Just a Little Gassy.

According to a report released Tuesday (July 22) by the Natural Resources Defense Council, drivers in the South face the highest vulnerabilities resulting from increasing gas prices (based on 2007 transportation fuel sales).

• 5) Kentucky — $2080.49 per average driver — driver income on gas 6.69 %
• 4) Louisiana — $2374.37 per average driver — driver income on gas 6.83 %
  
• 3) Georgia — $2369.23 per average driver — driver income on gas 7.08 %
  
• 2) South Carolina — $2235.57 per average driver — driver income on gas 7.21 %
  
• 1) Mississippi — $2268.82 per average driver — driver income on gas 7.87 %
  

Once again, on behalf of my fellow South Carolinians, all thanks go to Mississippi.

While I’m relatively confident that I probably don’t attend the same political party precinct meetings as the NRDC base, the report remains telling.

First, we’re paying a lot for gas, and we can’t make it any cheaper because we aren’t allowed to drill off shore, and alternative fuels aren’t financially viable enough for us to realistically reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

Second, South Carolina’s economy is a joke. Sure we may pay less per gallon than drivers in other states, but the percentage of our incomes going to the gas pump is the second highest in the nation. That means that whatever economic development we’re seeing in South Carolina is being eclipsed by the fact that the jobs aren’t well-paying in comparison to the rest of the nation.

Stay classy, South Carolina. At this rate, it won’t be much longer until Mississippi is thanking us.

– Wilson Charles