I’m about worn out with the gas prices these days. We’re getting gouged big time at the moment.  Every since hurricane Katrina wiped out New Orleans, every time the wind blows in the Gulf of Mexico, gas prices go up.  Today, however, was over the top.  Hurricane Ike is battering the coast of Texas right now and gas spiked $1.00 and more per gallon here in Hickory, North Carolina.  Yesterday, the local gas prices were between $3.49 and $3.65 depending on which thief… I mean gas station you were buying from. 

The problem I have with this is that I don’t know exactly who to blame for the current gas spike.  I’m not sure if the individual stations or their distributors are responsible for the price hike.  Either way, it’s pure and simple gouging.  IF the wholesale price of gas goes up yesterday or today due to damage caused by hurricane Ike, it takes time… up to several weeks… for that higher priced gasoline to reach the pumps in our communities.  The unfortunate truth is that we, the consumers, start paying the higher price immediately rather than when the higher priced gas actually makes it to town.  We don’t even know if hurricane Ike has created any break in the supply line yet.  We don’t know if there is any damage that will cause problems in delivering gas.  Someone who has their fingers on the price button of gasoline thinks that there may be damage and could be a shortage. 

Not only did gas spike over $1.00 per gallon here today, but people were lining up at the pumps like lemmings to buy it.  Everyone has been made to believe that there is going to be a shortage.  I drove by five or six gas stations tonight on the way to my photo assignment before I found a station that even had any gas to sell.  On my way home tonight, I looked and didn’t see any gas stations pumping gas.  It appeared that all of them were out.  I have about a half tank of gas left.  I’m not sure when I’ll be able to get more.  Hopefully I can make it until someone gets some more gas around here. 

I was reading an article in the local paper today about this situation and the writer encourages us to call a hot line number to report price gouging to the North Carolina Attorney General.  The number is 1-877-5-NO-SCAM.  I might call the number tomorrow.

I did a little research at the North Carolina Department of Justice website as well.  They actually have a complaint form that you can fill out regarding price gouging.  It’s really a joke in itself.  The complaint form seems to want you, the consumer, to do the investigation yourself.  They want you to log the pre-disaster price, post-disaster price, how you know the pre-disaster price, explanation given by the business for the post-disaster price, and copies of your receipts that prove the prices you have listed.  I bet that hot line number will refer you to this form, but I haven’t called it yet to find out.  Come to think of it, we’re not really in ‘post-disaster’ at this very moment either.  We’re either pre-disaster or during-disaster or something like that.  I don’t have receipts to show.  I just want to report every gas station I see, and I haven’t bought pre-disaster and post-disaster gas from most of them… 

In the last few minutes, the Hickory Daily Record published this article on the situation…  We’ll see what happens tomorrow when I try to call the hotline that is mentioned again in this article…

** 9/13/08 Update

I called the NO SCAM number at 4pm this afternoon.  I got no answer and didn’t even get a recording.  Maybe I’ll have to try again on Monday.

Discussion, Miscellaneous, Photojournalism