Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller says while gas prices have jump dramatically in the last few days — the prices charged by retailers appear to be justified by the market. He says they don’t see any real indication that they’re (retailers) are colluding or taking advantage of the situation. Gas has soared to over three dollars a gallon in most places, but Miller says the high prices are due to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina — not wrongdoing by retailers. He says,”Clearly we would say that the retailers in Iowa are not engaging in any illegal or unethical activity.” Miller asks for patience. He says, “Generally we would ask Iowans to be calm in this situation, um ,it’s a difficult situation, but we see no need to horde gasoline. The supply is sufficient. The price is outrageous, but the supply is not a problem and we don’t see a need to fill up unnecessarily.” Miller says you can help by conserving gas as much as possible. “This is a very strong reminder that frankly we’re not doing enough in our country to deal with energy conservation and energy efficiency,” Miller says. Miller says you should make sure your tires are properly inflated, make sure the car is tuned up, and don’t drive if you don’t need to. Miller says he’s even considering ways to conserve. He says, “My wife and I are talking about carpooling to work. We probably should have done that before because we work in the same building.” Miller says as a nation we need to look at ways to be more energy efficient, “We’ve been asleep for 10 or 15 years on those issues, and this should be a wake up call.” Miller says there have been some rumors of price gouging, but he says they’ve checked and found the rumors to be untrue.
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