84-year span)
In 1998, gas prices hit an all-time low across the nation, and these prices continued into the early weeks and months of 1999. By the summer, prices were beginning to increase once again as oil production experienced cutbacks, but by the end of the year, absolute gas prices averaged $1.17 per gallon, climbing back towards the averages of years prior.
- Absolute gas price: $1.51
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.26 (#18 least expensive year in 84-year span)
The fears of Y2K were mostly unfounded—though some computer glitches related to formatting and calendar data did arise. In the world of gasoline, prices climbed once again, hitting $1.51 per gallon on average. Gas costs dropped off again near the end of the year, as OPEC decided to increase daily crude oil production, upping the daily output by 800,000 barrels.
- Absolute gas price: $1.46
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.13 (#12 least expensive year in 84-year span)
Gasoline prices dropped again from 2000 to 2001 during the first year of the Bush administration, amidst increased oil production from OPEC. In California, for example, gas prices dropped eight times over the course of nine weeks. They had risen during the spring, as usual, but continued to fall throughout the summer. In July, gas prices around the nation hit a three-month low of $1.40, though California taxes meant that the state's average price was $1.78.
You may also like: The cost of a beer the year you turned 21
- Absolute gas price: $1.36
- Inflation-adjusted price: $1.95 (#5 least expensive year in 84-year span)
In 2002, gasoline prices fell for the second year in a row, both times by 10 cents or more. At this time, the National Academy of Sciences was feeling hopeful about the future of energy-efficient cars and released a study that estimated cars and trucks could meet a fuel efficiency level of 37 miles per gallon within the following 10 to 15 years. The same study also showed that falling prices weren't the only thing causing Americans to save money at the pump: the country was saving 2.7 barrels of gasoline every day as a result of increasingly more fuel-efficient vehicles.
- Absolute gas price: $1.59
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.23 (#17 least expensive year in 84-year span)
Only a few cars achieve true fame—Doc's DeLorean and the Batmobile may come to mind—but the Hummer H2 must be counted among the most infamous cars ever produced. The Hummer H2 was released for the 2003 model year, and with a curb weight of more than 6,000 pounds, it was not a subtle choice. The car was designed and originally produced in a time when gasoline prices were so low that filling up the behemoth's extra-large tank was possible with breaking the bank. In 2003, however, gasoline prices were on the rise, and would soon reach levels that made owning an H2 a rather unsavory option.
- Absolute gas price: $1.88
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.57 (#30 least expensive year in 84-year span)
In 2004, the United States was recovering from a recession that took place during 2002 and 2003. Fuel costs hit what was then an all-time high, reaching $1.88 per gallon on average. Multiple factors played into this price increase, among them a higher American fuel demand and consumption, and low domestic oil inventories. Additionally, OPEC's continued production cuts only served to hike gas prices further.
- Absolute gas price: $2.30
- Inflation-adjusted price: $3.04 (#17 most expensive year in 84-year span)
Gas costs surged in 2005—as much at one point as 20 cents in a period of just three weeks—and crude oil prices continued to increase as well. In August, crude oil hit $67 a barrel, instigating concern over whether the world's oil supply would be able to keep up with an ever-growing demand for fuel.
- Absolute gas price: $2.59
- Inflation-adjusted price: $3.32 (#11 most expensive year in 84-year span)
Crude oil and gasoline costs surged again in 2006, hitting an absolute price of $2.59 and an inflation-adjusted price of $3.20. At the same time, the Environmental Protection Agency was working to impose more stringent fuel restrictions, focusing specifically on combating sulfur levels in diesel fuel. Regulations demanding the use of low-sulfur diesel had been enacted in the '90s, but in 2006, the EPA began requiring ultra-low sulfur diesel, which contains only 15 parts per million.
You may also like: What the 50 biggest cities in America looked like 50 years ago
- Absolute gas price: $2.80
- Inflation-adjusted price: $3.49 (#8 most expensive year in 84-year span)
In 2007, oil prices rose once again, and at the end of the year had hit $90 per barrel. This caused gasoline prices to rise as well, with an increase of about 8% from the year prior. Though they ultimately continued to surge, costs dropped ever so slightly near the end of 2007, which experts attributed to the combination of lower gasoline demand during winter months, and consumers becoming disillusioned with steep numbers at the pump.
