{"id":10544,"date":"2026-09-24T11:48:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T15:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/?p=10544"},"modified":"2026-09-24T11:48:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T15:48:33","slug":"the-concerning-rise-of-cortlands-gas-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/2026\/09\/24\/the-concerning-rise-of-cortlands-gas-prices\/","title":{"rendered":"The Concerning Rise of Cortland’s Gas Prices"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As of September 2026, gas prices across the country have reached an average of $4.4786, breaking the $4 mark since 2022, due to the conflict with the US and Iran. Cortland’s gas prices are an average of $4.39 per gallon for unleaded gas<\/a>, just 63 cents away from the average highest gas prices reported in June 2022 at $5.02. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May 2026, The Dragon Chronicle reached out to Caitlin N. McKillop, associate professor and Chair of Economics Department, in hopes of offering insight on the specifics of why prices are rising, what else might be affected, and what students can do. Four professors graciously shared their knowledge.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Strait of Hormuz, located partially between Iran and Oman territorial waters, acts as a key shipping lane where 20% of global oil passes through. The current conflict has reduced shipping traffic or has been blockaded entirely. Fear of threats and violence have made passing through the strait near impossible, in turn resulting in crude oil prices to soar in global markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The war itself has also caused damage and supply disruption,” wrote Joshua Scott, assistant professor in the economics department “Destruction of infrastructure in the Middle-East region used to produce oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) reduces supply and can have lasting effects.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Samuel M. Jung, economics professor, added onto Scott’s statement, sharing that even though 20% of global oil supply passed through the strait of Hormuz, the primary impact falls on Asian economies like China, South Korea, and Japan – the impact on the United States is as little as 2-5%. For clarification, the US has incredible oil and gas shale reserves and the country does not<\/em> rely on Iranian imports.  Yet, investors surprisingly contribute to the rising gas prices.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When Middle Eastern supply is threatened, buyers in Europe and Asia seek alternative sources and offer higher premiums,” explained Dr. Jung “American producers are rational economic actors who seek the highest global market rate rather than selling at a discount domestically. Therefore, domestic prices inevitably align with international benchmarks through this arbitrage process.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the disruption to oil transport and investor panic continues, prices on other items soar as well. Fossil fuels are non-renewable energy made from ancient organisms. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA)<\/a>, The US consumed about 82% of fossil fuels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Oil and natural gas are used as inputs in the majority of things we will interact with on a daily basis,” explained Rob Haggar, visiting scholar in economics department “From food to fuel, in nearly anything made of plastic, in our roads and our buildings and our clothes and our blood.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of food, production is directly impacted by the conflict with Iran through the shipping of fertilizer. As mentioned, 20% of global oil passes through the strait but so does 30% of global fertilizer with nearly 15% of US fertilizer imports coming from the Middle East. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Jessica Carrick-Hagenbarth, associate professor in the economics department, as fertilizer prices spike and 15% of US farmers are without fertilizer contracts, they will have to cut down on how much fertilizer they use or stop producing completely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As such, supply of food crops could drop and food prices could increase\u2026” wrote Carrick-Hagenbarth “if the war is ongoing, the US could come to feel an increase in food prices more acutely.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contrary to popular belief, Scott believes that rising gas prices isn’t always an indicator for a poor economy, describing that it’s the sharp increases that draws the line. When prices dramatically <\/em>increase, it serves as a blow to consumers by reducing where they can spend their money. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When households spend more at the pump, they often cut back elsewhere, which can slow broader economic activity,” Scott wrote “However, it is just a big block in a larger Jenga tower that represents the macroeconomy.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sharp rise in gas prices that have been seen across the nation, including in Cortland, NY, have raised concerns for commuter students who will face higher fuel costs that will increase commuting expenses as a whole while on a tight budget. The lowest income households: sick and disabled, youth, elderly, unemployed, service workers, and minimum wage earners, might struggle trying to choose between necessary items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As prices continue to rise, so far with no sign of stopping, those same professors from SUNY Cortland’s own economics department have offered some advice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students should cut back on driving by carpooling and taking advantage of Cortland’s public transit via Centro and Campus Bus. Walking and riding bikes around Cortland is an option too! Haggar noted that the Outdoor Pursuits Office’s Community Bike Program allows students to borrow bikes for free. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For students who have no choice but to use their cars, they should try to use programs like Rakuten to save money as well as utilizing gas reward programs in a responsible manner. The goal is to budget and avoid increasing spending costs. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As of September 2026, gas prices across the country have reached an average of $4.4786, breaking the $4 mark since 2022, due to the conflict with the US and Iran. Cortland’s gas prices are an average of $4.39 per gallon for unleaded gas, just 63 cents away from the average highest gas prices reported in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":475,"featured_media":10851,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","entry"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/09\/20260908-CM-8683-Faces-and-Campus-Scenes-e1790264685990-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/09\/20260908-CM-8683-Faces-and-Campus-Scenes-e1790264685990-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Keira Ann Remington","author_link":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/author\/keiraann-remington\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/475"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10544"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10850,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10544\/revisions\/10850"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}