Gas prices at ~$2.00 a gallon may be a good thing

[icemark]

Unleaded Gasoline Average Prices

Today..........LA 3.593, USA 3.726, SF 4.021
Yesterday.....LA 3.571, USA 3.716, SF 3.990
1 week ago...LA 3.507, USA 3.607, SF 3.995
1 month ago. LA 3.253, USA 3.371, SF 3.878
1 year ago.... LA 2.882, USA 3.092, SF 3.601

Our prices here in Louisiana are usually a good 15 to 20 cents below the national average and a good 35 to 40 cents below San Francisco. Sometimes we're as much as 75 cents below San Francisco.

Regular unleaded gas along the Big Sur coast has been above $5.00/gal for the past two or three months now.

I suspect that the difference partially the high gas tax in CA ($.18 per gallon) and partially that CA requires a very clean burn oxygenated gas that is more expensive to produce.

And because CA will pay it. I am sure that you know that in CA the car is king (being that 50% of many import manufactures vehicles are sold in CA and the other 50% are sold across the world including the rest of the USA).

[Ninong]

I suspect that the difference partially the high gas tax in CA ($.18 per gallon) and partially that CA requires a very clean burn oxygenated gas that is more expensive to produce.

And because CA will pay it. I am sure that you know that in CA the car is king (being that 50% of many import manufactures vehicles are sold in CA and the other 50% are sold across the world including the rest of the USA).

Good point about the state gas tax being higher in California but you're way off on your number. The gas tax in California is $0.455/gal. In Louisiana and Texas it's only $0.20/gal; in Wyoming it's only $0.14/gal. All states have a federal gas tax of $0.184/gal in addition to state and local taxes.

One of the reasons that the price of gas in San Francisco is always a good 15 to 20 cents higher than the surrounding suburbs is because more than 90% of the gas stations in San Francisco are company-owned. If the major oil companies didn't take over the stations, the individual owners would have sold out to real estate developers. In fact, the percentage of company-owned stations could be approaching 100% by now. I'm going by what it was when I lived there. I lived in the Bay Area, including San Francisco, for 21 years but I moved back to Louisiana nine years ago.

[icemark]

Good point about the state gas tax being higher in California but you're way off on your number. The gas tax in California is $0.455/gal. In Louisiana and Texas it's only $0.20/gal; in Wyoming it's only $0.14/gal. All states have a federal gas tax of $0.184/gal in addition to state and local taxes.

I'll have to double check that number... I do not recall seeing that much on the pump disclosure and suspect that they are looping in the sales tax as well as the gas tax onto the number.

I'm going by what it was when I lived there. I lived in the Bay Area, including San Francisco, for 21 years but I moved back to Louisiana nine years ago.

yep, I remember that.

[Lucid]

I like pulling up this thread to see what we were saying about this topic just three years ago. If you really want to cry, read this thread over again from the beginning.

Yep started reading the first few pages, then skipped ahead. It IS depressing. Here it's over $3.60 per gallon (possibly higher as I speak). I have to travel 13 miles north to get to the first gas station or 9 miles south. My truck gets almost 20 miles per gallon... bottom line is I spend $3-4 just to get gas.

Monday, the county I live in, just seriously increased property taxes. doubled or more on all the farm land left. My family land increased about 116%. I guess since everything else is rising... why not hit the farmers that are raking in the money? ;)

I'd get a motorcycle if I thought I wouldn't get run over lol.