- Absolute gas price: $3.27
- Inflation-adjusted price: $3.92 (#3 most expensive year in 84-year span)
Over the course of 2008, oil prices hit both historic highs and lows: From July to December, oil prices dropped from approximately $147 to $33 per barrel, all while nations around the globe felt the effects of the Great Recession. Oil prices directly impacted gasoline prices, which peaked this year at $3.27 before dropping substantially. The combination of falling income and rising gasoline prices also led to a large decrease in the sale of SUVs, which spelled huge financial trouble for the oil and automobile industries.
- Absolute gas price: $2.35
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.83 (#28 most expensive year in 84-year span)
By 2009, a combination of factors brought about the death of the Hummer as both a car and lifestyle brand. The previous year's high gasoline prices made the Hummer a very costly vehicle to drive, and attitudes towards SUVs were changing as citizens grappled with harsh environmental realities. With Hummer drivers experiencing increasing public shaming, Hummer sales dropped to 5,487 units for the year. Trouble was afoot elsewhere in the automotive industry: Both General Motors and Chrysler were hit so hard by the recession that they required government bailouts.
- Absolute gas price: $2.79
- Inflation-adjusted price: $3.30 (#12 most expensive year in 84-year span)
Four years after “An Inconvenient Truth” detailed some of the potential lasting damage modern-scale fuel reliance could do, the automobile industry was getting in on the renewable energy game. In the wake of high gas prices, which would soon rise again, hybrid and electric vehicles began to hit the market. In 2010, the Department of Energy granted Tesla $465 million to develop electric cars at a California facility. That same year, Chevy released a plug-in hybrid, and Nissan released a 100% electric model called the LEAF.
- Absolute gas price: $3.53
- Inflation-adjusted price: $4.05 (#2 most expensive year in 84-year span)
2011 was the first year in which average prices for both gasoline and diesel consistently stayed above $3 per gallon. These record highs can be attributed to inflated costs in the crude oil market, after the Obama administration and UN Security Council instigated a military intervention in Libya. Libya is one of the world's largest oil producers, and as a result, the nation's ability to produce and export oil was disrupted, causing price shocks throughout the global oil market.
You may also like: The cities with the worst commutes in America
- Absolute gas price: $3.64
- Inflation-adjusted price: $4.09 (#1 most expensive year in 84-year span)
In 2012, the national average price of gasoline was up $0.09 to a new high of $3.64 per gallon. The American Automobile Association offered a number of reasons for prices continuing to climb, including the devastating impact of Hurricane Sandy, among other costly storms, as well as continued tensions in the Middle East. Analysts noted, however, that despite high prices at gas stations, Americans were not necessarily spending more on gasoline overall, due to a large dip in total demand for the product.
- Absolute gas price: $3.53
- Inflation-adjusted price: $3.91 (#6 most expensive year in 84-year span)
After several years of dramatic jumps, gasoline prices fell slightly in 2013 to the same absolute price as 2011. A key reason for this movement towards lower prices was an increase in domestic oil production within the United States. In October of 2013, America produced more oil domestically than it imported from other nations. The United States had not produced more than it imported in nearly two decades, and this milestone came with an additional marker: The country had not imported so little crude oil since 1991.
- Absolute gas price: $3.37
- Inflation-adjusted price: $3.68 (#7 most expensive year in 84-year span)
The average cost of gas in 2014 ultimately fell lower than it did in 2013, but not without a few sharp peaks along the way. In April, a time when gas prices tend to spike, the average price per gallon across the nation was $3.70, higher than it had been during the same month the previous year. The conflict in Iraq was a cause of these high prices, as the Islamic State group seizing control of much of the country led to a disruption of Iraq's oil supply. After these summer spikes, many states would begin to see prices flatten or fall leading into the next year.
