Gas update

Ok boys and girls.. This morning's fill up was at a nice $2.53/gallon. Gas has gone up 6 cents in the last 3 days. Last year when we had a gas "crisis" when a major pipeline broke in El-Paso limiting the amount of gas that could be brought into the Valley. The reason I call this a "crisis" is because the news channels had the bright idea of stirring the panic pot by making the gas pipeline break a HUGE news story and stating that gas would be limited...which it wasn't. Thanks for everything news people! People freaked, long lines at gas stations was the norm, and gas stations literally sold out of gas. There were borderline riots. The funny thing is, we had enough gas to sell to everyone, but everyone kept filling their tanks to capacity in fear of running out, which caused a shortage. Gas prices got up to over $4/gallon in some places. Arizona doesn't have any price gouging laws either...so that didn't help the prices at the pump. All in all, if this crap continues, I may be forced to buy a hybrid.

For anyone wanting a little explanation as to why the hell gas is so expensive out West, this was a little blurb from an article in the Arizona Republic during the "crisis" we had.

Q: Why are prices in the West so much higher?

A: No major gasoline pipelines cross the Rocky Mountains, and extra gasoline produced in the East can reach the only West by tanker going through the Panama Canal. California also has the nation's most stringent environmental standards for gasoline, which make it costlier to produce. Arizona, Nevada and Oregon have few refineries and receive much of their gasoline from California.