Gallon

I read with interest (or humor?) "L.A.'s the Place for Lower Gasoline Prices, Analysts Say" from Associated Press (Sept. 2), having just completed a 7,156-mile driving vacation from L.A. to the South, Midwest and back to L.A. The price of gasoline was cheaper everywhere compared with L.A. ($1.439 per gallon for unleaded regular when we left). It was as low as $1.059 per gallon in El Dorado, Ark., and diesel was as cheap as $1.029 per gallon in parts of Indiana (versus $1.439 in L.A. on Sept.

The oil industry has really conned the public this time ("Gasoline Prices Fall 8.6 Cents in State," Dec. 21). About one year ago, the gas price was approximately $1.40 per gallon. More recently, the price had risen to $2.50 and above. Now that the gas is dipping below $2 per gallon, the public appears to be appreciative. Jack Adelman Glendale

Much has been made of the price of a gallon of gas. It is too high, most claim. I would like to suggest another perspective: The price of a gallon of gas is actually too low. Factor in the environmental costs of the burning of fossil fuels, the societal health costs resulting from smog and the generous tax credits and tax abatements given the petroleum industry and the true cost of gasoline becomes apparent -- at least in the countries of Europe and...

Our vacation was over, and I was sitting in a plane on the runway at LAX reading that at $2.73 per gallon, California milk prices are the highest in the nation ["State Court Allows Sale of Unenriched Milk," Aug. 10]. I couldn't wait to get home and dash to the nearest supermarket to buy a gallon of milk for under $3 per gallon. Much to my dismay, milk in my grocer's dairy case was the normal price of $4.59 per gallon. Did my state secede from the union during my 10-day absence? Californians do not pay the highest prices for milk in the nation, maybe just in the contiguous 48 states.

The average price of a gallon of gasoline in California dropped by the biggest amount yet for a one-week period after the recent new record, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. The state's average declined 26.3 cents, to $4.164 a gallon. That's the good news. The bad news is that California prices remain far above 2011 levels. The state's average has dropped 50.7 cents a gallon since reaching a record $4.671 a gallon on Oct. 9. But that's still 32.3 cents a gallon higher than it was on Oct. 29 last year.

The average U.S. price for self-serve regular gasoline rose 5.2 cents to $1.962 a gallon in the week ended Monday, a government report showed. Gasoline was down 40% from $3.259 a year earlier, according to a weekly report from the U.S. Energy Department. In California, the average price declined 0.8 cent to $2.154 a gallon, down 40% from $3.602 a year earlier. Prices were lowest in the Rocky Mountain region, where gasoline gained 4.5 cents to $1.864 a gallon. The highest price was in California.

The state needs money; L.A. County needs money--for health care, for emergency rooms, for education. Vehicle registration or tobacco taxes are insufficient. We must tax gasoline, at least $1 per gallon. In 1932 gas was 18 cents per gallon. If inflation has increased about twentyfold, gasoline should cost $3.60 per gallon by 1932 standards. This revenue could be shared with the counties where the gasoline was sold. This tax would decrease traffic, penalize the SUV gas gulpers, help clean up the air and fight global warming.