Winter is coming. Can Democrats succeed in chilling soaring energy prices?

WASHINGTON — Democrats during the midterm election campaign promised bold steps to make life more affordable if voters elected them to control Congress next year. They won, in a historic blue wave that’s already given them comfortable majorities in both the House and Senate. But Democrats likely will find that bringing down gasoline and other energy prices as winter arrives will take more than an act or two of Congress. And it’s largely a process out of their control. “You can’t legislate your way out of high gasoline prices,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, which tracks prices. Since the United States attacked Iran on Feb. 28, fuel prices have soared. A gallon of regular gasoline averaged $3.98 Tuesday, AAA reported. While that’s down from recent weeks, it’s still well above the $3.07 of a year ago. Diesel prices Tuesday averaged $6.16 a gallon, ballooning from $3.73 a year ago.

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