Gasoline Price Increases
Causes and Remedies
Gasoline prices surged to record levels in May 2008 and stayed there as the summer driving season began and crude oil prices also reached record highs. However, consumption of gasoline continued above 9 million barrels per day (mbd). Some observers claimed to detect signs that the threat of an economic downturn and higher prices had curbed gasoline consumption, but others claimed that growth in demand was continuing unabated.Despite passage in December 2007 of the Energy Independence and Security Act (H.R. 6, P.L. 110_140), the main provisions of which were an increase in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for…
