" Gas prices have not prompted me to cut consumption. I have cut consumption for different reasons. One of the biggest reasons is to help W fight his War On Terra. "

" I still have to commute to work and no I am not riding a bike on 29 or I80. "

" I have always driven my car a minimum of miles no matter what the price of gas. I do this to conserve and pollute less. "

" Is it just me or is there something wrong here? There isn't enough space here to go into all of this. But, it stinks to the high heaven. "

" Nearly ten months ago my family traded in an older SUV for a good used Honda Civic for use as our "commuter car". While not a very exciting car we now get about 37 MPG or better. "

" I have been driving nothing but fuel efficient little cars ever since I and the rest of the country became aware of the vagaries of gasoline prices back in the late 1970's when gasoline was in short supply and expensive for the time. Since I don't use much gasoline to begin with, price increases don't have much of an effect on my driving. "

" Thank god for government issued credit cards! "

" I'm sure you all remember the WWII slogan when gas was rationed to 3 gallons a week - "Is This Trip Necessary?" "

" Well I live here in Napa and drive to Novato every day. Fortunately for me there is NOT ANY REAL TRANSIT to get me there. I would happily get on a bus or train but not at the expense of doubling or tripling my commute time. I still have bills to pay so I must work. I can not afford to work in Napa because pay sucks. Therefore I commute. While I cringe at the fuel prices I am more angry that I can not afford to work in Napa and that our mass transit system FAILS me. "

" I have no choice since I work in Petaluma and have activities that take me outside Napa. I drive a somewhat economical vehicle which helps, but regardless of what I drive my consumption will be above average unless I decide to stay home unless at work and I dont see that happening, ever. "

" Mrs Lefty and I bought a Prius last year in anticipation of this event. We have cut our gas bills by more than 50% thanks to our 'liberal limosine' as some call it. Gas will continue to get more expensive, so we are laughing all the way to the bank. Our SUV is parked pretty much until it is time to turn it in for another hybrid 'liberal limosine'. It looks like GM may have a competitor in the VOLT if they build it as a plug-in hybrid or a full-on electric car. Either way I am bidding a not so fond farewell to smelly petroleum filling-stations as much as possible. Can't say I miss them much. --Lefty!!! "

" I don't think it's a stretch to state that the oil companies run this country. Bush/Cheney were in the oil business. They have allied themselves closely to Saudi Arabian leaders. Our armed forces are primarily serving the interests of oil companies, not the American people. Bush/Cheney ought to be impeached for selling out to the oil companies. "

" Demand for gas is not going down because of two reasons : 1) the price of gasoline isnt actually very high - if it had tracked inflation since the 1960s, it would probably be close to $5 gallon. The refineries simply can't produce gas any faster. We have plenty of oil right now, we just can't ptoduce it fast enough, even with the higher margins refineries are geting in terms of price. 2) People aren't using gas frivolously. There ain't no joyriding going on these days - people simply need to do certain things and don't have much room to cut down "

" I worry about what I pay for gas, and those controlling the gas prices, but I still drive the same amount of miles every week. By the way, does anyone really believe gas prices are based on a free market economy? If so, I'd like to sell you my SUV that gets forty miles to the gallon. "

" Blaming the oil companies is just silly. They do the research, they locate the oil, they drill it, they pump it, they refine it, they transport it, they subdize gas stations for selling their brand. The government however, places enormous taxes on each gallon of gas, and they don't contribute anything to the production of fuel. Taxes on fuel is a no-overhead busines with pure profit for the state and local governments. I can't think of any other business that runs on pure profit with no overhead. Their cut is a percentage, not a fixed amount per gallon, so the high price at the pump is a windfall for the state. "

" Can;t cut down on consumption..Brother needs to go to work!! "

" I haven't stopped buying as much, on the contrary I buy more. I find it enjoyable when the rest of society cannot afford to drive on the same roads as me. Let's get it to $5 a gallon! "

" The cost of gas has created an overwhelming burden for my family. With one family member who must drive from Napa each workday to different destinations throughout the Bay Area for work and another who drives to San Rafael two times or more per week and then around town the rest of the time to go to work and drop off/pick up children from school, among other locations, the slim budget margin that we had before is now gone and we are operating at a deficit. We do everything we can to consolodite errands and drive as little as possible, but that has not managed to keep us out of the red. And we are in no financial position to buy a new car, especially an expensive hybrid, to help defray some of this expense. This will soon become a crisis for many working class families like ours. "

" I had to cut back on groceries just to take my kids back and forth from school and to activities. "

" I have modified my driving habits significantly. I am fortunate enough to live and work in Napa so am able to ride my bike to work 3 days a week. It has been shown that producing more oil will not improve the situation in regards to the price of gasoline. The oil companies through mergers and acquisitions have systematically taken refineries out of operation and have not built a new refinery since the 70’s. They have manipulated the supply so that prices continue to go up. I believe Oil and Gasoline should be declared utilities, just like natural gas. That way oil companies would have to go to the PUC for price increases. In the meantime I ride my bike and am glad summer is approaching. "

" Monies from taxes on gasoline and diesel are used to build and maintain highways. When I drove in Europe in the 1990s gas was $5 a gallon everywhere. Most of that cost was for tax and they had highways far superior to our highways in the States. People who commuted everyday often rode on Vespa motor scooters. Many wore business suits while riding. They got good mileage and were easy to park. Eventually we'll figure it out here too. "

" I commute from Green Valley to Napa everyday for work. But the price of gas isn't too bad I drive a newer sedan and I only spend $10 more per week compared to 1 year ago. "

" Dear "Really Hurtin", if you want a way out of your negative cash flow problem, please consider voting the current Bush-Republican authors of higher gas prices out of office every chance you get. In the 'olden days' before the current batch of corporate looters took over, the government would have launched a program to raise fuel efficiency standards and another to lessen our dependence on foreign oil all together. As we sit in stalemate now, the current government squanders enough money to buy you that hybrid car "you can not afford" approximately every 20 seconds in Iraq. That is why you can't afford a hybrid car or the gas for the car you have. Imagine if you could walk into any car dealer and sign for a car that got 45 mpg or better with the government picking up the tab for your downpayment, in fact your whole payment... PROVIDED you handed in the keys to your old car that got less than 30 mpg. I can still imagine that no matter what the media and the rightie-tighties that own it try to pound in our heads. The government of the USA is OUR bank, it is past time to throw out the crooked board of directors. --Lefty!!! "

" Lefty, you're preaching to the choir, dude! I would like nothing better than to see this administration replaced with one a little more concerned with the "have-nots" than with the "have-mores". That appears to be our only hope at the moment ... "

" Hey, thanks to all the citizens of Napa for filling up the gas tanks of every member of my work crew, including our supe. Gotta love that use of taxpayers money and no one would ever have known... "