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2010 Was a Gas: Prices at the Pump Fill Up to 2-Year High
Photo by stephenfalk via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
If the next few days involve fueling up and hitting the road, whether it's a long weekend getaway or a drive to Pasadena to see the Rose Parade, you'll be feeling a budgetary hit we haven't felt in SoCal since 2008. "Southern California gas prices are at their highest December levels of all time - and higher than at any point since October 2008 - after continuing to rise all week," according to the Automobile Club of Southern California.
In the LA and Long Beach area, the average price of self-serve regular gasoline is $3.308 per gallon, up 3.9 cents from last week, 18 cents from last month, and 34 cents from last year. While normally there is a region-to-region gap in gas prices in SoCal of about 10- to 20-cents, right now there's about a 5 cent gap, which means there's little relief wherever your four wheels may take you.
How much worse can it get? "Ex-president of Shell Oil John Hofmeister predicts five-dollars a gallon by 2012," reports CBS2. So who has "get a bike and ride it often" as a New Year's resolution, hmm?
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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