The first state Gas Cap Law is now in effect in Hawaii and it can be quickly seen what a debacle it is going to be. It is interesting how the legislators who introduced the law state Sen. Ron Menor, D- Mililani, and House Majority Leader Marcus Oshiro, D- Wahiawa, were quick to claim the law successful the very first day of implementation. Talk about waiting for some empirical evidence.
Now, the second week of implementation, prices are climbing rapidly. Of course, supporters are without hesitation claiming that prices are climbing more slowly than they would have without the caps. There is no way to know any such thing since between the Katrina disaster and the cap law itself there is no way to know what would have happened without the caps. Prices just as likely would have remained at their previous levels without the caps or risen more slowly. There is no way to know.
The arguments used by gas cap supporters are reminiscent of global warming advocates. If there is a particularly hard and cold winter in Europe, global warming is the reason. A category 5 hurricane, global warming again. A drought in Africa, must be global warming. Flooding in the Midwest, global warming again. No matter what the weather phenomenon the ultimate cause can only be global warming.
This is analogous to the gas cap arguments. Prices didn