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This Independence Day weekend, drivers won't see any relief from high gas prices. Although prices retreated by a fraction of a cent at the beginning of the week, AAA predicts holiday travelers will pay the most at the pump since 2008. In its monthly gas price report released June 30, AAA said, "With Independence Day only a few days away, today's national average price of gas is $3.68 per gallon. This average is considerably more expensive than recent years for the holiday. The national average on July 4 in previous years was: $3.48 (2013); $3.34 (2012); $3.57 (2011); $2.74 (2010);...

On Monday, June 30, the national average retail gasoline price was $3.70 per gallon. Although this is the highest average heading into the Fourth of July holiday since 2008, gasoline prices in 2014 have remained well below the spring peaks reached in each of the previous three years (see graph). Although prices are currently 20 cents per gallon higher than last year at this time, prices this year did not peak as high as in recent years because of relatively stable crude oil prices in 2014. The peak retail gasoline price this year was $3.71/gal on April 29, lower than...

WASHINGTON — AAA Mid-Atlantic says the civil war in Iraq is pushing up gasoline prices in the United States. Drivers in the District of Columbia are paying $3.89 per gallon. That’s up 5 cents from a week ago and is far above the national average of $3.68 per gallon. In Maryland, AAA says gas prices are up 4 cents this week to an average of $3.67 per gallon. Prices are highest in the Washington suburbs and western Maryland. In Delaware, AAA says gas prices have risen 7 cents over the past week to about $3.68 per gallon. AAA says national...

The federal Highway Trust Fund, historically, is a fund that the government can’t be trusted to spend on federal highways. Unfortunately, Senator Bob Corker (R., Tenn.) is proposing to put more money in it by raising the federal gasoline tax, a proposal he’s concocted with Senator Chris Murphy (D., Conn.). Corker’s idea is bad policy and bad politics. The politics: Gas prices are rising rapidly, taxes on fuel are regressive, and Americans, rightly, really don’t like when you raise any kind of tax at all. There’s no pressing policy reason to increase the tax. The trust fund has plenty of...

Connecticut residents may soon be seeing more federal tax hikes in the gas and diesel purchased, the first hike in 20 years. Lawmakers in Washington, DC said the federal highway trust fund will be empty in a few months if they don't come up with a plan to refill it. Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy and Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker proposed raising the federal tax $0.12 over the next two years to replenish the fund, however, taxpayers aren't approving of this. "That's not going to work for me. I'm a single parent, I can't afford that," said Latoya Leery. Connecticut drivers...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two senators unveiled a bipartisan plan Wednesday to raise federal gasoline and diesel taxes for the first time in more than two decades, pitching the proposal as a solution to Congress' struggle to pay for highway and transit programs. The plan offered by Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Bob Corker, R-Tenn., would raise the 18.4 cents-a-gallon federal gas tax and 24.4 cents-a-gallon diesel tax each by 12 cents over the next two years, and then index the taxes to keep pace with inflation. The increase would be applied in two increments of 6 cents each.

Two U.S. senators on Wednesday proposed raising federal gasoline and diesel fuel taxes by 12 cents a gallon [3.2 cents a liter] over the next two years to keep a road and bridge fund from going broke. The gasoline tax now stands at 18.4 cents a gallon, and the diesel tax at 24.4 cents a gallon. The politically sensitive levies have not been increased since 1993. The senators' plan faces an uphill fight this year, with congressional elections coming in November. Senators Bob Corker, a Republican, and Chris Murphy, a Democrat, called for the tax increase, with the new revenue...

Two senators unveiled a bipartisan plan Wednesday to raise federal gasoline and diesel taxes for the first time in more than two decades, pitching the proposal as a solution to Congress’ struggle to pay for highway and transit programs. The plan offered by Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Bob Corker, R-Tenn., would raise the 18.4-cents-a-gallon federal gas tax and 24.4-cents-a-gallon diesel tax by 12 cents each over the next two years, and then index the taxes to keep pace with inflation. The plan also calls for offsetting the tax increases with other taxes cuts. …

Along with 3 billion other viewers around the world, I plan to tune in for the month-long World Cup to see whether the 22-year old Neymar can withstand the colossal pressure that has been put upon his shoulders to deliver a win for team Brazil. Every time I turn on my television set, I’m using World Cup-related energy. And that’s just the start. Flying in teams, trainers, equipment, World Cup personnel and the estimated 500,000-plus fans will use enormous volumes of jet fuel. Full article: http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/How-Much-Energy-Will-the-2014-World-Cup-Consume.html

The Tax Foundation posted the following map of gasoline taxes. The Tax Foundation says "Gas taxes are generally used to fund transportation infrastructure maintenance and new projects. While gas taxes are not a perfect user fee like tolls, they are generally more favorable than other taxes because they at least loosely connect the users of roads with the costs of enjoying them. However, some of our recent analysis shows that many states do not rely on gas taxes and tolls as much as they could, and instead fund substantial amounts of transportation from other sources like income and sales taxes."...

