"That's part of the problem - seems some people refuse to buy more fuel efficient vehicles, so demand keeps the price sky high."
Show me a car that gets 50 MPG that isn't also an unsafe little piece of crap or doesn't cost so much as to offset whatever fuel savings you might make. When the POTUS starts driving around in a flimsy little pice of junk like a Honda Civic, I will too. My Buick with its V-8 averages around 22 MPG in normal driving (not highway) which is more than reasonable. Put it on a highway and it gets up near 30 MPG. Unlike a Civic, the Buick isn't a pathetic deathtrap. I've cleaned up enough crashes to know, and I've been involved in a few myself.
Demand alone isn't keeping the price of petrol high. Demand combined with an artificially choked up supply (deliberately limited refinery capacity) of a product with too little regulation is keeping the price high. Make no mistake--the companies love making their record profits.
It's laissez-faire capatialism at work, just like the late 1800's. The companies get richer and greedier, and the people lose. Gee, I sound almost like a socalist, except I don't trust the government any more than I trust Exxon.
J_A_B