Every day, millions of Americans experience the sting at the gas pump. The two recent hurricanes smashing the Gulf Coast has no doubt been a contributing factor in the recent price hike. But the current situation has left many scratching their heads since a similar scenario was faced three years prior.According to CNN.com, if a person makes $6.75 an hour, it takes more than eight hours to earn enough to fill a 15-gallon gas tank. Coupled with the high prices, the Southeast United States has been hit by gas shortages. Many places are seeing some of the lowest supply numbers in recent memory.
The price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas is $3.63 at its lowest in Ruston, and in other parts of the country, gas is as high as $4.55 in Alaska, which is ironically a state that provides oil to the country.
Executives from the major U.S. oil companies were brought before Congress last year to discuss record profits while customers paid record prices. This effort had little to no impact on the situation. While students find ways around the rising gas prices, other parts of the population don’t really have a means to do so.
“Gas prices are out of control. I drive a truck and every day the normal is work and home. I always have to factor in gas prices when I want to do something other than the normal,” said Ashi Jones of New Orleans.
While Jones makes what some would consider a decent salary, filling the gas tank of his pickup truck makes life quite difficult in today’s shaky economy.
The fear of high gas prices is only the tip of the iceberg for some Americans. When asked about the effect the high gas prices are having on him, Aubrey Jones of Baton Rouge responded with, “It sucks. I’m not getting any more money, but I have to constantly pay more for everything. It’s not just at the pump, gas prices are screwed up like the rest of the economy.”
With gas prices on a steady incline, along with most other goods and services in the U.S it is clear that the opinion of most of America is as simple as the words of Aubrey Jones in that the economy “sucks.