Gas costs then and now

    Just how much more are you paying at the pump? It's easy to look at gas costs in the 5 to 10 cents jumps it takes, but what about the longer term picture.
    Last year at this time, you were paying -- on average-- a $1.13 LESS per gallon.
    Go back to 2002. Gas now costs $2.60 cents more, according to data from the Energy Information Administration.
    So what about the broad picture?
    The average household paid $25 a week for gas in January 2002. Fast forward to this June, where $83 was the norm -- that's a 335 percent jump, based on information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index.
    The American Coalition for Ethanol, a grassroots voice of the U.S. ethanol industry, released these figures in a press release touting the effect of ethanol and the need to keep exploring and expanding it's used in the United States.
    That organization says that ethanol is helping to keep costs from soaring even higher, and the consumer benefits from savings of $210 to $642 per year because prices are lower.