Gasoline distribution is problematic in the wake of Hurricane Sandy

With many homes still running on generators and some commuters returning to work by automobile, gasoline is in high demand in the areas hit hardest by Hurricane Sandy. Lines are long, and tempers are short.
 
In an interview with CBS This Morning, ASU’s John Hofmeister explains that, while there is plenty of gasoline supply to meet this demand, it cannot be distributed without electricity.
 
"In order to pump the gas, you need electricity. In order to run the cash register or to run the credit card system from the pump to the credit card company, you need electricity," he said.
 
Getting the gas to the open fueling stations is impeded by power outages, too. “If you don't have electricity at the depots, which fill the delivery trucks – or if you don't have electricity at a retail station – then you really can't sell gasoline to the public."
 
Hofmeister is a distinguished sustainability scholar at ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability and the Julie A. Wrigley Private Sector Executive-in-Residence for Sustainability at the School of Sustainability. He is the founder and CEO of Citizens for Affordable Energy and the former president of Shell Oil.
 
Hofmeister’s interview was part of a larger report by CBS News National Correspondent Ben Tracy on the gasoline situation in the days after Hurricane Sandy.