During the summer between my freshman and sophomore years in college, I took a trip to see a young lady who was a student at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. That was the first time I had made such a long driving trip on my own.
On my way back to Mississippi, I stopped for gasoline in a Texas town. I was astounded to see that gas was selling for 55 cents a gallon. “Wow,” I thought, “if the price keeps going up like this, it might hit a dollar a gallon one of these days.”
Then I assumed the day of dollar-a-gallon gas was in the distant future. Now it seems like dollar-a-gallon gas was in the distant past.
The United States experienced a dramatic spike in gas prices in 2008. Some analysts say those prices helped plunge the nation into its lingering economic slump.
Prices retreated in 2009 and 2010. Part of that was because Americans began driving less. Now prices have started shooting up again. The price of gasoline has jumped 50 cents in the United States over the past month.
What’s happened in Greenwood? On Feb. 19, the highest reported price for gasoline in the city was $3.06 a gallon. On Thursday afternoon, the highest price in town that I saw was $3.50.
The latest rise in prices has been fueled by investors’ fears about widespread unrest in the Middle East. So far, that unrest has unseated the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia. Now, rebels in Libya are trying to overthrow Moammar Gadhafi, the dictator who has ruled that country for 41 years. The sooner he’s deposed, the better.
The fighting has shut down Libya’s oil industry. That’s not a big worry for the United States, which gets only a small percentage of its oil from Libya. It’s a bigger problem for Western Europe.
As bad as things are in the oil market now — the price topped $100 a barrel last week — they could get worse. If this wave of Mideast unrest were to hit Saudi Arabia and seriously threaten the Saudi ruling family, the repercussions could be dramatic. The United States gets much of its oil from Saudi Arabia. If that supply is threatened, you can bet U.S. troops will be going in.
Meanwhile, a war of words has erupted in Washington. Congressional Republicans and Democrats spent Thursday squabbling over who’s to blame for higher gas prices.
U.S. House Speaker John Boehner and other Republicans said gas prices have doubled since President Obama took office in 2009, which isn’t true. Boehner said the Obama administration has “consistently blocked” efforts to increase domestic oil production. Republicans announced a push to expand domestic energy production, including making it easier to build nuclear power plants.
Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., called Boehner’s comments off base and said unrest in Libya and other countries was to blame for higher gas prices.
“I find it shocking that Republicans would first attack the president of the United States before pointing a finger at Colonel Gadhafi,” Markey said.
Who are these high gas prices hurting the most? Mississippians, according to a report on cnnmoney.com.
People in places such as California may be paying more for a gallon of gas than people in Mississippi. But Mississippians spend the highest portion of their income on gas, according to data from the Oil Price Information Service.
According to the report, Mississippi families earn a median household income of $37,000 — the lowest in the country — but spend $402 per month (13.2 percent of their income) on gas.
In contrast, Californians earn a median of $59,000 per household, and spend about $380 (7.8 percent of their income) on gas.
Marianne Hill, senior economist with the Center for Policy Research in Jackson, said that rural populations are sensitive to rising gas prices not only because they usually have lower incomes, but because they drive longer distances to work, school and shopping.
“It has a big impact and particularly hits a rural state like Mississippi hard because so many people have to commute,” Hill told cnnmoney.com.
I hope Mississippi can soon escape this recession. But with these high gas prices, nobody can afford to drive a getaway car.
• Contact Charles Corder at ccorder@gwcommonwealth.com.
