The third component is the cost to refine the gasoline and do everything it takes to get it to the pump and keep the system operating. Clean-fuel regulations have resulted in much cleaner air, but also in more expensive gas and an overwhelmed distribution system. Ethanol use in gas is politically popular in Illinois, but adds to supply complexities. The final component of gasoline prices is competition. Gasoline retailing is, without a doubt, the most competitive retail environment in existence.
Competition is great news for the consumer.
Gasoline costs adjusted for inflation and tax increases have significantly decreased in the past 20 years. Develop a national energy policy that promotes domestic oil and natural gas production and security. Force the General Assembly to permanently repeal the sales tax on gas and the legal authority for local taxes. The money raised by these taxes almost never goes to road improvements and these taxes are really just thinly disguised income taxes on motorists. Continue toward our clean-fuel goals, but give my industry enough lead time to comply with new standards.