You should feel lucky Smoke, here in Cali we've been at $2.98 for over a month. Unfortunately, both of my vehicles take premium so we're pretty well screwed. Latest estimates are they will keep climbing through the summer. Our only hope is the newly approved Alaska project will lessen the burden, but we won't see the benefits for quite awhile.

Oh yeah, regardless of what the spin doctors at petroleum producers state on why the prices are so high, they are currently posting record profits and have been every quarter for over 2 years. Coincidence?

The bottom line is that America is completely dependent on gas. As another poster noted, we don't have the infrastructure for mass transit and we're simply too spread out. If you want a classic example of "urban sprawl," go to Tucson. I was there a few weeks ago and it literally took me 45 minutes to get from the airport to my hotel, with no traffic, and I was still in the city! It was completely absurd! They charge the prices they do because we'll pay it...period.

Believe it or not, there are some upsides to the escalating price of gas. We could see a serious acceleration of development of hybrids such as the Lexus RX400h (268hp, 31city/29hwy) or Honda Accord hybrid (255hp, 29city/37hwy). In both cases, these are the most powerful, quickest, yet most fuel efficient variants of each model.

The other advantage is that is could force auto manufacturers to start seriously considering importation of some the wickedly cool cars that Europe enjoys but we don't. I for one would love to see something like the Ford StreetKa make it over the pond.