NJ.com guest opinion: Gov. Christie, step up and be a gas hero -- now - The Star-Ledger - NJ.com

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By Jeff Jarvis / Guest Columnist The Somerset Reporter
on November 03, 2012 at 5:15 PM, updated November 03, 2012 at 6:07 PM
We not only need more gas and more stations operating, we need more information

Robert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger Randolph resident, Howard Gries, is one of over 100 people waiting in line to buy $40 worth of gas at the Speedway Gas station in the Ironia section of town. The station owner, who has been without power since Hurricane Sandy hit on Monday, hired an electrician to install a generator to power the pumps. Long lines for gas in N.J. continue gallery (5 photos)


Social-media guru Jeff Jarvis thinks Gov. Chris Christie isn't doing enough to end the gas shortage in New Jersey. What do you think? Tweet your own ideas to @GovChristie with the hashtag #nygas. Your tweets will appear below.
Dear Gov. Christie,
You could be a hero of this storm and our state if you relieved our gas pain. Sorry to tell you that where I live in Somerset County, the rationing is not working. The lines, the confusion (thanks to media misreporting your rules), and the panic are only growing.
We not only need more gas and more stations operating, we need more information so we don't waste so much time--and fuel--stumbling from one empty pump to the next. You can help accomplish that.
A few suggestions:

• Compile, publish, and update an online list of stations with power. Put it on Google Maps.
• Police in many towns are, thank goodness, controlling lines at open stations. They know when those stations will be open. Have towns share this information, too.
• Urge stations to follow the good example of Hess Express and publish their inventory online.
• Urge stations to publish when they get deliveries and open. That Google map or the Twitter hashtag #njgas could alert customers.

With this data, we can make better decisions. On the net, we can also help compile and correct the data. Ignorance gets us nowhere.
It is hard to believe that west of the Delaware River and south of I-195, there appears to be little problem with gas. My neighbors are driving 35 miles to Pennsylvania to get (and waste) gas.
I wonder whether there are other ways you could use your media megaphone and executive power (of persuasion) to do more. Questions:

• Can you commandeer generators to get more stations pumping? A Twitter friend tells me some Florida gas stations are now required to have generators. After the current crisis, how does that sound as forward-thinking legislation.
• Can you use your influence with gas companies to shift supply to New Jersey? If we can get more power crews here, can't we also beg for more tanker trucks?

The gas shortage pales next to the destruction and disruption we are suffering across the state as a source of pain. But in the midst of our powerlessness--in both senses of the word--having to worry about where we will get gas--and whether we will be able to get food or get to work or keep our precious generators and chainsaws working--is one more burden, but one that can be relieved.
Please help.
Jeff Jarvis

Jeff Jarvis, a consultant to NJ.com, is a social-media expert, a professor in the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, in New York City, and the author of the best-selling book "What Would Google Do?".
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