The great gas spike
Gas prices in California skyrocketed this week to “as high as $ 5 a gallon in the region, compared with an average of $ 2.77 nationally,” The Times Business section reported.
Observed one expert: “This is a complete disconnect with the rest of the country. This really is illustrative of the fact that California is its own market.”
Meanwhile, exasperated Times readers — and drivers — spilled their own fuel frustrations.
— Sara Lessley, letters to the editor department
No kidding, wrote Kenny Rich in West Hills:
Here we go again. The oil game is in town. I have been watching these guys for years.
Whenever prices fall or there is an oil glut, here come the “refinery problems” or “problems in the Middle East” excuses.
But you have to hand it to these guys this time — multiple refineries down at the same time in the same state in the same month. And how long does it take to fix an air pollution monitor that broke in February?
Exactly, said Stephen Bulka in Los Angeles:
Isn’t it interesting that every time oil prices fall and the price at the pumps goes down, there are quickly “capacity issues”? Coincidence or price- gouging?
Marshall Brock in Agoura Hills has a suggestion:
Sacramento is not going to do anything about this because gasoline sales are the dark side of tax revenue.
Let’s have gasoline receipts show all of the taxes included in the sale, like any other purchase we make. Mark Boykin of Tarzana offers a different solution:
How about we eliminate all tax incentives for petroleum products?
Refiners use that outlet to ensure that our local supply is constantly on the edge of disaster, so that even the slightest hint of a distribution problem is enough to send prices skyrocketing.
Or how about requiring local suppliers to keep a reasonable reserve on hand to smooth out these spikes? How about both?
Karen Neville in La Puente is just plain fed up:
More and more there is a disconnect between wageearners and government officials in this state.
I paid almost $ 1 more per gallon for gasoline today than I did a week ago. Gas station owners will have less business now. Consumers will hunker down at home. They will spend less on everything so there will be enough money for gas to get to work.
Not everyone will be negatively affected. Government officials will continue to have automotive and fuel expenses covered by taxpayer dollars.
For a fortunate few, there will be less traffic to contend with and the lines at movie theaters, supermarkets and malls will be shorter.
It’s the very people who have been awarded the responsibility of making life better for Californians who are making decisions that cause families such financial stress.