![Alexander Oki ‘28 picks up trash in the lower parking lot Feb. 20. According to Keep America Beautiful, the majority of the trash found on both roads and waterways consists of fast food wrappers and packaging, receipts and plastic beverage bottles. Clubs like the National Honor Society (NHS) offer students the opportunity to earn service hours by cleaning up the trash in the parking lots. “[The trash] makes us look very unhygienic and unmotivated to be a proper school,” Emberlyse Vidal ‘28 said. “It makes us look like we just don't care about our students' environments.”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20260220_1355020-2-1200x904.jpg)
You drive into the gas station, select your fuel grade and begin filling up. Once you’re finished fueling, something catches your eye: the price.
On Feb. 28, the U.S. and Israel launched a war on Iran, by conducting airstrikes against Iranian military sites. According to CNBC, due to the conflict being with Iran, it has caused U.S. gas prices to inflate tremendously.
“Since I pay for my own gas, the price increase has really impacted me, I’ve resulted in spending less on food weekly so that way I know I can pay for gas the next time my tank is empty,” Dagan Lynn ‘27 said.
As of this March, to import oil from Iran it costs around $100 per barrel. According to Fox News a recent threat has been sent out from Ebrahim Zolfaqari, an Iranian military general, on behalf of the Iranian military state.
“Get ready for oil to be $200 a barrel, because the oil price depends on regional security, which you have destabilised,” Zolfaqari said.
If the threat becomes true, and the price per barrel does increase, then the U.S. will be experiencing even higher gas prices.
Iran raising these barrel prices is a key factor to our gas prices also increasing. To make gas you use oil from these barrels and perform a process called distillation. This is where the oil gets heated to separate the hydrocarbons by weight, then it gets cracked to break the heavy molecules, and then finally gets mixed to create the final product of fuel.
According to AAA fuel prices, gas prices in Colorado have gone up over one dollar in just this past month due to the current barrel price increase. One month ago the average was $2.871, the current average is now up to $3.904.
“My parents pay for my own gas, so it doesn’t impact me too much, but now they make me get it at Costco instead of King Soopers in Castle Pines, so that way it’s a little cheaper,” Rylan Morris ‘27 said.
It is expected to see slight downturns and upturns for gas prices weekly. As of the week of March 30, prices have slightly decreased.
To stay prepared for the shifts in gas prices, it is recommended to spend less money on goods that are not needed weekly. For example, not getting Starbucks every morning could save you around $50 each week.