Tyler Durden 05/30/2014Submitted by Jeff Nielsen via BullionBullsCanada blog, Regular readers are familiar with my narratives on the U.S. Greater Depression, and (in particular) some of the government’s own charts which depict this economic meltdown most vividly. The collapse in the “civilian participation rate” (the number of people working in the economy) and the “velocity of money” (the heartbeat of the economy) indicate an economy which is not merely in decline, but rather is being sucked downward in a terminal (and accelerating) death-spiral. However, even that previously published data, and the grim analyses which accompanied it could not prepare me...

Regular readers are familiar with my narratives on the U.S. Greater Depression, and (in particular) some of the government’s own charts which depict this economic meltdown most vividly. The collapse in the “civilian participation rate” (the number of people working in the economy) and the “velocity of money” (the heartbeat of the economy) indicate an economy which is not merely in decline, but rather is being sucked downward in a terminal (and accelerating) death-spiral. However, even that previously published data, and the grim analyses which accompanied it could not prepare me for the horror story contained in data passed along...

The White House has a new report touting the recent boom in US fossil-fuel production. This is an old story — though one the Obama administration seems eager to emphasize before it announces sweeping new regulations on coal power plants on June 2. This chart, however, was quite striking. Ever since 2006, oil imports have been far, far lower than actual forecasts: So what happened? Back in 2006, the United States imported nearly 13 million barrels of oil per day. And official forecasters assumed that imports would keep going up indefinitely — that is, they assumed Americans would keep driving...

You can't really blame Attorney General Martha Coakley for not knowing how much the state tax on gasoline is. How could she? She hasn't paid it in years, at least since 2006 when she was elected attorney general. Since then, as the state's chief law officer, she has had a state car and a state driver, usually a state cop, driving her around. Consequently, although you might find the 60-year-old Democrat candidate for governor pumping iron to get in shape, you would never catch her pumping gas. Pumping iron, yes. Pumping gas, no. The state limo arrives with a full...

Summer is officially upon us, and millions of American families will soon be embarking on their annual trips to the beach, the mountains, the lake, grandma’s house, or any other of the fantastic destinations our country has to offer. The beginning of “summer driving season” is also a time when many Americans turn even greater attention to the price of gasoline. After all, traveling several hundred or more miles in a loaded up minivan can rack up an awfully large fuel bill. But what about this year? Everyone knows that domestic oil production has been surging, and that this...

EIA expects crude oil prices to decline in 2014 In its May Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA forecasts that the spot price of North Sea Brent crude oil will fall through the remainder of 2014, declining from current levels of $108 per barrel (bbl) to average $103/bbl during the fourth quarter (Figure 1). For full-year 2014, EIA expects the Brent price to average $106/bbl, down $2 from the 2013 average, but more than $1 higher than last month´s forecast. EIA expects crude prices to decline through the end of the year as demand for OPEC crude falls to offset the...

The government is establishing its first emergency reserves of gasoline to address future fuel disruptions in the New York City area and New England like those caused by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, the Energy Department announced Friday. The two reserves totaling 1 million gallons of gasoline will be stored in leased commercial terminals around New York Harbor and Boston, the Energy Department said. The $200 million project will be paid with proceeds from a sale of crude oil from the government’s emergency reserves on the Gulf Coast. Official said they hope to have the new gasoline reserves in place by...

Drivers in the U.S. are facing rising gasoline prices ahead of summer-vacation season, just as refiners here are shipping more gas to other countries. A new pipeline, built to release a glut of crude oil that was stuck in the middle of the country, is now feeding oil to refineries on the Gulf Coast that churn out gasoline and diesel. While these fuels still make their way to the Southeast and the East Coast, growing amounts are being sold to Mexico, the Netherlands, Brazil and other countries. The push into these markets has been spurred by the U.S. oil boom....

Well, this is going to be a heartbreaker for the hysterical global warming crowd. According to a new study, emissions from burning corn are worse for the environment and produce more CO2 or 'global warming' gases than the burning of traditional gasoline. Biofuels made from the leftovers of harvested corn plants are worse than gasoline for global warming in the short term, a study shows, challenging the Obama administration's conclusions that they are a much cleaner oil alternative and will help combat climate change. A $500,000 study paid for by the federal government and released Sunday in the peer-reviewed journal...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Biofuels made from the leftovers of harvested corn plants are worse than gasoline for global warming in the short term, a study shows, challenging the Obama administration's conclusions that they are a much cleaner oil alternative and will help combat climate change.</p>