Presidents get credited for low gas prices, but blamed if gas is costly

Q Comparing U.S gas prices to Europe’s and suggesting we should be happy is wrong-headed.

The more appropriate comparison is pre- and post-Joe Biden’s election.

You may not like Donald Trump, but you surely liked gas prices during his administration. He pushed the U.S. to energy independence, a scenario in which our energy prices were insulated from the rest of the world.

President Biden has reduced the production of oil in the U.S., he stopped the Canadian pipeline and instituted other measures to restrict fossil fuel production here.

Then he asks OPEC to produce more. How does that move reduce greenhouse gases? It does not.

We have lost our energy independence, which makes the U.S. more vulnerable to supply-demand elsewhere in the world.

— Chuck DeVita,

Hollister

A A president gets too much credit for low gas prices, and too much blame when they increase. We started reaching energy independence under President Barack Obama, and it increased when people started driving much less during the pandemic. Prices are trending slightly down and are expected to decrease over the next few weeks.

Canceling the pipeline has no impact on current prices as no oil had been produced and would not have been for several years. Prices were high when George W. Bush was president, and he was not to blame for those prices, either.

Q Traveling on Interstate 5 leaving Sacramento, we noted that road improvements were completed but the speed limit was still posted at 55 mph due to the work zone.

We were in the slow lane going 59 mph as everyone, even big rigs, passed us going 65-75plus mph.

It’s been this way for some time now. When is Caltrans going to return the speed limit to 65 mph? — Brad Thomson,

Oakley

A This will happen soon.

Q Can we talk about license plates again, and this time not their placement, but what’s on them?

I’ve been noticing more California license plates that don’t have the usual pattern: number, 3 letters, 3 numbers. Instead, their pattern is: letter, 3 numbers, letter, number.

These plates all have the retro yellow-on-black design.

Has the DMV started using a new numbering scheme for license plates? Or is there something else going on with these plates? — Ross Finlayson, Mountain View

A It’s not a new scheme. These license plates are the California 1960s Legacy specialty plates.

Owners can order special interest plates and a portion of their fees are donated to the associated charity or cause.

The California 1960s Legacy plates support the Environmental License plate fund, which benefits environmental projects.

A different pattern was developed to distinguish these plates from regular license plates.

Processing of specialized license plates currently takes six months or longer.