Lehi gas station lowers prices for special two-hour event
Americans For Prosperity partnered with All About Food and Fuel gas station in Lehi on Tuesday to lower gas prices to $2.38 per gallon for a two-hour event.
People were lined up in their cars hours before the event started to ensure they would be included in the 1,000 lucky people who had a chance to fill up their tanks. AFP volunteers stood at all 10 gas pumps ready to help each individual and provide them with information about the importance of the event.
AFP State Director Heather Andrews and 3rd Congressional District Rep. John Curtis were in attendance to show support and talk to the public about the seemingly never-ending increase in gas prices.
“We decided as a chapter that we wanted to do these events because there are a lot of people hurting across the country and in Utah from the prices of gas, housing costs and other goods and services,” Andrews said. “We wanted to do this event so we can capture the story of everyday Utahns and how theses costs are affecting them. Hopefully we can send a message to Washington to unleash energy independence, ignite innovation and prevent reckless spending.”
The national average for gas was $2.38 per gallon in January 2021, according to an AFP press release. The event was part of AFP’s The True Cost of Washington campaign to educate Americans about why costs are on the rise while offering solutions to make life more affordable.
“Everywhere I go in the district, everybody is concerned about inflation and gas prices,” Curtis said. “The unfortunate thing is that it doesn’t have to be this way, and I think the people know that, and there’s a lot of pent-up anger. It is unfortunately that the people have to make decisions between buying gas or groceries.”
Curtis spent time talking with members of the public, fueling their cars and cleaning their windshields. He said the public’s response to the event was that people are mad about high gas prices and inflation.
“They are mad,” he said. “They are frustrated. Who stands in a gas line with their car for an hour and a half? It has to be about more than just the money. They are mad and understand that we have done this to ourselves. There’s no reason we are in this situation, and they want changes from Washington, and they deserve it.”
Curtis founded the Conservative Climate Caucus to address climate change and create long-lasting solutions to reduce global emissions.
“This is what people need to understand; we don’t need to sacrifice energy independence, higher prices or the economy and we can still lower emissions,” Curtis said. “All of those things aren’t mutually exclusive, but the way we have handled those in the past was by driving up prices, killing our national independence for energy and created more greenhouse gas emissions.”
He doesn’t agree with President Joe Biden’s call for a federal gas tax holiday in June and referred to it as a “band aid” solution. Curtis believes we need to be relying on U.S. resources instead of reaching out to other countries.
“When it comes to a federal gas tax holiday, you’re talking about a quarter or maybe 30 to 50 cents,” he said. “This here is like dollars. So that’s a band aid, but until we have a conversation about what has caused this, we aren’t going to start the longer process of lowering prices.
“What we produce here is cleaner and better than anywhere else, so why are we asking Venezuela, Iran and Russia to do more and shut ours down at the same time.”
All About Food and Fuel Owner Jerry Larson was grateful he had the opportunity to work with AFP and help his community.
“I’m sure the line is clear over to the junior high by now,” he said. “People are going to be saving over $2, which is a lot of money. People just don’t realize how much this is costing us, but I see this every day as the price of fuel goes up on my end. I think we need to get the ground roots politicians to quit arguing and start doing what the public needs done.”
Andrews said she hopes AFP can bring many more events like this to other areas of Utah.