by Pam Martens and Russ Martens
Wall Street on Parade
The owner of Schlafer’s Auto Body & Repair in Mendocino, California has made headlines at CNN, the Los Angeles Times, and across local TV affiliates in the past few days – and not in a good way. Schlafer’s is home to an independent Chevron gas station and, as of this weekend, it was charging the highest price for a gallon of regular gas in the nation: $9.60. As of this morning, the average price for a gallon of regular gas in California is $6.37, according to AAA’s gas price tracker. AAA reports that the national average for a gallon of regular gas across the U.S. this morning is $4.91.
California is far from the only state where complaints of outrageous price gouging are being heard. The Daily Record of Maryland reported yesterday that a Shell station in Bowie, Maryland was charging $6.13 for a gallon of regular gas while an Exxon gas station “less than a block away, was charging just over $5 per gallon.” Most gas stations in the U.S. are independently owned and not operated by a major oil company.