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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Late last month, the state Board of Equalization released a new report on the first quarter of 2009, which is the 12th consecutive three-month period in which Californians used less gasoline. The report also shows diesel use is down.
The Board of Equalization monitors gallons of gasoline and diesel sold through tax receipts paid by fuel distributors.
“For three full years now consumers have cut down on the amount of fuel they use. High gasoline prices, use of more efficient vehicles and the downturn in the economy are all likely contributors to this trend,” said Board of Equalization Chairwoman Betty T. Yee.
In the first quarter of 2009, Californians used 213 million gallons less than the first quarter of 2008, which is a decline of 5.6 percent, according to the Board of Equalization report.
In addition, the agency reported that, for all of 2008, California gas consumption compared to the previous year declined 4.1 percent, a much larger decrease than the 1.0 percent drop in 2007.
The report also compared gas consumption between March 2008 and March 2009. This March, Californians used 1.3 billion gallons, down 30.2 million gallons compared to the previous March.
The Board of Equalization noted that the average California gasoline price at the pump in March was $2.24 per gallon, a 38-percent decline from the average price the same month last year when it was $3.61. Gasoline sold at the lower price in March 2009 generated approximately $211 million in sales tax during that month, an estimated $137 million less than was generated in March 2008.
Diesel consumption also is down. The Board of Equalization's recent report noted that diesel use was down 11.6 percent in the first quarter of 2009 from the first quarter in 2008.
California diesel consumption decreased 8.3 percent in 2008, which the agency said reflects the impacts of the national recession that is associated with much less freight movement on California roads and highways.
Approximately 619 million gallons of diesel fuel were sold in California in the first quarter of this year, which the Board of Equalization reported is 80.9 million gallons less than the first quarter of 2008.
The year-over changes in diesel consumption in the state were less than those seen with gasoline. Diesel fuel sold in March 2009 declined 0.5 percent over March 2008; the total used was 240 million gallons, which is 1.3 million gallons below the previous March.
The Board of Equalization credited declines in diesel consumption – despite a steep decrease in prices – to the effects of the recession. In March, California diesel prices were $2.14 per gallon, down 47 percent compared to March 2008 when the average diesel price was $4.01 per gallon.
Local gas sales and impacts on travel
Doug Gearhart, Lake County’s pollution control officer, said the Lake County Air Quality Management District gathers information on retail gasoline sales as part of its annual permitting. That information, he noted, doesn’t include agricultural use.
From March 2008 through March 2009, there were 21.6 million gallons of gasoline sold in Lake County. The previous year, March 2007 to March 2008, there were 24 million gallons of gasoline sold locally, Gearhart said.
He said the 21.6 million mark is likely the base usage for Lake County residents.
“With all the summer wildfires our tourist traffic was very low,” he said.
Driving declines in rural areas like Lake are outpacing those seen in urban areas, according to a report by the federal Department of Transportation.
The agency noted that the United States is into its second year of a decline in mileage.
The agency reported that there were seven billion fewer miles traveled this past January than in the same month the previous year, or a 3.1-percent drop. The agency reported that this was the first “ back-to-back“ decline for January since 1981-1982.
That’s part of a much larger trend of declining mileage, which started in December of 2007, the same month, incidentally, as officials reported the US recession began.
From December 2007 through January 2009, there were 122 billion fewer vehicle miles traveled than the period of December 2006 through January 2008, the Department of Transportation reported.
More recent numbers for April show that travel on all roads and streets is estimated to be 249.5 billion vehicle miles, up by 0.6 percent, or 1.4 billion vehicle miles, over April 2008. However, cumulative travel miles for 2009 is expected to be down by 1.1 percent, or 10 billion vehicle miles. The year's cumulative estimate is 933.2 billion vehicle miles.
Cynthia Harris, a spokesperson for AAA of Northern California, said the trend of driving and traveling less has been going on for several years.
Harris said normally there is a 1-percent annual increase in the number of travelers. “For the last year there has been a decrease, and that’s the first time since 9/11,” she said.
The reasons, said Harris, are high gas prices and peoples’ uncertainty over the economy.
She said people are still traveling for holidays, but are going shorter distances. When they do travel, they tend to stay with friends and family or come back the same day. That means less time in hotels, and more people driving instead of flying.
In July 2008, gasoline peaked at nearly $5 a gallon, said Harris. Yet, even though gas prices have gone down, people didn’t return to their previous levels of travel.
