3/31/22 Pelosi Rejects Gas Tax Holiday Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday poured cold water on the idea of suspending the federal gas taxes as a way to reduce the costs of higher gas prices for consumers. Pelosi acknowledged that the proposal, which has been floated by some Democrats in recent weeks, sounds appealing in theory. But she argued it doesn't help consumers much in the long term since oil companies are not required to pass on the savings. Furthermore, suspending the gas tax would take away the primary source of money for the Highway Trust Fund, which finances roads and mass transit. 3/31/22 America's Oil Reserve Weapon Risks Misfiring In oil markets, the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve has a reputation a little like the one the Russian armed forces used to have - vast and fearsome, a rival you'd be unwise to tangle with. Russia's aura of military invincibility was dealt a near-fatal blow over the past month in the muddy fields of Ukraine. The Biden administration should watch out: America's most formidable energy weapon may fall flat, too. 3/31/22 Pump Your Own Gas? No Thanks, Say New Jerseyans A brief but intense push to abolish a law that bars drivers in New Jersey from pumping their own fuel at gas stations has hit a speed bump, if not a complete dead-end.Nicholas Scutari, the Democratic president of the State Senate whose backing would be crucial to any law change, put an end to speculation earlier this month when he said he did not support changing the state's unique policy. . . Sal Risalvato, executive director of the New Jersey Gasoline, C-Store and Automotive Association, a trade group, said he believed allowing self-service gasoline would lower overhead costs, increase sales and drive down prices. Perhaps more important, he said, it would alleviate the hiring challenges now facing gas stations. A self-service option would enable station owners to keep all pumps open, rather than block off lanes when there are not enough employees, a problem that can lead to longer lines for gas, he said. . . Levent Sertbas owns three family-run Exxon stations in Bergen County, N.J. His wife, daughters and brother often work at the stations, but he said he was desperate for additional employees. He said he could hire three people on the spot if anyone showed up to apply for the jobs that pay $14 an hour. 3/31/22 N.J. Got More Gas Price Gouging Complaints In Last Month Than In Past 2 Years Combined Some New Jersey drivers who are tired of being pummeled at the pump by high gas prices have decided to fight back by reporting gas stations they believe are price gouging. Between Feb. 28 and March 29, the state Division of Consumer Affairs has received 92 consumer complaints about gasoline price gouging, said Gema DeLasHeras, a division spokeswoman. That's more complaints in one month than the past two years combined. 4/1/22 Tractor-Trailer Drivers Pump Brakes On Plans To Block Traffic On NJ Turnpike In Protest Of Gas Prices Tractor-trailer drivers say the sky-high gas prices are eating into earnings, and today, they tried to band together to voice their frustrations, but felt they had to pump the brakes on their plans. The drivers were supposed to leave the Vince Lombardi Rest Stop in Ridgefield and hit the New Jersey Turnpike all together at once, blocking traffic to get attention on their struggle. But they say there were too few drivers and too many state police troopers. "They used to pay us like $2 a mile, $3 a mile, and now, fuel prices are more expensive, but they are not paying more money per load," says driver Jose Estevez. 4/2/22 A Tanker's Giant U-Turn Reveals Strains in the Market for Russian Oil A tanker loaded with one million barrels of Russian oil set sail from Murmansk last month, headed for Philadelphia. Then, in the middle of the Atlantic, it did an abrupt U-turn. . . The meandering journey offers a glimpse into the tumult that has roiled the trade in oil, Russia's most lucrative export, as the United States, Canada, Britain and Australia move to ban imports of Russian oil because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 4/4/22 Visa, Mastercard to Update Pump Limit Rules Visa and Mastercard are planning to update rules regarding pump limits, as high gasoline prices are making it difficult for some drivers to fill up in one transaction, reports Bloomberg. Beginning in next month, Visa will quadruple the maximum transaction amount that carries better interchange rates for purchases made with small-business and commercial cards, and it will raise the fraud-liability threshold to $175. Mastercard now will preauthorize transactions to $175 for consumer cards and $500 for commercial cards. The two credit card companies are implementing other fee changes that will take place in the coming weeks. 4/6/22 Biden's Fuel Rules Leave Room For Internal Combustion The aggressive fuel-economy regulations the Biden administration rolled out last week are intended to spur faster development of electric cars, but they rely on a credit program that some environmentalists say undercuts the program's pollution-fighting purpose. The system allows carmakers to claim an equivalent of more than 100 miles per gallon for each EV in their lineup, potentially allowing them to meet the 49 mpg fleetwide mandate by 2026 even if the rest of the lineup is crowded with internal combustion vehicles. 4/5/22 Honda And GM Announce Shared EV Platform, First Model Arrives In 2027 Honda and General Motors will expand their electric vehicle collaboration to introduce a new series of models that will arrive in 2027 in North America. These vehicles will share a new global platform that will use GM's Ultium battery technology. The automakers hint that at least one of these upcoming EVs would be a compact crossover, which is hardly surprising given the popularity of this segment. They plan to produce the vehicles sharing this new platform globally. By pursuing the use of standardized assembly equipment and processes the companies want to have greater economies of scale, which should mean improved affordability. 4/5/22 New Jersey Man Pumps His Own Gas Successfully (Opinion)
The most recent effort to allow people the option or choice to pump their own gas was denied even a vote by your representatives. The new Senate president of New Jersey, Nick Scutari, just like his predecessor Steve Sweeney, is denying your representatives to even vote on whether or not to allow you to choose to do what all of the 49 other states have been doing for years without a problem. He cited polling that indicates people don't want to pump their own gas. The poll probably didn't ask, "Would you mind if others had the choice to pump their own gas?" That would be a more accurate indication as to whether we should allow people to do what everyone else in the world does every day. Whether New Jersey politicians are afraid of implementing any kind of change that might upset a few people for a few minutes or there's some other insidious motive behind denying people a choice, we don't know. |
