http://www.ajc.com/news/content/business/0805/31bizgasprices.html

Metro Atlanta drivers are facing the possibility of paying considerably more than $3 a gallon for gas by Labor Day — if they can get it at all.

The two pipelines that bring gasoline and jet fuel to the region are down — powerless to pump as Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on electrical infrastructure.

The metro Atlanta region generally has about a 10-day supply of gasoline in inventory, said BP spokesman Michael Kumpf. The pipelines have been down for two days.

Bad news for all those idiots who bought the SUVs. $3/gal isn’t going to affect my driving habits much. I’ll still drive rather than fly most places within 8 hrs of here. I’m not going to stop going out to eat or to the store. I’m not going to stop driving to work.

Of course if 1970s gas shortages develop, I’ll stop doing all of that. The one thing I will not do is wait 4 hours in line to fill up.

The issue of sustained Gas prices has be mildly concerned for other reasons. One is a panic in the stock market leading to job shortages in the high tech sector.

The other is the pin prick causing the housing bubble to burst. I figure on maybe a 10-15% drop in metro Atlanta home prices. California, New York and Northern VA could see as much as 50-60%. That will lead to many more foreclosures, lending institutional failures and more regulation of the lending industry by Washington. The end result of that will be that is will be much harder for people to buy their first home, and near impossible to buy a second investment property. All bad news for me.