Close to $4

Gasbuddy.com reports that many stations in Richmond are up to $3.89 a gallon in Richmond this afternoon.

What are the presidential candidates saying about gasoline prices?

This past week has been all about Wall Street on the campaign trail, but that doesn’t mean gasoline prices are far from voters’ minds as the November elections approach.

Here’s what the campaigns are saying about energy?

Barack Obama 

Barack Obama and Joe Biden will require oil companies to take a reasonable share of their record breaking windfall profits and use it to provide direct relief worth $500 for an individual and $1,000 for a married couple.  The relief would be delivered as quickly as possible to help families cope with the rising cost of gasoline.

John McCain

To Mitigate The Threats Posed By Our Dependence On Foreign Oil, We Must Increase Oil Production Here At Home. We have proven oil reserves of at least 21 billion barrels in the United States. But a broad federal moratorium stands in the way of energy exploration and production of another 18 billion barrels of oil. It is time for the federal government to lift these restrictions and to put our own reserves to use.

So what do you say? Are either of these guys speaking to your concerns at the pump?

Shortage of Gas Nearby

NBC29 in Charlottesvilleis reporting empty gas pumps in and around Charlottesville.

Now gas stations in Central Virginia are battling supply problems, many of them running out of gasoline all together. We talked to Charlottesville gas station managers and people filling up about what’s going on with gas.

At the Joy station on High Street in Charlottesville they were running on empty for three days this week.  ”If you don’t have a contract with an oil company you’re last in line to get it so it’s hard for us,” explained Joy Gas Station Manager Beverly Hayseltt. 

Station owners say right now the supply isn’t coming in the same quantity it was before Hurricane Ike.

Better fill up this weekend!  It might happen to us here in Richmond.

Richmonders say gas prices are changing their lives

We talked to Richmonders today about how high gasoline prices are changing how, when and where they choose to spend their time.

If you’re heading to Nashville, take an extra gas tank.

CNN is reportingthat there has been a run on gas stations in Nashville.  A rumor, it seems, swept the area leaving residents fearing that the city would be out of gasoline:

Hearing the rumor, drivers rushed to fill their cars and trucks.

CNN called 13 Nashville gas stations at random. Only two reported having gas, and one said it was almost out. The stations said they were being told they would not get more until Monday or Tuesday.

Only 616 miles separate Nashville from Richmond.  This one hits a little close to home.

Where are the lowest prices in Virginia?

Gasbuddy.com is reporting that Northern Virginia has the lowest gas prices in Virginia right now at $3.49.

Why is gasoline so expensive?

A Richmond attorney, Chip Dicks, offers his theories for why you are feeling so much pain at the pump.

Remember when gas was under $1?

Not that long ago gas prices were actually under a $1.  For those in the new generation that might seem unreal, but many of us wish those days would return.  Zfacts.com shows viewers how the price has fluctuated in that last thirty years. 

 

Gas Prices Sinking Across U.S.

CNN is reporting that gas prices fell for a third straight day. 

The average price of unleaded regular dropped 3 cents to $3.777 a gallon, according to the survey released by motorist group AAA.  The cheapest gas can be found in New Jersey, where gas cost $3.481 a gallon, according to AAA’s Web site.

Virginia’s U.S. Senate candidates differ on energy.

Sometimes it’s hard to remember that Virginia even has a U.S. Senate race this year.  The presidential race seems to be sucking all the oxygen out of the room.

But the two candidates, former Virginia governors Mark Warner and Jim Gilmore not only have different energy policies, but also seem to place different emphases on the issue.

Democrat Mark Warner lists energy as #1 on his campaign’s issues page and offers a multi-part plan.

Warner’s ideas on drilling require careful scrutiny and debate, but at least they are not based on two false premises: that even an immediate end to the moratorium could affect gas prices one iota any time soon, and that the nation can drill its way to cheap energy, now or ever.

As he noted, the U.S. uses 25 percent of the world’s oil yet holds only 2 percent of its oil reserves. The pain at the pumps now is real, but it will be a pale memory compared to the economic and security crises the nation will face if it does not wean itself from its dependence on oil which, by virtue of global geology, means dependence on foreign oil…

Republican Jim Gilmore lists energy as #3 on his campaign’s issues page and offeres only a brief paragraph on what he believes.

The United States today imports 60 percent of its oil, a situation that places our economy and our national security at risk. We can do better! I believe we must use research and development tax incentives to motivate and stimulate American ingenuity and technology to free our nation from its dependence on foreign oil. We also must push for steady and dramatic increases in domestic energy production and efforts to expand the use of alternative fuels.

Are the candidates speaking to your concerns on the energy issue?