Gas prices pinching Californians' budgets
Poll finds state residents split on who is to blame for the rising cost of fuel

Victoria Colliver
San Francisco Chronicle, Tuesday, April 17, 2007

About 44 percent of Californians said they've had to cut back on such expenses as food and clothing to afford rising fuel prices, according to a Field Poll to be released today. But responses were sharply divided between higher- and lower-income groups.

The poll found lower-income workers -- those earning less than $40,000 a year -- were twice as likely as those earning more than $80,000 to feel the pinch, with 62 percent reporting reduced spending and 54 percent describing the price rise as "very serious."

Just 30 percent of high-income earners reported changing their spending habits, while 24 percent of that same group described rising gasoline prices as a "very serious" problem.

"The impact is more disproportionate. People at the bottom end of the income spectrum are more likely to have to cut back," said Mark DiCamillo, Field Poll director.

The poll, a random telephone sample of 570 registered voters in the last two weeks of March, comes at a time when gas prices are breaking records in the state.

Californians pay an average of $3.33 per gallon at the pump compared with $2.86 per gallon for regular nationwide, the AAA auto club reported Monday. San Francisco and Oakland both set records, reaching per-gallon rates of $3.45 and $3.35, respectively.

According to the Field Poll, voters cited the oil companies and the Bush administration as those most responsible for the price increases.

Of those surveyed, 65 percent heaped a lot of blame on oil companies while 46 percent directed their ire at the administration. Oil-producing countries got a lot of blame from 37 percent, while 29 percent put the blame on Americans who drive gas-guzzling vehicles. The poll allowed people to choose multiple answers.

Michael Shames, executive director of the San Diego watchdog group Utility Consumers' Action Network, pointed his finger at the state government more than the Bush administration. He said the state has failed to address the problem and pay proper attention to the oil markets.

"What the poll is showing is that the public doesn't realize that the current gas prices are attributable to California policies," Shames said.

Poll directors were surprised by the lack of change in public opinion from a similar poll conducted two years ago.

About 70 percent of California voters surveyed in March and August 2005, when prices passed the $2-per-gallon mark, described gasoline cost increases as "very" or "somewhat" serious.

"It seems as if Californians are somewhat conditioned to the higher (price) of gasoline. So when the $3 (level) occurred, it had the same relative jolt as when it went above $2 two years ago," DiCamillo said.