possibly noteworthy wrote:

Gas prices are high throughout the country, but how hard they hit individual families depends on income levels, which vary widely.

I wish someone would explain the distribution of gas prices to me. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason other than "it's higher where rich people live". Obviously there is some discrepancy here, but there doesn't seem to be a pattern with regard to distribution costs, refinement costs, demand (# of drivers, roads, etc), or retail network. Which makes me think that the pricing of gasoline is really arbitrary, and that's why MobilExxon is making record profits.

Granted, I'm actually FOR higher gas prices, because it puts pressure on society to adapt to alternative modes of transport and energy policy. But if that pricing is really just an apparition, then all we're doing is allowing some corporation to get rich at the expense of poor people without actually causing sustainable change in development, policy, or technology.