Gas
Gov. Mike Easley just delivered this statement urging North Carolinians to conserve gas and detailing steps the government was taking to head off shortages.
I just filed a feed from that news conference. Although it's written in the form of a story, it's more there for the folks doing the heavy lifting on the issue to pull from, pick apart and use as they need:
From at 4:15 p.m. news conference:
Gov. Mike Easley announed that he was taking steps to help ease the looming gas shortage and urged North Carolinians to start taking steps to conserve gas now.
"I'm asking for conservation now rather than tomorrow," Easley said. "There is a supply out there, we just need to conserve it."
Easley suspended all non-essential travel by state employees and said steps have already been taken to ensure emergency vehicles had sufficient fuel on hand.
Also, the state has asked the federal government for a waiver from rules that require specially treated fuels be used in certain parts of the state to cut down on air polution during the summer.
Bill Weatherspoon, Executive Director of the North Carolina Petrolium Counsel, appeared at the same news conference and reinforced Easley's cautious but hopeful tone.
"We know that this period is going to end. We think it will be a happy ending. We just don't know when that will be," Weatherspoon said. "We don't have a shortage of gasoline, we have a problem with distribution."
The two men said that under normal circumstances, there would be about seven days of supply on hand in the state’s pipelines and reservoirs.
However, with conservation measures in place and little luck by way of cooler weather, it's unknown how long the state can stretch that supply, Easley said.
As he urged resents to carpool and take other steps to conserve on their own, Easley was asked if the state could or would take more aggressive measures, such as rationing gas.
Easley said that he, along with the counsel of state, had the authority to do rationing and take other steps people might remember from the shortages of the 1970s. However, he said, those steps could be avoided if people cooperated.
School buses would continue to run for the time being, Easley said.
He did not directly answer a question about how rising gas prices and pending shortages might affect tourism over the Labor Day weekend.
"Any place you go in the state is a good place to be," Easley said. "I hope people will hold off making those long-distance travel plans until we know more."
Easley said that he had asked the U.S. Energy Department and other federal agencies for guidance, but told it would be today (THRUSDAY) before the states would be given more direction.
"This is not only a state problem," Easley said. "This is a also a regional and a national problem."