Party divisions over rising fuel costs were on full display Wednesday in the Michigan Senate.
The Senate Democratic majority passed a resolution urging the Trump administration to reverse moves it sees as causes for spiking energy costs, like starting a war with Iran and rolling back clean energy policies.
State Senator Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton) sponsored the resolution. He said lawmakers are considering moves like freezing utility rates to address costs.
“We can't always tackle every issue at the local level based on what the feds are doing to us, but it is our job to look at everything, so we're going to take a look at some different options,” Camilleri told reporters after Senate session Wednesday.
The resolution passed along party lines. Republicans all voted against it. They derided the measure and blamed Democrat-backed clean energy laws for higher prices in Michigan.
Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Twp) accused Democrats of waging a “war on American energy.”
“A war on American natural gas, a war on American coal, a war on American nuclear. And what they’re saying is, ‘Oh, we’ll just blame it on President Trump,’” Nesbitt said during a floor speech.
Gasoline prices are up nearly $1 a gallon in Michigan since Trump launched a war on Iran.
With that in mind, Camilleri said he was open to pausing state gas taxes if fuel prices don’t go down.
“I mean, that is obviously an idea that we've floated and passed through the Legislature in the past, particularly when we've seen those higher gas prices. So it's under consideration, and we're going to hopefully see an end to this illegal war, and that's the biggest reason that we're seeing these gas prices rise in the first place,” Camilleri said.
In 2022, a then-Republican state Legislature sent Governor Gretchen Whitmer a bill to suspend gas tax collection in the wake of high gas prices. Whitmer vetoed it.
At the time, GasBuddy shows average gas prices were around $3.30 at the time. On Thursday, the average fuel price in Michigan was $4.06 according to AAA.
Aside from gas prices, some analysts have also said they're concerned about the impact war in Iran is having on the availability of nitrogen fertilizers, as prices rise around 25% by some estimates just as planting season is approaching.
The concern is leading some Michigan lawmakers to think about what that would mean for food supply.
State Senator Ed McBroom (R-Waucedah Twp) runs a dairy farm in the Upper Peninsula. He said it’s probably not time to panic yet.
He said relatively low bean and corn prices, plus left-over fertilizer from last year, might keep food prices down this year.
“That surplus, and good crops from other areas are helping to buffer us against this. But, long-term, especially with a couple of years of not putting on the amount of nitrogen that we would normally do, you're going to start to see an impact,” McBroom told reporters.
McBroom said lawmakers should do more to support American nitrogen fertilizer production, a process that typically requires natural gas. His recommendations included bolstering Michigan’s own fossil fuel industry as a way to reduce the impact of shockwaves from outside events — though that could be in tension with the state's mandate to be carbon-neutral by 2050.
