Democratic Underground Latest Greatest Lobby Journals Search Options Help Login
Google

Hawaii Sets Caps on Wholesale Gas Prices

Printer-friendly format Printer-friendly format
Printer-friendly format Email this thread to a friend
Printer-friendly format Bookmark this thread
This topic is archived.
Home » Discuss » Latest Breaking News Donate to DU
 
deminks Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-24-05 10:19 PM
Original message
Hawaii Sets Caps on Wholesale Gas Prices
ONOLULU - In an effort to gain some control over what motorists pay at the pump, Hawaii on Wednesday became the first state in the U.S. to set caps on the wholesale price of gasoline.

The 2004 law authorizing the caps was intended to force Hawaii's two refiners, Chevron Corp. and Tesoro Corp., to set their wholesale prices closer to mainland rates. Proponents of the law said the refiners were taking advantage of the small, isolated market to charge exorbitant prices.

But John Felmy, chief economist of the American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry's main trade group, said Hawaii should be prepared for negative unintended consequences. "They are basically assigning different amounts of revenue to different areas of the supply chain," Felmy said, and that could have a "chilling effect" on attracting supplies or new investment in the market.

Gov. Linda Lingle, who unsuccessfully sought repeal of the 2004 law passed by the state Legislature, has said she worries the cap will actually increase prices and create fuel shortages. The governor has the power to suspend the price caps if she determines they would cause a major adverse impact on the economy, public order, or the health, welfare or safety of the people of Hawaii.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050825/ap_on_bi_ge/gas_prices_hawaii_caps
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
TankLV Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-24-05 10:26 PM
Response to Original message
1. Way to go Hawaii!
Maybe next time you won't be fooled into voting for a repuke again!

Glad to hear repuke lingle couldn't override and repeal the law.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Cha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-24-05 11:24 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. I'm not sure I understand this
"capping" of gasoline prices? It would be a good thing?

I do hope lingle gets out in 2006 cause I'm moving back to Hawaii in 2007.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
HadItUpToHere Donating Member (204 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-24-05 11:36 PM
Response to Reply #1
3. This could end up being VERY bad.
if the oil companies can't make enough money on it, they'll stop sending boats full of oil to the islands...then what?
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Hekate Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-25-05 01:00 AM
Response to Reply #3
4. Hawaii is unique: they are always at the end of the supply chain
Understand this: the population of Hawaii lives on islands. They are a completely captive market.

If a Mainlander doesn't like local goods and services s/he can always drive to another region. My Massachussetts sister and her in-laws drive to New Hampshire for some of their shopping.

This is not possible for the residents of Hawaii. The next regional market is 3,000 miles away, and you can't get there by car.

They have always paid a premium for shipping, and (as far as I know) the population long ago outstripped local sustainability for food. Food from the Mainland used to arrive very stale when I was a kid there. God only knows how long it had been in storage or under what conditions. When I grew up and everything started to come with an expiration date, the dates would be very close to the day I saw the items in the grocery store. I don't know how it is now that warehouses have been virtually eliminated in favor of "storing" goods on moving trains, trucks, and ships, but Hawaii is still a captive market because of its location.

A generation ago studies were done to determine exactly why goods ended up costing so much more than on the Mainland -- all I remember from the newspaper story is that everyone along the way added to the price, and the result was that we paid and paid and paid for everything, including gas for our cars.

Do I believe in protectionism? Under some circumstances, absolutely.

Hekate
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Candide Donating Member (63 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-25-05 01:16 AM
Response to Original message
5. I was just there last week
$3.09 for regular on Kauai , about $2.76 on Oahu

its about $2.59 right now in CT
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
moose65 Donating Member (525 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-25-05 08:07 AM
Response to Original message
6. Just had a thought....
Seems to me that Hawaii would be the ideal place to experiment with hybrid cars or other "new technology" for automobiles. I mean, you can't drive very far on any of the islands, so you wouldn't need a car that could go 400 miles on one tank of gas, plus there's really no need for jumbo-sized SUV's. When I was on Maui in 1999 we rented a tiny little car to get around in, and gas was a lot more expensive on the islands than the mainland. Hawaii could be an example for the rest of the world! Why oh why doesn't the damn administration try SOMETHING to reduce our dependence on oil?? Oh wait, nevermind.....
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
DU AdBot (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view 
this author's profile Click to add 
this author to your buddy list Click to add 
this author to your Ignore list Thu Dec 26th 2024, 11:35 AM
Response to Original message
Advertisements [?]
 Top

Home » Discuss » Latest Breaking News Donate to DU

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators


Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.

Home  |  Discussion Forums  |  Journals |  Store  |  Donate

About DU  |  Contact Us  |  Privacy Policy

Got a message for Democratic Underground? Click here to send us a message.

© 2001 - 2011 Democratic Underground, LLC