- Absolute gas price: $2.45
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.67 (#37 least expensive year in 84-year span)
By September of 2016, gas prices had fallen so much that only four states (California, Nevada, Alaska, and Hawaii) maintained an average cost above $3 a gallon; in some states, the average gas price fell below $2. The falling prices can be partially attributed to the United States' rising domestic production, which typically would cause OPEC to limit its own production in order to drive up global oil demand. However, Saudi Arabia, the leader of OPEC, showed no signs of slowing and continued to export oil at its normal capacity, leading to a glut in the market and low prices at the pump.
- Absolute gas price: $2.14
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.30 (#20 least expensive year in 84-year span)
Gasoline prices continued to fall throughout 2015 and 2016, which, for most drivers, was only happy news. In fact, government officials estimated that the low cost of gas the previous year had saved drivers $100 billion. Some analysts pointed out that extremely low oil prices, leading to low gas prices, may be linked to concerning global trends, like slow growth in economic powerhouses like China. For the time being, however, consumers were happy with full tanks. The car industry saw its best year in a long time, with nearly 18 million units sold.
You may also like: Best value public colleges in America
- Absolute gas price: $2.41
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.54 (#29 least expensive year in 84-year span)
Crude oil makes up about half the price of a gallon of gas, so as crude oil prices began to creep back up in 2017, gasoline prices followed suit. Summer is typically a time for gas prices to rise, and the summer of 2017 was no different. This time, however, price hikes were due not just to the usual increase in demand, but to the catastrophic effects of Hurricane Harvey, which hit the coast of Texas in August and caused more than $120 billion in damage. Texas is a key source of American oil, and the hurricane-damaged oil refineries and crucial infrastructure, causing a rise in gasoline prices.
- Absolute gas price: $2.74
- Inflation-adjusted price: $2.82 (#29 most expensive year in 84-year span)
Many Americans may expect to spend a little extra around Thanksgiving, but in 2018, higher than usual November gas prices meant that the holiday commute to your in-laws may have been even pricier. While these November pump prices were up 4 cents from the year prior, experts in the oil and gas industry noted that it was still a time of relatively low prices. They connected this to OPEC's 2014 decision not to institute production cuts, causing oil and gasoline prices around the world to fall.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.
Lord Mayor Betty Disero’s husband, Dan Williams, is at the centre of a civil suit two neighbours have filed against the town.
Colin Telfer and Jennifer Elliott own a property on Dorchester Street and starting in 2016 they ran a bed and breakfast until the town refused to grant them a licence in July of 2020.
Telfer and Elliott were told a complaint was filed with the town alleging someone was living in the couple’s recently constructed garage. As a result, until an inspection took place, they could not renew their B&B licence.
The two went through what they say was a frustrating process of trying to find out who made the complaint.
They say the town initially refused to tell them who the complainant was, but eventually they discovered it was Williams, whose property borders Telfer’s and Elliott’s.
Williams said he signed the complaint when he filed it. The town does not usually reveal complainants’ names.
In a written statement, Elliott said she and Telfer are “the victims of harassment lies and the blatant abuse of our rights as citizens and property owners, by a person in authority.”
To them, the claim that they might be living in their garage seemed too outrageous to be true.
“We said, ‘That’s ridiculous.’ We wouldn’t be living in our garage. We’re two old farts, why would we move from our nice, air-conditioned home into our garage?” Elliott said in an interview.
Regardless, town bylaw officers attempted to conduct an inspection of the garage in order to verify or throw out the complaint.
Telfer and Elliott refused the inspection as a matter of principle and pride, Elliott said in an email to the town, referring to the search as humiliating.
Since an inspection of the property had already been completed in June and was evidently good, Telfer and Elliott tried to learn from the town who filed the complaint, fearing they were the victims of a malicious neighbour.
“It is the town’s standard practice not to disclose the identity of individuals who make complaints to the town. This practice is in place to protect a complainant’s privacy and to avoid retaliation amongst citizens,” former chief planner Craig Larmour said in a sworn affidavit in 2021.
Elliott and Telfer were concerned with the secrecy around Williams’ identity and the town’s refusal to identify the complainant amplified their concerns.
“Frankly, this scared the hell out of us, when someone with a lot more power than I ever had put a target on us. For those seven months, we didn’t know what was going on. We were panic they were going to target our main business,” said Telfer, a former police officer.
