Becuase petrochemicals are one of the cornerstone of the current culture in North America and Europe. The most obvious and easily identifiable forms of these are gasoline and diesel fuel, and heating oil. When the other cornerstones (liquidity, low cost food, and liberties) are all uncertain, TEOTWAWAKI looms in the eyes of many.

Simple enough.

Maybe in Atlanta the folks panicked about fuel shortages because so many of them reportedly commute long distances in cars. I read that they don't have much in the way of public transportation from the outlying towns.

When you're running in a rat race, it's easy to assume the supply network will always be there like it usually is (as BobS notes above). It's easy to get lulled into complacency, to think "there's time for that later," or to not even realize you're slowly being boiled alive.

I've noticed at the grocer and at the fuel pump that some people become not only angry but offended during shortages. This may come from a sense of entitlement or maybe just a general cluelessness that, as the saying goes, "the world owes you nothing."

Could you imagine a World without Oil?

I wonder why it’s only a regional problem? Not a problem here, we have all the gas you want to buy here. The stations are not busy at all.

I think they use a special blend to cut down on emissions.

The Colonial pipeline runs from Houston across the southeast states and north along the Atlantic states. It is apparently running at reduced capacity due to lack of supply coming from the Houston area refineries. There are multiple reasons for the shortages, but this is a significant one.

Take a look at THIS map on gas shortages.

i did not read every post but square one is you need a car and the gas to run it to do just about anything in large parts of the US..

I live ½ mile from a refinery fill point, and this morning when I drove by it there were about 30 tankers in line to get filled. It’s rarely this busy, wonder if they are shipping it (by tanker truck) to other areas?