She said it’s likely due to caution that people now have, knowing that gas prices can spike. Consumers are savvy, and have caught on to the volatility of gas prices, she said. “People are very leery of that.”
The result, she said, is that the entire spectrum of the travel industry has been affected.
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Charles “Eddy” Lepp, 57, of Upper Lake turned himself in on July 6 to federal authorities in Lompoc, according to his wife, Linda Lepp.
In May Lepp was sentenced to two concurrent 10-year terms after having been convicted in September of 2008 of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and cultivation of more than 1,000 marijuana plants, as Lake County News has reported.
A federal jury convicted Lepp of growing 24,784 marijuana plants on his 20-acre property in Upper Lake.
Lepp, who was indicted in 2004, has maintained his innocence. He has been a proponent of legalizing marijuana and is a Rastafarian minister who has alleged that authorities have violated his freedom of religion and his ministry.
He was the first person in California to be acquitted in a prosecution under 1996's Compassion Use Act, Proposition 215, which allowed patients to use medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation.
Linda Lepp said an appellate lawyer has been assigned to her husband's case, and the attorney has estimated that it will take two months to go through the materials and filing an appeal will take another six months. The case could be in court in June of 2010, Linda Lepp said.
Eddy Lepp is being held at the Federal Correctional Institution in Lompoc, which is a low security facility housing male inmates, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Now Linda Lepp and her husband's supporters are starting a push to get the attention of President Barack Obama.
“We have already sent over 7,000 letters to the president,” she said, but there's some concern that the messages were faxed to the wrong number, so they're starting over.
They're also responding to thousands of e-mail messages sent to Eddy Lepp's e-mail and working on his MySpace page, www.myspace.com/eddylepp , which Linda Lepp said has had 24,000 hits. They're also planning to post a Facebook page next week.
Linda Lepp said at some point in the future she'll be able to visit her husband. They married last September and then, in light of his conviction, Eddy Lepp had their marriage annulled. However, they remarried March 19.
She said she's received messages of support from all over the world. “It's pretty unreal, the support we're getting from well wishers.”
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State Secretary of Agriculture AG Kawamura, who also chairs the committee, notified Brandon on Tuesday of her selection.
“As a result of the high caliber and qualifications of all the nominees, I can say with certainty that California will be well served by your expertise and diversity,” Kawamura wrote Brandon in her notification letter.
Kawamura explained that the committee was created to assist the Invasive Species Council of California in addressing the threat invasive species pose to the environment, food systems, human health and the state's economy.
Brandon and the rest of the committee members will make recommendations to the Invasive Species Council on the best way to address invasive species' threats.
“Both aquatic and terrestrial invasive species pose enormous threats to the environment and economy of Lake County, and to all of California,” Brandon said.
She noted that she's become very much aware of both the breadth and the severity of these hazards not only through work with the Sierra Club – she's chair of the Sierra Club Lake Group – but in service to the Cache Creek Watershed Forum, Chi Council for the Clear Lake Hitch, and Lake County Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee.
Brandon said when Sierra Club California needed a representative to the newly formed committee, “the opportunity to bring this accumulated knowledge to bear was too tempting to resist.”
She added, “The breadth of experience and diverse viewpoints of CISAC members give the group the necessary tools to devise management strategies and educational outreach techniques required to cope with the dangers we face, and I look forward to playing a proactive, collaborative role in this process – and also to making sure that Lake County's particular concerns, such as exotic mollusks, are properly addressed.”
Brandon said she anticipates the committee's meetings will include discussion of the quagga mussel, which has started spreading in California, and which local officials and residents are working to keep out of Lake County's water bodies.
The committee is expected to meet for the first time at some point between mid-August and mid-September, according to Kawamura.
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The town hall will take place from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Pacific Time.
Participants can ask him questions about the issues that are important to them, and the congressman will respond live for everyone to hear.
“Although they don’t replace in person meetings, which I will continue to have, telephone town halls are a great way to bring residents from across Northern California together to share their concerns and opinions,” Thompson said.
“I look forward to responding to your questions about important issues such as the economy, health care, and climate change, and letting you know what Congress is doing to put our great country on the right track. Please take this opportunity to make your voice heard by calling in to participate,” he said.
Thompson previously held a telephone town hall in March. At that time, more than 9,100 people from around the district took part, as Lake County News has reported.
To join the call, dial 877-229-8493 and enter the passcode 13293.