Gas has gone up for me. This is really odd because gas is generally cheaper here than everywhere else because we have a ton of refineries and O&G companies here in Louisiana. Paid $3.74/gallon this morning which is the highest I've paid since as long as I can remember.

That isnt what you said, you said mormons believe jesus lived in america and was named joseph smith.  First of all, mormons dont believe jesus lived in america, he visited after his resurrection.  Secondly, mormons dont belive jesus christ and joseph smith are the same person. So, yeah, your original statement was not true.

Just because it goes to the oil industry, doesn't mean it's profit. In fact, oil refiners make losses at times, because of the volatility of costs, and the low margins they have to work at.

Or... you know... Europe could just drop all it's stupid gas taxes.

It literally does nothing to help the enviroment because there is far more demand for oil then there is supply.

Every bit of oil/gas that isn't burned in europe is just being burned in south america, china, india, or the US.

All it does is weigh unevenly heavy on the poor and get tax revenue for the government.

Refiners operate at very low margins, and often times at losses.

What's wrong with selling to the highest bidder? And that doesn't neccessarily mean profits are high, you need to take into account costs. Have costs for drilling gone up or down over the years?

(None of this changes the fact that gas prices HAVEN'T CHANGED AT ALL, compared to their long-term average. It's just that the dollars you buy the gas with have gone to shit. Buy gas with another commodity, like precious metals, or a currency like the Swiss Franc, and the prices haven't changed at all since... well, forever).

Fairness has nothing to do with it.

Here's another one of these graphics, this time for the UK. Unleaded, last July:

I don't know where Spurge lives, but prices were abnormally high on the West coast, due to several refineries being out of action.

(This next statement I'm not 100% sure on, I'm not sure if there's a Federal mandate, or state-level mandates) Certain states also have more aggressive laws on how much corn must be mixed into their fuel. With the summer drought, those states would have been hit hardest, but places like California have since lowered requirements to help fight gas prices, thus lowering prices.

I'm wondering if this hurricane isn't going to mess with things, disable voters in the East end of states that often lean blue because of the blue-leaning east-ends.

I never said it was profit, just that the bulk of the money goes to the oil industry. In regards to profit, the oil industry makes quite a bit regardless of there being times of loss. That industry makes a good deal of money, I'm not saying that is a bad thing, but that is where the money goes. While there is a decent tax on gas it doesn't fluctuate with rising or falling prices. It is set and does not change often.

Yeah it's unreal what taxes are put on petrol, these extra taxes probably don't even help to fix the country, the MP's pockets more like! UK taxes on petrol account for at least 70% of the price, making it harder for smaller business to get somewhere. I don't know why it is so expensive in Europe, it makes places like Canada (expensive to you Americans!) seem very cheap.