$52 Tank of Gas

I made the choice awhile back to purchase a 2002 Bonneville SSEI. It's classified as a performance car. The engine comes equipped with a supercharger and a requirement for Premium gas for it's higher octane rating.

This morning, running on fumes with the gas gauge below E, I pulled into a local QuickTrip and prepared for the bad news. Unfortunately I wasn't sufficiently prepared. The signs posted prices at 2.69/2.79/2.91 (another recent change is the extra 2c for premium). However, the pump was actually charging 2.68/2.78/2.98. WTF?

I have no way to answer why the sudden jump in the cost of premium gas, but I just about lost it. All that was left to do was cry and watch as I pumped 17+ gallons at just under $3/gallon for a total tally pennies under $52.

While I realize that others may have it worse elsewhere in the country, isn't it time we asked why we should be relying on oil (apparenlty suddenly expensive refineries)? There are options out there. Perhaps if we stopped accepting lobbying money and directed it to research/infrastructure instead we'd actually meet the future before we create insurmountable hurdles to maintaining the basis of our current travel infrastructure .