Eastern Carolinians navigate heat & high gas prices as summer officially arrives

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - Tuesday marks the longest day of the year and the official start of summer, but with gas prices in Eastern Carolina flirting with $5 a gallon, plans are shifting for motorists.

The Summer Solstice means people are looking at more than 14 and a half hours of daylight, the most seen this year. The amount of sunlight means people have a lot of time to work with this summer, but increased inflation means quite another thing for families and their plans.

After Juneteenth and Father’s Day, drivers are hoping for another special day, a gas tax holiday. The day would look like an 18.3 cent discount per gallon when people go to fill up. However, it would require congressional action, and lawmakers aren’t yet jumping into motion.

President Biden is also considering a gas rebate card system as part of the operation. The administration’s course of action should be laid out later this week.

Until then, drivers in the East are working with what they have.

“As you see right now, I’ve got a load,” driver Malyle Braxton says. “It’s more than $85 to fill up every other day because I ride all day. Shoot, it’s been hot since April. Heat, heat! You better have a hat or something.”

The heat has been something Eastern Carolinians have been dealing with for months now, as Braxton alludes to.
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Congressional Democrats have not been quick to back the president on the gas tax holiday, saying that the legislation would not provide much relief, particularly if retailers raise their base price per gallon in response.