To the editor: The Times editorial board criticizes greedy oil companies for charging Californians the highest gasoline prices in the country, citing possible market manipulation stemming from the industry's opaque way of doing business.
If oil companies really manipulated the market this way, why would they allow gas prices to go down? And why wouldn't companies use those same tricks to raise gas prices across the country to California levels? Why is California the only state being played for suckers?
Reducing gas prices in California would stimulate greater gas consumption, which would increase pollution and climate warming. Is that what The Times advocates?
Gerry Swider, Sherman Oaks
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To the editor: I have never understood why gasoline is not treated and regulated like electricity, as a necessary good, because it is precisely that. We all need electricity and gasoline.
If anything, gasoline may be more important, because our entire economy depends on it. The clear example is the inflation of food prices, when the price of gasoline rose significantly, and also that of groceries.
Robert Bachmann, Los Angeles
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To the editor: Persistently high gas prices in California arise no doubt from producers' desire for profit, but also because the state requires a much-needed special blend of smog-reducing gasoline that is not refined outside its borders.
Supply is even more limited as many oil refiners here export refined products abroad rather than producing more gas. Former Gov. Jerry Brown also passed a major gas tax that has reinforced the divergence in fuel prices with other states.
It's right to emphasize the profit motive, but a limited supply, along with higher taxes and regulations, also contribute to the stark reality of higher prices in the Golden State.
Christian Teeter, Los Angeles
