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Editorial: Getting handle on cost of gas
Much easier said than done
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Two schools of thought exist about the rising cost of gasoline: Let it keep rising so motorists will dump gas-guzzlers for more fuel-efficient vehicles or go after oil companies to force them to lower prices.
Ventura County motorists do seem to be turning toward smaller cars. Star reporter Scott Hadly noted two weeks ago in The Star that, when gas prices hovered around $2.50 a gallon, the top 20 vehicles sold in the county included only one compact car the Dodge Neon. According to Cross-Sell car sales data for last year and the first quarter of this year, the top-20 list included six compacts, among them the Toyota Prius, a gas-electric hybrid.
Although a good trend, it won't quickly make much of a dent in fuel consumption or help vehicle-dependent businesses and people on the lower levels of the economic spectrum.
What about forcing oil companies to lower prices? The state Legislature hopes to do just that. Last week, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, D-Los Angeles, along with three fellow Democrats, introduced bills that seek more oversight of California refiners.
One bill would require oil companies to provide more data about production, inventories and imports, in the hope regulators would be able to analyze better whether price increases can be attributed to gouging or legitimate reasons.
A second bill would seek advance warning of oil companies closing down refineries for maintenance.
The third bill would require a study of the effects of hot gas fuel that expands in warmer temperatures and gives motorists less energy per gallon.
We won't hold our breath on this because the Legislature has tried for years to do something about the cost of gasoline, to no avail.
That leaves the consumer, as always, to figure out how best to cope with fuel costs. Consumers can heed a few tips that will help save gas money, as much as $1,200 a year, according to the Car Care Council (http://www.carcare.org/).
The savings come from inexpensive vehicle maintenance:
Make sure the gas cap fits right. Damaged, loose or missing gas caps allow gasoline to vaporize.
Keep tires inflated properly.
Replace spark plugs regularly. Dirty ones cause engines to misfire, wasting fuel.
Replace a clogged air filter. Mileage can climb by 10 percent.
Regularly have the engine tuned.
Oh, and one last tip from us: Use a light foot on the gas pedal. You'll save fuel and be safer.
Posted by shaver_one on May 24, 2007 at noon (Suggest removal)
One more tip: Make sure you vote and elect someone who's NOT in the back pocket of Big Oil.
Posted by KC on May 24, 2007 at 1:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
We cannot let it keep rising. I drive a Honda CRV which gets City Mileage: 22-23 mpg and Hwy Mileage: 28-30 mpg. I spend, on average, 40 dollars a week filling up my 14-gallon tank. This is not something that affects just those that drive "gas guzzlers" but it affects all of us.
In the world of advanced technology, I find it hard to believe that we cannot come up with an alterantive fuel source equal to gas. I believe an alternative method truly exists, but we won't see it until the day oil companies no longer dictate politics.
Posted by nannyfo1 on May 24, 2007 at 1:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree shaver_one. There was a bill passed through the House this last week that would prevent price gouging by oil companies. It was watered down last minute by democrats from big oil states. We have to be careful not to vote for these people in the future.
Posted by kdavis on May 24, 2007 at 3:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Will purchasing a hybrid be the answer? What about the batteries which will have to be disposed of after 10 years? The idea has flaws. Save fuel yet pollute the environment with used batteries? It seems to me that there is plenty of fuel around though due to laws, we cannot drill in Anwar, the Gulf Coast or locally, AND, due to laws there has not been one refinery built since 1985? Liberals put those last two laws into place. Moreover, .36 of every gallon sold goes to the govt., so any reduction in fuel sales means less money to the govt. That means they will have to find another way to tax us to keep their money flow going. I'd say use up the oil, then focus on other options. Gas is still too plentiful and cheap, overall. I don't see any gas lines for fuel. People are still buying it and yet, our economy keeps on going up. What is the answer? Turn in our cars, live in a Stalinist society? No thanks.
Posted by ed.fitzhenry on May 24, 2007 at 10:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
www.oilwatchdog.org
TV is buzzing about the House of Representatives passage of new legislation to restrict gasoline price gouging. The laudable goal is to restrict unconscionable prices, and it is laudable that the debate is heating up in Washington about what we should pay at the pump.
The problem with price gouging laws, though, is they generally only apply in the wake of catastrophes and national disasters. We should not have to wait for a hurricane or an earthquake to prosecute oil companies and retailers for charging unconscionable prices. Proscecutors should be able to look at holiday weekend prices too and call them unconscionable.
The most important parts of the new gasoline price gouging legislation, being guided in the House by Michigan Rep Bart Stupak and in the Senate by Washington State's Maria Cantwell, is that oil companies and suppliers will now be on the hook for their role in inflating prices after unusual market disruptions. Almost every state has a price gouging law but generally only retailers can
be prosecuted, not the oil industry suppliers. In fact, proving suppliers, or oil companies, raised their prices is a defense in price gouging cases.
What's needed in America, though, is a standard for how much is too much to pay at the pump. When refiner margins top $1 per gallon is that gouging, or $2? We need that standard all year long, not just when mother nature revolts and gives oil companies big opportunities.
Oil industry defenders like Rep. Joe Barton are out in force claiming the Stupak legislation will constrict supply even more. Hard to imagine things could get much worse in that regard. So, perhaps the most important part of the price gouging legislation is the debate its sparked over what a gallon of gas should cost and who is on what side of controlling that price, not through price controls but through supply-side regulation and monitoring.
"Gouging" isn't a phantom menace as the New York Times Edmund Andrews claims, it just needs a specific definition that applies to unconscionable profits all year long.
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