I feel it is my duty to explain to Americans why gas is so expensive today.

Politicians and evening news broadcasts love to tell you that the war in Iran is the sole reason gas prices are sky-high. - Randy Smith

This is a massive misconception that completely ignores history...
The truth is, the United States doesn't even buy oil from Iran. 

The war only caused a crisis because past government policies had already pushed our fuel system to the absolute edge.
Let me explain and ask you to consider

• When a barrel of crude oil costs $103 today, you pay about $4.35 a gallon at the pump [Fortune]. 
• But 15 years ago, when a barrel of oil cost that exact same $105, gas was only $3.51 a gallon.

So WHY is gas so much more expensive now for the exact same barrel of oil?...