Americans set to embrace Russian oil ban
CBC
Americans say they're willing to ban Russian oil imports even if it means more pain at the gas pumps.
We'll soon see whether that resolve holds.
U.S. President Joe Biden is set to announce later this morning that the administration and lawmakers are working on plans to curtail those imports in order to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
American politicians are also inching toward suspending normal trade relations and installing new tariffs on Russia.
Surveys suggest such ideas have broad public support — for now.
A poll released Monday by Quinnipiac said 71 per cent of American respondents said they would support a ban on Russian oil even if it means higher gas prices, while just 22 per cent disagreed.
That comes after a Marist survey last week that said 69 per cent of Americans would support sanctions on Russia, even if it meant higher energy prices.
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The question is no longer hypothetical.
Gas prices have cracked the $4-a-gallon level in the U.S., the highest in 14 years, which is just over $1.35 Cdn a litre, still far lower than what Canadians pay.
The anxiety over rising fuel prices is roiling markets and is showing up online, where Google searches for the price of gas have hit new highs in the U.S. and worldwide.
Those concerns spill across the economy, including into the price of food.
Agricultural economist David Roland-Holst from the University of California at Berkeley said fuel prices are one of several reasons he fears growing global hunger in the coming months.
He told CBC News that what has him worried are disruptions to farming in Ukraine and Russia, which together account for about 30 per cent of global wheat exports, coupled with the inflated cost of fuel
