Minnesota Refuses to Buy Into the Whole "Gas Prices Are Crazy" Thing

posted by Zach Patton

It's Summer 2006. Gas prices are soaring (!). People are complaining (!). The media is collapsing under the weight of the overused phrase "prices at the pump" (!).

States are even luring tourists by the promise of a little free gas.

But Minnesota is refusing to play along with all the excitement. Tourism officials there thought about offering gas discounts to tourists, but decided not to.

Why? For the tiny little reason that the increase in gas prices doesn't seem to be affecting the number of people who are driving:

"Frankly, we think there's no need to, because we haven't seen any reduction in travel because of high gas prices," said Joan Hummel, a spokeswoman for Explore Minnesota, the state's travel office. "It's grabbed attention and become a hot topic around the country, but people aren't willing to give up their summer vacation."

The nerve! Basing state decisions on actual informed data. For shame, Minnesota, for shame.