| John,
Some of the country’s highest gas prices can be found in the town of Kent, Washington—where drivers are paying as much as $5.27 for a gallon of gas.
This continued pain at the pump offered a prime opportunity for Americans for Prosperity to bring their nationwide Prosperity is Possible tour to the people of Kent.
The tour offers policy solutions and educates Americans about the importance of holding elected leaders accountable.
AFP teamed up with coalition partners from the Washington Policy Center and Future 42 for a “gas rollback event” that temporarily lowered gas prices at Jackson’s Shell Station to $3.83 per gallon — the national average.
Cars began lining up down the street as early as an hour before the prices on the pumps rolled back.
As drivers waited to fill their tanks, AFP’s activists and staff seized the opportunity to talk with them about the burdensome cap-and-trade regulations in place that add an extra $0.43 to the state’s existing $0.49 fuel tax.
Steve Leichtnam, who spends a lot of time behind the wheel for work, was happy to wait his turn, given it usually costs him as much as $140.00 to fill his tank.
“I have to keep an eye on my driving, as far as where I go and how much time I spend behind the wheel. And I can’t go on long trips because of the price. It’s hitting me everywhere.”
Jim Bateman, a Kent resident who also attended, offered his “two cents” on the additional tax to a local radio station covering the event:
“Their cap-and-trade thing is ridiculous. They said it was only going to go up five or 10 cents, and what’s it, 50 cents? We already pay the highest gas tax almost in the country.”
In an interview with Northwest News Radio, AFP Regional State Director Heather Andrews shared the reasons why events like the gas rollback are important opportunities to educate voters about the policies that hinder prosperity:
“A lot of people are frustrated, but they don’t know what to do. We’re here to give people a little bit of relief, but also to highlight how these bad policies like cap-and-trade and carbon taxes are leading to the highest prices.”
But pointing out what’s wrong is only part of the solution. According to Heather, it’s also important to educate and motivate concerned citizens to hold their elected officials accountable:
“AFP is helping connect residents to how they can take action by contacting their representatives and telling them, ‘This is a failed policy, this isn’t working for us, and we need to do something different.’”
AFP’s efforts were covered by both national and state media, including The Center Square and The Daily Chronicle newspaper, taking messages about principled policy solutions to 683,000+ readers in Washington State and beyond. You can read The Center Square coverage here. | 
