Gas is Expensive - What Else is New?
Andrew Norton
It used to be that you could count on your local filling station to raise their prices on Friday to catch all of the weekend travelers. Then, Thursday became the chosen day to raise prices. Next, it was Wednesday. I really believe they skipped Tuesday and now the price of gas goes up on Mondays. I don't know when they lower their prices. I am sure a lot of you don't believe they ever do.
The average price of regular unleaded gas across Michigan is $2.60 this week. You get the standard responses to why gas has gone up - switching from winter grade fuel to summer grade, supply and demand, or the war and unrest in Iraq, Iran, and Nigeria.
The real reason is most likely due to oil futures being driven up by speculators hoping to cash in on any increases in the price of a barrel of oil. Big surprise here. We pay more for gas because some folks want to make more money.
Standard operating procedure for individuals and companies wanting to make profits.
Michigan needs to keep pushing itself to the forefront of alternative energy research and development. If we invest in this industry now we can position Michigan to reap the dividends as alternative energy takes off. We all know Michigan can not hope for a future in the automobile industry.
Lets use these high gas prices to encourage development of renewable energy sources such as biodiesel, ethanol, and hydrogen fuel cells.
Read the Free Press article Gas is a bargain for now
Update: I don't know if this is the result of someone taking out their anger from the high gas prices or not, but the Free Press has this breaking news brief - Overnight theft leaves gas station without nozzles. If it was out of anger, the individuals involved targetted the wrong party. The gas companies (like Shell, Exxon Mobile, etc.) are the ones charging the high wholesale prices to gas station owners. The station owners then have to raise their prices to cover their costs.