By Charles Owens, Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — The average price for a gallon of gasoline hit a record $4.17 Tuesday, only hours after President Joe Biden announced a ban on Russian oil imports. Area lawmakers largely applauded that move while also demanding that the administration do more to promote domestic energy production.
The average price for gasoline jumped 10 cents in one day, and is up 55 cents from a week ago, the Associated Press confirmed Tuesday. The previous high was set 13 years ago at $4.10 a gallon.
Biden on Tuesday ordered a ban on Russian oil imports in response to Vladimir Putin’s ongoing war with Ukraine, a move that both Democratic and Republican lawmakers representing the region applauded. However, others encouraged the administration to go further in pursuing domestic energy production.
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said the ban on Russian energy imports was a necessary move. He also called upon Biden to pursue American energy independence…