Gas Plans from Clinton, Obama and McCain and the West Virginia Gas Crunch

Gas prices are going to be a hot topic in the 2008 elections in West Virginia and around the nation. The average gas price in West Virginia is $3.776 a gallon for regular unleaded. The price has increased over $.70 a gallon from a year ago, over $.38 a gallon from last month and up over $.09 a gallon from last week according to westvirginiagasprices.com. The gas prices are expected to continue to rise with Memorial Day Weekend just a head and the popular summer travel months.

The high gas prices cause commuters like me to pay more to travel to my job. In the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia a great deal of West Virginians commute out of state to Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia everyday. In the Northern Panhandle many West Virginians commute to Pittsburgh. On of the largest industries in West Virginia is tourism. West Virginia has historic areas such as Harpers Ferry to visit. It has Ski resorts such as Snowshoe, Winterplace, Timberline and Canaan Valley to ski in the winter. West Virginia offers some of the best white water rafting on rivers such as the New, Cheat, and Potomac River. However, the higher gas prices are forcing more and more Americans to cut back on their travel and leisure activities. Therefore, West Virginians are being hit on an industry level and as consumers by the rising gas prices.