Lawmakers Look At Rising Gas Prices
LANSING (WWJ) - Lawmakers in Lansing are asking the question -- why are gas prices so high? The State House Energy and Technology Committee is holding a hearing on that issue.
Speaking before the committee, Tuesday, President of the Michigan Petroleum Association, Mark Griffin, said consumers aren't the only ones paying more.
"There isn't a consumer out there, as he looks out his windshield, who's happy about the price of gas. And, I'm here to tell you that petroleum wholesalers and retailers share your concern, share your discouragement over the price of gas," Griffen said.
"We would much rather see the price of gasoline go down than up, and some of you may think, why? Well, it's pretty simple. The lower the price of gas means we have happy customers. It means those customers have more money in their pocket to come inside our stores and buy the pop, the candy, the cigarettes, the milk -- the things that we make money on," he said.
Griffin said, at $3.50 a gallon, around 55-cents a gallon of the cost in Michigan goes towards taxes.
This week, AAA Michigan said gasoline prices were up 5.2 cents per gallon over last week to a statewide average of $3.58. That's 82.4 cents per gallon higher than last year at this time.
