Fuel for Thought: More, More, More

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IT'S NOT A HAPPY DAY for folks with cars. Oil prices skidded past another record high on Monday, passing the $143 per barrel mark, as the national average for gas prices hit a new record of $4.086 a gallon, the Associated Press reports.

The price spikes come as the AP and Yahoo News released a poll in which nine in 10 respondents said they expected the rising cost of fuel to batter their wallets. Nearly half of those surveyed think that hardship will be serious, the AP reports.

It's a hit that will have immediate repercussions in this area. An estimate by AAA predicts a decline in the number of Americans who will travel during the July 4th holiday weekend, NBC4's Web site reports. The group says it expects 40.45 million Americans to hit the roads, down 550,000 from last year's travelin' band. One can expect that a drop in travel could mean a dip in the number of tourists who come to see the fireworks here in D.C., which business owners won't like very much (even though locals might rejoice).

How are area gas prices faring? Another look at the Exxon on Capitol Hill this morning showed that the price for regular unleaded gasoline was up about 9 cents since the last time we checked. The price of regular unleaded has risen 16 cents since our first post on this topic a month ago.

» "Oil prices pass $143 a barrel; US gas hits high" [AP via WaPo]
» "AP-Yahoo News poll: 9 in 10 hit hard by gas prices" [AP via WaPo]
» "Fewer To Travel For July Fourth, AAA Says" [NBC4]