You might have noticed gas prices inched up when you visited the fuel tanks this week.

You’re not imagining it: gas costs are up across Wisconsin, with prices rising more than 17 cents on average in the last week, according to AAA.

Here’s why gas prices are surging and which Wisconsin cities are feeling it the most.

Why are gas prices higher in Wisconsin this week?

A storm-related outage at an ExxonMobil facility in Illinois may be to blame for rising gas prices across the Upper Midwest this week, AAA said in a news release Thursday.

The refinery in Joliet, Illinois lost power earlier this month after a tornado touched down in the Chicago area on July 16. The facility, which processes 248,000 barrels per day, was about 50 miles from the tornado and battered by heavy wind and rain.

As of July 17, Reuters reported the refinery would be down for at least a week with plans to power back up in “late July.”

However, while the outage drives up prices across the Midwest, falling oil prices in the U.S. may help steady costs, AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross said in the news release.

“In April, a barrel of oil was in the upper $80s, but today, it is $10 a barrel cheaper. That might mitigate any upward pressure on pump prices,” Gross said.

Which Wisconsin cities have highest gas prices?

Counties in eastern Wisconsin are generally seeing the highest gas prices, while counties in the western half of the state are seeing prices 10 to 30 cents below Friday’s national average of $3.52 per gallon, according to AAA’s daily average gas prices tracker.

Most Wisconsin cities have seen gas prices tick up in the last week. Listed below are the average gas prices for a regular gallon of gas in major Wisconsin cities on Friday, compared to a week ago, according to AAA. All prices are rounded to the nearest hundredth of a cent.

Average gas prices in Wisconsin cities on July 26:

• Milwaukee-Waukesha: $3.80, up from $3.45 last week
• Madison: $3.45, up from $3. 43 last week
• Appleton: $3.44, up from $3.30 last week
• Eau Claire: $3.24, up from $3.20 last week
• Fond Du Lac: $3.37, same as $3.37 last week
• Green Bay: $3.50, up from $3.36 last week
• Kenosha County: $3.83, up from $3.50 last week
• Oshkosh: $3.44, up from $3.37 last week
• Racine: $3.78, up from $3.44 last week
• Sheboygan: $3.47, up from $3.33 last week
• Wausau: $3.47, up from $3.38 last week

Today, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced that the Department of Commerce and NOAA have recommended $1.45 million for a project involving Wisconsin to make the state’s coast more resilient to climate change and other coastal hazards. The project encompasses the Lake Superior Basin region of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan. The awards are being made under the Biden Administration’s Climate Resilience Regional Challenge, a competitive, $575 million program funded through the nearly $6 billion total investment under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. 

“As part of President Biden’s commitment to combating the climate crisis, we are investing $575 million to help make sure America’s coastal communities are more resilient to the effects of climate change,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “As part of this historic investment in our nation’s climate resilience the Biden-Harris Administration is investing $1.45 million to help underserved communities in Wisconsin develop and implement new strategies to protect themselves from increased flooding and other impacts of climate change.” 

Administered by the Department of Commerce and NOAA, the Climate-Ready Coasts initiative is focused on investing in high-impact projects that create climate solutions by storing carbon; building resilience to coastal hazards such as extreme weather events, pollution and marine debris; restoring  coastal habitats that help wildlife and humans thrive; building the capacity of underserved communities and support community-driven restoration; and providing employment opportunities.

“Over the past decade, this area has seen, firsthand, the destructive impacts of climate change on lives and livelihoods,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. “This funding will allow local governments and tribal communities in Wisconsin to address the problem of repetitive flooding, from identifying root causes to implementing long-lasting solutions.” 

The recommended $1,451,065 in total funds for the project will be administered by the Northwest Regional Planning Commission. The project, Accelerating Natural Flood Management in the Lake Superior Basin, will be a joint effort encompassing areas of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan hit hard by catastrophic, repetitive flooding (six federal disaster declarations between 2012 and 2022), with impacts to local communities and an extensive network of state, local, and tribally managed roads. Funding will be used to 1) identify how the loss of headwater wetland storage and floodplain connectivity is contributing to the flooding problem; and 2) implement high-impact, nature-based solutions to combat this flooding by restoring the natural hydrology. The root causes of flooding and potential restoration opportunities will be investigated using new approaches that integrate spatial and field-based assessments. 

“Whether it’s flooding, drought, or extreme weather, communities across Wisconsin are dealing with the costly impacts of our changing climate. Our Inflation Reduction Act is making essential investments to make our communities safer and our infrastructure more resilient for the next generation,” said Senator Tammy Baldwin. “I was proud to support this investment for Northwest Wisconsin to protect the infrastructure families rely on and implement new solutions to address flooding.”

“With climate change causing more extreme weather events and devastating flooding across our state, building flood resilience through high-impact, nature-based solutions to protect our communities and our natural resources is a top priority for us in Wisconsin,” said Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers. “I’m grateful to the Biden-Harris Administration and NOAA for their support in these efforts and to the Northwest Regional Planning Commission and our partners for developing a program that will make a lasting difference for folks affected by flooding and on our region’s environmental footprint.”

Additional information is available on the Climate Resilience Regional Challenge website. 

Climate, weather, and water affect all life on our ocean planet. NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict our changing environment, from the deep sea to outer space, and to manage and conserve America’s coastal and marine resources. 

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A group of legislators, farmers and conservationists studying how to control Wisconsin’s sandhill crane population is set to hold its first meeting next month.

The Joint Legislative Council’s 12-member Study Committee on Sandhill Cranes is set to meet Aug. 1 at the Horicon Marsh State Wildlife Area.

The Joint Legislative Council is made up of the Legislature’s attorneys. The council puts together committees to study issues every even-numbered year with an eye toward recommending legislative changes in the next session.

The sandhill crane committee has been tasked with coming up with ways to manage the state’s sandhill crane population and reduce the crop damage they cause, including seeking federal approval to establish a hunting season.

Tens of thousands of sandhill cranes breed across Wisconsin or migrate through the state each spring and fall, according to the International Crane Foundation. But they feed on germinating corn seeds after spring planting and can cause significant damage to the crop, according to the foundation.

Multiple states, including Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Texas and Wyoming, hold annual sandhill crane hunting seasons, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Wisconsin lawmakers introduced a bill in 2021 establishing a sandhill crane hunt but the measure never got a floor vote. The bill’s chief Assembly sponsor, Rep. Paul Tittl, is serving as chair of the study committee.

The International Crane Foundation opposes hunting sandhills largely because they reproduce very slowly and hunters could kill endangered whooping cranes by mistake. The foundation has pushed farmers to treat their seeds with a nontoxic chemical deterrent.