Record gas prices at the pumps have Hollister motorists looking
for ways to save money where they can
– though driving less does not seem to be one of them.
Hollister – Record gas prices at the pumps have Hollister motorists looking for ways to save money where they can – though driving less does not seem to be one of them.
An informal Free Lance survey conducted yesterday found the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline at $2.71 – up 30 cents from late May. Statewide, gas prices increased 18 cents in the last month to $2.77 per gallon, a record, according to AAA.
As a house painter, Hollister resident Mike Parson drives his pick-up truck as far as San Jose. Parson said that because he has to go to where the work is he can’t cut back on how much he drives, but he is cutting back on other expenses such as eating out and buying snacks in an economizing effort forced on him by increasing fuel costs.
“Would I cut back (on driving) if I could? Definitely,” he said. But when it came to assigning blame for the high prices, Parson said he didn’t know who was at fault, if anyone.
Like Parson, Hollister resident Luke Biesecker said he doesn’t like the high price of gas, but he still has to drive.
“It sucks,” Biesecker said. “I still have to drive to work.”
The rising gas prices have convinced Biesecker to park his Dodge Dakota truck and drive his wife’s Honda Civic, which he said gets nearly double the miles per gallon of gas.
“I use the wife’s car and leave the gas guzzler at home,” he said.
Several people interviewed by the Free Lance who declined to give their names said that while they did not like the fact that gas prices go up each year, they don’t have any plans to cut back on the amount they drive or otherwise change their lifestyles.
Motorists aren’t the only ones feeling the pinch. Rising diesel fuel prices – up to $3 per gallon – have local trucking companies calling for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to let out-of-state diesel be imported into California.
“We’re asking for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to either declare a state of emergency or issue an executive order to lift the ban for the time being (on) importing oil from other states,” said Tony Luiz, owner of T&L Trucking near Watsonville.
California’s diesel, like its gasoline, is a cleaner-burning fuel than that used in other states. With a limited supply that was further tightened last month by a fire at a Chevron refinery in El Segundo, Calif., Luiz said he wants truckers and farmers here to get the needed fuel, and at fair prices. Trucking companies are already charging customers more, though, with a gallon of diesel costing 83 cents more than a year ago, according to the Energy Information Administration.
There’s a simple explanation for the increase in fuel prices: the price of crude oil has gone up. More difficult to explain is the reason why crude oil prices are rising, according to Sean Comey, spokesman for AAA of Northern California.
“It appears to be based on the fear of potential problems in oil producing regions,” he said. “The trouble with the energy market … it reacts on emotional basis.”
In addition to fear of instability in oil producing states like Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Russia, the ubiquitous forces of supply and demand are contributing to rising fuel costs. Emerging economies like China have played an important role in the increase in demand for oil.
Though gas prices may decline somewhat in coming months, according to Comey the rising global demand on oil supplies will likely cause gas prices to remain higher than what they have been in past years.
Motorists who think that gas prices going up lines the pockets of the local gas retailer are mistaken, according to Comey. When the price of crude oil rises the cost of a gallon of gas increases by almost the same percent.
“The average gas retailer probably makes as much selling you a cup of coffee and a donut as he does selling you a gallon of gas,” he said.
Comey recognized the problem many Californians have trying to drive less.
“The trouble is, most people don’t have a lot of discretion over how much fuel they use,” he said.
San Benito County Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Al Martienez said county commuters are getting hit hard by high gas prices.
“People are feeling it. Commuters can’t help but feel it,” he said. But, he added, people who live in San Benito County and work in the Silicon Valley are usually paid more and are better able to afford increased fuel prices.
While it is difficult for people who commute to work to decrease the amount they drive, recent statistics show a tiny decrease in fuel consumption when historically there is an annual increase, according to Comey. For him, this is an indication that people are trying to conserve fuel where they can.
But no matter how serious motorists get about conserving gas, as the cost of diesel continues to rise, so does the cost of trucking, busing schoolchildren, plowing fields, and even making cement. Eventually, Luiz said, that cost will be transferred to countless other products.
“Gasoline is important, but there’s ways of being able to get around that,” he said, such as making fewer trips or carpooling. “But when it comes down to diesel, everything gets transported by at least one form of diesel, let it be railroad, which uses diesel, ships … trucks … tractors that work the fields, pumps in the farmer’s wells, which use diesel. When the diesel prices go this high, everybody’s going to feel it.”
Sixteen months ago, T & L Trucking was charging customers such as farmers and construction companies $68 an hour but now charges $85, he said.
Staff writer Lori Stuenkel contributed to this story.
Luke Roney covers politics and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at
lr****@fr***********.com
