“It’s Too Much, Tom”: Barrett Making Things Worse While Gas Approaches $5 in Mid-Michigan

Lansing, Mich. –  After complaining about gas prices during his 2024 run for Congress, U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett has nothing to say as gas prices spike again, hitting $5 per gallon in the Lansing area today. In fact, he’s only made things worse by caving to everything Trump wants to do, from taking a sledgehammer to affordable clean energy, to his war in Iran, to illegal tariffs that are driving up the cost of everything.

During his 2024 campaign, Barrett told Reuters: “When I’m elected to Congress, we’ll produce our own energy. We’ll get gas under control so that this will be a lot more affordable for families like yours and families like mine.”

Climate Power Michigan Director Tom Lenard issued the following statement:

“Tom Barrett used gas prices to win his last election, but he’s silent when they are even higher because of his actions and Donald Trump’s war. Barrett is voting to block the clean energy options that would help mid-Michigan families get relief and his blind support for Trump will keep costing us more for everything from gas, to food, to fertilizer. It’s too much, Tom.”

Here are just a few ways Michiganders are worse off thanks to Trump and Barrett:

• Since Trump’s war started, the price of gas has increased by more than 58% in Michigan.
• Since Trump took office, average household electricity prices in Michigan have increased by 8.2%.
• Nearly 200,000 households in Michigan are behind on their utility bills, with an average debt of $865.
• Trump has jeopardized over 7,800 clean energy jobs and over $1.1 billion in investment in Michigan.

According to a report in the Michigan Advance alongside a recent event, a local farmer shared how these gas prices are impacting their costs, which will lead to higher food prices as well:

“Mark Zacharda, a farmer from Shiawassee County, said 2026 has been an uncertain and chaotic year for farmers, particularly as they approach the spring planting season.

“The cost of fertilizer has been skyrocketing since this war started, adding to the already increased input costs that we’ve been facing,” Zacharda said. “And as we’ve been hit by increased input costs, our commodity prices have been flat or even lower.”

Republicans in Congress like Tom Barrett have voted to gut clean energy investments, threatening projects in their own districts that would have created jobs and protected Americans from global energy shocks. Meanwhile, Trump is bragging about making money off the war and telling Americans to quit whining about soaring gas prices, leaving vulnerable Republicans scrambling to spin his disastrous economic agenda.

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