Gas Price Watch

Every once in a while, the Gas Price Watch Crew has an idea so incredibly brilliant, we consider quitting our day jobs and selling our genius to the highest bidder. Usually, a good night’s sleep and some coffee in the morning are enough to dissolve such delusions, but this time we may actually be on to something.

What if you could save money on fuel, stick it to OPEC and the oil companies and keep your shoes clean? If you say you’re not interested, you’re lying. Best of all, the solution to America’s energy crisis lies, literally, in our backyards.

Read more on Unleaded, diesel or Tea Cup Chihuahua? »

May is that time of year when kids start daydreaming about summer vacation, rain gives way to blistering heat and those of us in Bryan-College Station enjoy those blessed two weeks between commencement weekend and the start of summer sessions at the big school.

And although astronomers, meteorologists and the calendar say otherwise, most folks generally consider Memorial Day weekend to be the beginning of summer. That’s when all the great things about summer get going - hot dogs, lemonade, swimming pools, thousand-mile road trips to see the world’s largest ball of twine. It also used to be when the price of gas bumped up 10-15 cents overnight and didn’t look back until Labor Day.

Now that gas has already passed the $3.00 mark for regular unleaded at most stations in town, a lot of people are beginning to take notice again. It’s time for the newest rite of summer - getting angry about gasoline and demanding action.

Read more on ..and I’m not gonna take this anymore! »

Not much time for deep thoughts or insightful commentary today, so we’ll go ahead and roll out a couple of our old favorites.

Read more on At least it’s not a clip show »

With the president continuing to tout flex-fuel vehicles and hold mini-summits with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula de Salva about ethanol production, it appears that maybe E85 ethanol and biodiesel are finally starting to become realistic alternative fuels for mainstream American consumers.

Maybe. Maybe not. Especially if you live ’round these parts.

An interesting article in one of our sister publications, The Land & Livestock Post (or Moo!, as we affectionately call it in our office), pointed out this week that the largest concentration of ethanol stations is in the midwest. In fact, in your traditional “tree-hugging eco-friendly liberal states,” like California and the New England area, less than 5% of residents have realistic access to E85 when fueling their vehicles.

Read more on Just an earful of hot air? »

Well, the launch of our new editorial style got pushed back a little bit - this week GPW has stood for “Gillispie ‘Ployment Watch” around these parts. Now that coach Gillispie has apparently decided to stay, maybe it’s time to speculate as to why exactly the man from Graford has decided to hang his hat in College Station for at least the forseeable future.

The leading theories include a big pay increase, A&M fulfilling facility promises, a desire to see this rebuilding project through to a championship, his strong ties to Texas, and maybe - just maybe - he likes it around here.

In the end, though, it really all comes down to gasoline.

Read more on A no-brainer for Billy Clyde »