Washington Post: American motorists are a hardy lot. The price of gasoline goes up and up and up and gasoline demand keeps nudging up, too. That has defied the expectations of most big oil companies and it suggests that driving is an essential, not discretionary, task and that prices could keep on rising. But Aspen, Col.-based consultant Philip K. Verleger thinks he has detected signs of change in California. By looking at the records of the California Franchise Tax Board, Verleger notes that the sale …