What is UP with the gas prices?

OK, I've tried not to complain too much that a gallon of gas costs more than a mocha, but really. This is getting ridiculous. I had to go up to Exton yesterday and I passed not one but TWO stations where the cheap gas was over $4.20/gallon. And the SuperWawa around the corner which is usually the cheapest in the area? $4.03 $4.05. Every day I'm getting Breaking News Alerts from CNN saying "Gas prices have topped $_____" like this one. So my question is WHY isn't something being done? I remember when I was pregnant with Henry (so, oh, TWO YEARS AGO) gas prices were high and they were pushing $3.00/gallon. Why is a 25% (or is it 33%? anyways, A DOLLAR!) increase in two years acceptable? And if the demand is SO high that the price has to be so high, why isn't there a shortage like there was in the 70s? I mean, really, they had it bad, but they weren't paying over half of the minimum wage (don't get me started) on a gallon of gas. Gas was, on average, 53 cents/gallon, which, when adjusted for inflation, is equivalent to $2.12 in 2008 dollars. How are people expected to live? I mean, think about it. Say you make minimum wage (which in PA is currently $7.15/hour - it's going up to a whopping $7.25/hour in 07/2009). If you work 40 hours a week (the standard workweek), you make $286.00 a week. Yeah. That's $1144 a month. Before taxes. You know how much Ed spends on gas driving 20 miles round trip to go to work (which isn't that bad of a commute - I used to drive 40 miles one way to work in college)? About $60/week. In a little sedan - not even a huge SUV. So in a month, that's about $240. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty happy we don't make minimum wage!

Oh, and the oil companies? They can afford it.
Exxon Mobil's Profit in 2007 Tops $40 Billion
Shell unveils £1.5m-an-hour profit
Chevron posts record $18.7 billion profit