No Gas at the Pumps! Issue Subpoenas Immediately

This last week, after Hurricane Ike slammed the Houston area, some gas stations in NC raised their prices from $3.89/gallon to $4.25/gallon. There were rumors that some gas stations raised their prices to $5.00 or more per gallon.

On a personal basis, I curse the stations that do this

But as the picture shows, there are now many gas stations which have no gas. This Kangaroo station in Cary had previously had a note on each pump saying "Please don't pump more than 10 gallons". Despite that request, this station ran out of gas.

NC Attorney General Roy Cooper, seeing a chance to capitalize on a natural disaster, went on the radio last week and announced that subpoenas were being sent out to gas stations around the state that had raised their prices. The state legislature, like other states, had last year passed an anti-gouging statute which made it illegal to raise prices due to a natural disaster.

Apparently, it did not stop politicians from taking advantage of a natural disaster.

These anti-gouging statutes hurt relief efforts. As a recent article in the San Diego Tribune explains:

"[T]hese laws are a mistake. They are a mistake because price gougers, as morally repugnant as they we may find them, are doing something that provides real aid to people in desperate need.

Consider John Shepperson, a Kentucky resident who bought 19 electrical generators and drove 600 miles to Mississippi in a rented U-Haul after Hurricane Katrina. There, he planned to sell his generators for twice what he paid for them. In so doing, he would have provided his customers with a tremendous benefit. Sure, they would liked to have paid much less for the generators, but the fact that they were willing to pay Shepperson's price shows they would rather be “gouged” than not have the generator at all.

Unfortunately, Shepperson was arrested for violating Mississippi's anti-gouging law and his generators were confiscated. This was bad news for Shepperson, of course, but the real problem with such laws is their effect on disaster victims. These are people who have already lost more than anyone should have to bear to the capriciousness of nature. Their homes are often wrecked, their jobs might be in jeopardy, the safety of their family is often seriously compromised, and their opportunities to do anything to make their situation better are severely limited. The way to help such people is certainly not to take away the one option they see as more promising than anything else they've got. Yet, this is precisely what anti-gouging laws do."

I say, send out subpoenas to the gas stations which did not raise prices. If they had, then people would have naturally bought less and the gas would have been rationed amongst people who need it. Additionally, people might have driven less, or car pooled. They might also have considered alternate fuels, like natural gas or a hybrid for their next car.

But no, the state wants to "control" prices. Hence, the shortage - with no benefit of convincing people to wean off gasoline.

Attorney General Roy Cooper needs to be investigated.