So I was reading up on the gas price fiasco this morning, you know, checking the prices around town (Phoenix, AZ) and how much it was going to hurt me to fill my car, when I noticed something striking that seems to have been missed by everyone, at least I'm pretty darned sure everyone has missed it.
Democrats who live in the blue states are being screwed, and paying more for their gas then our friends in the red states.
Taking a closer look at the graphics in dreaminonempty's two excellent diaries
here and
here we get our picture of the present lay of the red state / blue state situation.
Putting this up against the current gas price model as presented by the Gas Buddy web site there is a remarkable similarity, or correlation between cheap gas and Republican strongholds.
Now it would appear that the price of gas is tied more to the political leanings of a state than the actual number of refineries there. You would expect that a state that has a significantly large percentage of the countries refineries (California) would have the cheapest gas wouldn't you? Well you're wrong, and badly wrong at that.
In a state where the delivery costs are obviously cheaper, the people are paying the highest prices for gas in the country, yet for a state such as Idaho that has no refineries and most fuel has to be trucked in from places like, hmmmm California, gas is cheaper, much cheaper.
Now the oil companies are claiming that their oil prices are set by the international value of a barrel of oil, and not by the internal market. I hear you all shouting that surely the price is reflective of demand, and that because California has more cars and drivers than just about everywhere else, there is higher demand for the product. Well yes I can understand that would be the case if it were not for the fact that oil is purchased at a set international value as I mentioned above, so doesn't it make sense then that remote out of the way places like Idaho and Utah (sorry for the "boonies" reference there for those of you who live in those states) should add to the price the shipping costs, making gas actually more expensive in those places?
I'm sorry, I'm just an Australian, used to paying exorbitant prices for gas anyway, but all of this is confusing me so I just had to see if anyone else had noticed this anomaly?
