LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - According to the Tax Foundation with data provided by the American Petroleum Institute, the state with the highest taxes, or cents per gallon on gas is New York. Total state-level gas taxes there equal 49 cents.

In second place - a tie, are California and Connecticut, with total gas-per-gallon taxes of 48.6 cents.

North Carolina came in at number six on the list, with taxes of 39.2 cents. The Tar Heel state went red in 2012 for Republican challenger Mitt Romney, but was blue in 2008 when Barack Obama was elected to his first term.  Indiana was the other blue-to-red exception, and has a gas tax of 38.9 cents.

The top 10 states with the highest gas taxes are listed below:

New York - 49 cents
California - 48.6 cents
Connecticut - 48.6
Hawaii - 47.1 cents
Michigan - 39.4 cents
N. Carolina - 39.2 cents
Illinois - 38.9 cents
Indiana - 38.9
Washington - 37.5 cents
Florida - 35 cents

The federal excise tax on gasoline is 18.4 cents per gallon, which is an additional cost beyond the state taxes per gallon listed above.

The red states and blue states in the U.S. have had a polarizing effect on the nation. Whether the topic is abortion, tax policy, marijuana or guns, Democratic "blue" states such as California and Illinois are bound to take a different tack than Republican "red" states such as Georgia and Kansas.

"We're very likely to have legal gay marriage in most of the blue states and some of the purple states before the next presidential election," Whit Ayres, a Republican consultant says. "You'll never have gay marriage in Mississippi and Alabama unless a court happens to impose it."

© 2012, Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.