Gas is HIGH! Who is to Blame?

Yahoo! News recently ran an article Unhappy public not sure who to blame for high gas in response to the rising gas prices. We all feel the "pain at the pump" and have little choice about buying gas. Our largest means of transportation run on this liquid gold. We are being held hostage in a time when the economy is more than questionable, and jobs are even more questionable. Who is to blame and what can we do about it?



I drive a Kia Soul, yes the hamster car, and fuel effifency was a huge reason I traded in my Range Rover for the smaller Kia. But now $30 that use to fill up my tank is enough to fill it to half a tank or 3/4 a tank. I feel it, you feel it, we all feel it.

Gas is hitting over $4 a gallon across the country and will possibly hit $5 a gallon by this summer. Does gas have to be so high? That, I don't know. What I do know is that gas is high and someone is the reason.

According the the article,"Some blame President Barack Obama. Some just cite 'the government,' while others believe it's the work of big, greedy oil companies. No matter who is responsible, almost everyone seems to want the government to do something, even if people aren't sure what, exactly, it should or can do."

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• A Gallup poll this month found 85 percent of U.S. adults believe the president and Congress "should take immediate actions to try to control the rising price of gas."
• An Associated Press-GfK poll last month showed 71 percent believe gas prices are a "very" or "extremely" important matter.

"In truth, there is not a lot the president and Congress can do in the short term to push down gasoline prices. They are tied to oil prices, which have climbed in recent months, pushed by increased consumption from developing nations in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East and by concerns about supply disruptions in Iran and elsewhere." We are at the mercy of countries we are not exactly best friends with. Doesn't look good for gas prices.

"The first new fuel standards since 1990 are just now going into effect, and the U.S. auto fleet is more efficient than ever." Meaning change is coming in the standard that vehicles are being held to, in terms of fuel efficiency, but this does little if prices keep rising.

All of this is proof that our dependence on oil from other countries is way too high and our innovation at finding solutions is too slow.

Here are some tips to help you at the pump:

1. Fill up your tank on Wednesday or Thursday before 10 a.m. Gas prices rise on Thursdays in anticipation of weekend travel.  10 a.m. is when most station owners make their price change for the day.  Unless it is an emergency, do not buy gas Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

2. Don't let your car idle, either when you warm it up or when you are at a standstill. If you're going to be standing for more than a minute, running your engine wastes more gas than restarting the engine.

3. Remove unnecessary items in your car. Every 250 extra pounds eats up an extra mile per gallon of gas.

4. Buy gas when it's cooler during the day (like the early morning or at night) to reduce gas evaporation.

5. Keep your windows closed when driving on the highway. Open windows can reduce your gas mileage by as much as 10 percent.  In stop-and-go traffic, open the windows and turn off the air conditioning to save more money.