A gas problem

I'm a little confused over the gasoline price-gouging controversy. What are the laws here? I know that oil companies can't conspire with one another to keep prices high, but what stops an individual gas station or supplier from taking advantage of the situation and trying to make a few extra bucks? Would you call the attorney general if Gap doubled the price of a pair of jeans tomorrow?

I know, I know, gasoline is different; it's a necessity. Well, it's such a necessity because we've made it so. I hate to get all James Kunstler on you, but we once again are reaping the whirlwind of poor development policies, of bad choices about where to live and how to organize our communities. (I'm not even discussing our abyssmal energy policies.) Will we finally be chastened and begin creating walkable, high-density communities, with adequate public transit, or when prices fall back to some reasonable level, will we breathe a sigh of relief and throw up another subdivision? I fear I already know the answer.