“That’s what really scared us. I’m not ashamed to admit it, I was scared every goddamn night.”
The affidavit states the only reason the town released Williams’ name is because he consented to it.
Telfer and Elliott said they got William’s identity due to police involvement, as they intended to file a mischief complaint against the complainant.
Another point of contention for the couple is that the town’s lawyer, Terrence Hill, told them there was no investigation after months of back and forth emailing.
“I thought they got their files mixed up because I’ve got 30 emails talking about this investigation,” Telfer said.
But Telfer said the town persisted in changing its narrative and suggesting there never had been a complaint but simply an extended inspection of the rental property.
Emails obtained by The Lake Report show a slightly more complex exchange.
Hill’s email to Elliott’s lawyer, dated March 11, 2021, says the issue around their rental did not rise from the complaint but rather from posts by Elliott on Facebook which said part of the garage would be used as an open-concept living space.
Screenshots attached to the town’s affidavit confirm Elliott wrote about the living space.
The statements on Facebook were the subject of the complaint filed by Williams.
Williams confirmed he filed a complaint about the setback of the new garage. He says he was not aware the issue was ongoing until Elliott made a Facebook post about it last week.
“I did see it and kind of laughed about it,” Williams said in an interview on July 19.
“I thought it was done, all said and done. I had no idea about it, that it was still continuing.”
Regarding the complaint, Williams said, “They’ve got a brand new dwelling five feet from my side-yard fence. I said it’s completely ruined our view. Basically that’s why I lodged the complaint.”
“It should have been a 20-foot setback if they were going to turn it into a dwelling.”
He said he has barely dealt with the issue or heard of it since.
“Believe it or not, I didn’t hear anything about it until some lawyer called me and I answered some questions. That’s all I ever heard about it.”
Williams Checked that he based his complaint on Elliott’s Facebook post.
“What he sent in is a picture of Jennifer’s Facebook page, of a conversation she’s having with her cousin saying something about living space,” said Telfer.
Which brings the narrative back around to the garage. They have turned a portion of the garage into what Telfer called a “she-shed.” Essentially a hang out spot for Elliott.
“This complaint is just the most embarrassing thing I have ever seen,” said Telfer.
He and Elliott said one of the reasons they refused to allow an inspection of their garage is that Williams’ complaint was based on a false assumption.
Telfer said the garage was built with the proper permits and nothing was ever done that infringed any law or bylaw.
Therefore, having their business licence denied and receiving inconsistent responses from the town has left Telfer and Elliott feeling they were mistreated and are owed compensation.
They are suing the town for $100,000, with $50,000 relating to the loss of income and closure of their B&B, and another $50,000 for punitive and exemplary damages relating to the case.
They also want the town to launch a third-party investigation through an organization such as the provincial ombudsman to determine whether there was any wrongdoing by the municipality.
The suit has not been heard by a court and none of the allegations has been proven. In an online post this week about the case, Elliott said they have spent $41,000 in legal fees so far.
Central to the couple’s concerns is whether Disero knew of the situation and could be manipulating the situation due to her position of power in the town, motivated by her relationship with her husband.
Disero denies any such allegations.
“I will deliver you my own straightforward answers — I have acted with integrity. I have not sought to influence town employees for my personal advantage,” she told The Lake Report on July 19, reading from a prepared statement.
“I have not acted in a way that would deliver rise to a conflict of interest, bad faith or undue influence. I have certainly not acted in a way that is illegal or improper,” she said.
“I take the oath of office very seriously and act in a professional manner in service to my community. I have never used my office of lord mayor for my personal advantage.”
“For me to comment on the substance of their allegations would be to do what I am accused of and what I completely deny doing. I am duty-bound not to take advantage of information I have only because of my office of lord mayor to my personal advantage.”
Chief administrator Marnie Cluckie confirmed the suit has been filed.
“Town staff respond with integrity and with the best interests of the community in mind. Comments pertaining to dishonesty are without merit,” Cluckie said.
She said the town would not offer further comment as it is an active legal matter.
Town staff did not reply to inquiries as to whether the matter had been discussed with councillors in a closed session.
Evan Saunders, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Lake Report
