Monday, June 30, 2008

Kentucky's failed gas price strategy drags on

Kentucky's first-in-the-nation price-gouging lawsuit against Marathon Oil filed by then-Attorney General Greg Stumbo should go to trial next year, according to AG Communications Director Allison Gardner Martin.

Retail gasoline prices have doubled since Stumbo sued under an old Kentucky law that was repealed in 2007. You may recall the trigger for the original Kentucky lawsuit was a state-of-emergency called by then-Governor Ernie Fletcher in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

As gas prices hang around $4 a gallon, the last thing we need is for other states to follow our big-government approach to lowering gas prices. We might warn the good folks in Michigan, but it looks like they are ready to take a bigger leap than we did.