Cutting back only remedy for drivers

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Don't like that $3 price tag at the gasoline pump? Don't buy gas.

It sounds harsh. But other than cutting back, there isn't much drivers or politicians can do to send pump prices down this summer, despite all the proposals being tossed around on Capitol Hill.

The high cost of gas is caused by supply and demand, as seen last week on the gasoline markets in New York, where the price fell 5 percent as drivers began conserving and gasoline supplies grew.

The 32-cent spike nationwide last month was caused by four major factors, according to energy analysts:

• Gas stations are required to pump environmentally friendlier gas during the summer than the winter. When the stations switch, around this time each year, they are required to completely empty their pumps before refilling, adding some cost to the pump price.

• Last year's Energy Policy Act mandated the switch, by May 5, from gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) to ethanol, which is supposed to be better for the environment. But ethanol, unlike MTBE, cannot be mixed with gasoline at the refinery and cannot be transported through pipelines, prompting the need for some new terminals, where the ethanol and gasoline can be mixed, and requiring separate shipping by rail, truck or barge. Ethanol, too, requires stations to empty and clean storage tanks.

• Some refineries damaged by last year's hurricanes are still not running; others are now doing maintenance that should have been done in the fall.

• The standoff between the United Nations and Iran over the oil-rich country's nuclear program, and political unrest in other oil-rich countries, such as Nigeria.

Politicians last week rushed to propose solutions to calm irate consumers.

President Bush offered a plan that included Federal Trade Commission investigations into price gouging, improving fuel efficiency, halting deposits to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, granting Environmental Protection Agency waivers to relieve fuel shortages, drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and increasing the use of ethanol and alternative fuels.