Some 200 motorists lined up at a Kroger gas station in Marietta, Ga., on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2008. Scenes similar to this were common throughout the metro Atlanta area, as well as in other parts of the state in recent weeks. (Dave Bender)
Georgia leaders are debating whether to revise the state's emergency fuel plan and are considering ways to bolster gas supply in the aftermath of the abrupt shortage of gas that sent some motorists into a frenzy.
As lines outside gas stations grow shorter, frustrating searches for fuel have given way to soul-searching among Georgia legislators. Critics, meanwhile, have sharply condemned the state's response to the crisis.
The gas shortage started with the one-two punch of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which shut down refineries along the Gulf Coast. And the hankering among panicky drivers to top off their tanks when they passed an open fueled station made things worse.
Soon many gas stations around metro Atlanta were shuttered, and some lines outside those that stayed open could stretch for hours. Radio stations eagerly broadcast the names of open stations, and some drivers tailed fuel trucks in hopes of filling up their tanks.
Georgia's leaders updated an emergency plan last year to better handle a gas crisis. Among other options, the plan allows the governor to limit drivers to fill up their tanks every other day and set minimum and maximum limits on how much fuel they can purchase.
Gov. Sonny Perdue lobbied the Environmental Protection Agency to permit delivery of high-sulfur gasoline to metro Atlanta because the cleaner-burning low sulfur fuel normally required was in short supply.
But he ruled out more stringent options amid worries they would spark an even greater panic. Some of the measures proved too difficult to enforce while others weren't feasible, said Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley.
Gas retailers, for one, complained their pumps weren't equipped to set minimum fuel limits. And state officials were uncertain how they would enforce the every-other-day limits if they were enacted.
"You're looking at asking retailers to hire additional folks to be out there and try to enforce something like this," said Brantley. "And what do you do about the guy who's on empty, but it's not his day?"
Perdue, who returned Friday from a weeklong trade mission in Europe, has also taken heat from critics for the his absence in the middle of the fuel crisis.
"The governor should have gotten on MARTA to go to the Capitol as an example to use mass transit," said DuBose Porter, the House's top Democrat. "But he was in Spain, so it would be kind of difficult for him to lead by example."
Perdue's office countered that the governor was still calling the shots from abroad.
"This isn't the '50s where you'd go out of the country and not be reachable for a week," said Brantley. "He is incredibly reachable.
As the dust settles, the governor's office said it will consider several changes to the emergency gas plan, including a more structured policy to apply to the EPA for high-sulfur gasoline permits.
And state officials say they will explore ways to bolster supply of gas. Two pipelines that run from Houston through Georgia supply most of the state's gas, but officials sound eager to explore ways to ship in more fuel.
"There are some capacity issues and supply issues we want to look at in the future," said Shane Hix of the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority. "We'll look at improving supply, including the diversity of supply from the port of Savannah."
House Speaker Glenn Richardson's office said he'll be looking at "various options" to prevent another crisis.
Legislators could also consider another effort to speed along the construction of a $2 billion pipeline that would stretch from Louisiana to Atlanta's suburbs. A bill to fast-track the construction failed in the Legislature last year, but the project is still moving forward.
Some say the state should have done more.
Democrats said the state should have warned the public about the tight gas supply sooner, and should have been quicker to implement anti-gouging protection. And Porter, the House leader, said legislators should dedicate more funding for alternative transportation by allowing a penny of the gas sales tax to fund mass transit.
"We're lucky it was a better case scenario, not a worst case scenario," Porter said. "But we weren't prepared either way."
Tom Smith, a finance professor at Emory University's Goizueta Business School, said legislators should tighten gouging rules and draft firm plans to take to the airwaves to soothe panicky residents and encourage them to telecommute amid the crisis.
"It's times like these where you have to give people incentives to behave in ways that are counterintuitive," said Tom Smith, a finance professor at Emory University's Goizueta Business School. "You have to convince them to buy less gas."
Some frustrated drivers simply wanted more of a warning.
Lining up at the pump in Marietta, on Sunday, Sept., 28, 2008. (Dave Bender)Jack Brownfield, who passed 10 Atlanta gas stations this week before finally finding one with one fuel, said state officials should have done more to warn residents about Georgia's precarious gas supply.
"It was predictable," he said.
(The Associated Press)
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