Gov. Mark Sanford announced Thursday what he's doing to try to ease the gasoline shortage as much as possible. He asked for, and received, a federal waiver of rules that limit how long truck drivers can be on the road for trucks hauling gas.

Weight limit rules will also be waived for fuel trucks and those carrying relief supplies.

He says the gas shortage, which is causing a huge price increase and some stations to run out, is caused by a disruption to the two main pipelines that feed gas from Louisiana to Southeastern and Atlantic Coast states.

One of the pipelines is running at about 30 percent capacity, while the other is shut down. He says the one that is running should increase its output to about 50 percent this weekend, and the other should be back online in a couple of weeks.

Until then, supplies will be short, so he's asking everyone to conserve, and not panic-buy, filling up every vehicle and container possible.

"The question is, how do we react as individual South Carolinians? Do we react selfishly and say, 'I'm going to fill up everything I've got to watch out just for me and my family'? Or are we going to operate and band together as South Carolinians, say, 'Look, all I need here is $30 worth. That'll take care of me and I'm going to leave some for the next guy'," he said.

As for the high prices, Hawaii put a price cap in place, and Georgia's governor issued an executive order against price gouging. But Gov. Sanford said he didn't think he could put a cap in place, and wouldn't do it even if he could because it would make things worse.

As for an executive order on gouging, he says it's not a widespread problem here.

"We're monitoring what's happening out there in the marketplace. If there are enough people out there doing that kind of thing, then we'll look at executive orders. We've not crossed that bridge yet. But that's something that we hold as a possibility," he said.

South Carolina does have a law against price gouging, but it only kicks in when the governor has declared a state of emergency. He and attorney general Henry McMaster say the current situation does not rise to that level.

McMaster says the governor would not have the authority to put a price cap on gasoline, because it's an interstate commerce issue governed by the U.S. Congress.

He says he will prosecute anyone breaking the law, like selling watered-down gas, or people stealing gasoline. But there's nothing he can do about prices.

"There's very little that the state or the federal government can do in terms of law enforcement to solve the problem," McMaster says. "The answer to this problem rests with getting those pipelines running again."