Bee County Commissioners call for boycott of Exxon-Mobile

[Robbien]

BEEVILLE, Texas - In recent weeks, we've all felt powerless against the oil companies and the rising prices at the pump. Now, Bee County Commissioners believe they have the answer. Monday the commissioner's court voted 4-1 to pass a resolution that urged folks to stop buying gasoline from Exxon-Mobil on May 1, and not to buy it again, until the price drops to a $1.309.

For years, e-mails have been circulating from one person to another discussing this kind of scenario. Monday's resolution is very real. The theory behind the e-mail and the boycott is pretty simple. You stop buying gas from a particular company and force them to lower prices. When they finally do lower prices, the other companies have to do the same to keep up.

Exxon-Mobile is being targeted by Bee County leaders because it is the largest oil company. Commissioners feel all the companies have reported record profits at the expense of consumers.

. . .

Still, Martinez is hopeful. He said, "It absolutely will work. Absolutely. There's no doubt in my mind." Judge Martinez said he can't see how a boycott would really hurt the local Exxon station owners, because people hardly have any money left to spend in the store after filling up outside.

http://www.kristv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4812116

[bigworld]

1. He's so sure

It'll absolutely work? Somehow I doubt it.

[Catrina]

6. I don't doubt it at all. Boycotts have always worked when enough people

get angry enough. And everyone I know is pretty angry right now. I've already joined this one, and will further the info to everyone I know ~ these greedy oil barons have raked in huge profits since Bush made it into the WH. When called before Congress, they refused to go under oath. People are not going to forget their arrogance and 'let them eat cake' attitude.

I like Chuck Schumer's idea also and will support.
Also, it's time to demand that Dick Cheney's energy meeting memos, which he has fought so hard to hide from the American people, be exposed. That's where they planned all this, imo. Congress needs to order him and his fellow war-profiteers to reveal what it was they were planning back then. It is the people's business!

[Virginia Dare]

8. The Supreme Court already said "no" to the energy memos...n/t

[Catrina]

10. Yes, I know. But Scalia went hunting with Cheney right before that

decision. He was asked to recuse himself, but refused. I don't know about this, but it seems to me there are grounds now for Congress to intervene ~

I just heard Tom Harkin, (I think it was Harkin) on the Ed Schultz Show taking about the Cheney energy meeting. He said 'we are seeing the results of that now'. So who knows, maybe we will get to see what is really the property of the American people some time in the future?

[Virginia Dare]

16. The whole scenario is predicated on the Democrats winning

back both Houses of Congress, so let's keep our fingers crossed. For now, it's a closed issue, and I think Harkin is just making political hay, as well he should.

[northzax]

12. sure, you can shut down the local stations

but since ExxonMobil makes money selling gas wholesale, not only retail, they simply don't care. This is the rough equivalent of announcing that iPods are too exensive, so we're not going to buy them at Target until the price comes down. As long as you buy if at Wal-Mart, Apple doesn't care, they're the wholesaler, not the retailer.

Branded gasoline is meaningless, the gas at a BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil or your local cash only value mart all came from the end of the same pipeline.

[Spider Jerusalem]

17. Sorry, but boycotting Exxon-Mobil WON'T affect the price of gasoline.

In point of fact, if people who ordinarily purchase their fuel at Exxon stations ALL switch to Citgo, or BP, or Shell, or Texaco, but still CONTINUE to purchase gasoline as they would have normally, it will actually result in an overall INCREASE in prices (and quite possibly cause short-term supply disruptions).

The reason for this is very simple: a boycott of Exxon-Mobil would have the effect of constricting supply channels--by removing Exxon-Mobil stations from the supply chain through boycott, that demand just shifts to BP, Citgo, et cetera, and the increased demand might be enough to overtax their ability to efficiently meet it--with, apparently, no overall reduction in demand ('boycott' is all I've seen suggested, not 'driving less', or 'conserving fuel'), and no real effect on Exxon-Mobil (they can still sell their oil to independent refiners, so their overall bottom line wouldn't be much affected; this would hurt small business owners who run franchised Exxon or Mobil stations more than it would the oil company).

[robinlynne]

2. I just got a similar boycott email from a friend.

And i was already boycotting them anyway because of their policies. I think it is a great idea. Let's spread it around.
here is another exxon boycott a friend sent me today:


re: oil price protest
I hear we are going to hit close to $4.00 a gallon by next summer and it might
go higher!! Want gasoline prices to come down? We need to take some intelligent, united action.
xxxxxxxxxx offered this good idea.

This idea below makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain day" campaign that was going around last April or May! The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to "hurt" ourselves by refusing to buy gas. It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them.

BUT, whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can really work. Please read on and join with us! By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $1.50 is super cheap. Me too! It is currently $2.79 for regular unleaded in my town. Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at $1.50 - $1.75, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the marketplace..... not sellers. With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas! And, we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves. How? Since we
all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas. But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price war.

Here's the idea: For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL. If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce theirprices. If they reduce their prices, the other> companies will have to follow .
But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon and Mobil gas buyers. It's really
simple to do! Now, don't wimp out at this point....keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to
reach millions of people.

I am sending this note to 30 people. If each of us sends it to at least ten more (30 x 10 =3D 300)
and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 =3D 3,000)...and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth group of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers. If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted! If it goes one level further, you guessed THREE HUNDRED MILLION >PEOPLE!!!

Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. That's all. (If you don't understand how we
can reach 300 million and all you have to do is send this to 10 people.... Well, let's face it, you just
aren't a mathematician. But I am, so trust me on this one.)

How long would all that take? If each of us sends this e-mail out to ten more people within one day of
receipt, all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days!!!

I'll bet you didn't think you and I had that muchpotential, did you?

Acting together we can make a difference. If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on. I
suggest that we not buy from EXXON/MOBIL UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $1.30 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN. THIS CAN REALLY WORK.

"Beats sitting on our 'laurels' and doing NOTHING"....!

[laylah]

3. That particular e-mail,

unfortunately, is a hoax.

Claim: Boycotting a couple of gasoline brands will bring overall gas prices down.

Status: False.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/gasout.asp

And, btw, welcome to DU :toast:

Jenn

edited 'cuz I can't spell

[Rude Horner]

4. Not sure if this is just a variation on the hoax...

that's been going on for years, but it seems like too simplistic of an approach to me. Have they thought this out? For one thing, say everyone stops buying gas at Exxon and Mobil stations - so that means the demand goes up at all those other stations. Leading to possible shortages. And then those stations are forced to raise their prices.

[Robbien]

7. It was a surprise that county commissioners took it seriously

But perhaps the frustration got the better of them.

[northofdenali]

5. I've boycotted Exxon

since March 24, 1989.

[AX10]

9. I got this email too. I don't ExxonMobil TERRORIST OIL.

I buy Citgo, Hess, and Sunoco.

[northzax]

11. not again

what a waste of the county's time. As long as the county continues to use the same amount of petroluem overall, the prices won't change. And you know why? there's a dirty little secret of the gasoline industry. You know the difference between ExxonMobil gasoline and the Citgo gasoline in the place across the street? not a goddamn thing Citgo gas doesn't come from Citgo refineries, most of the time, it comes from the same wholesaler who sells to everyone else. All the gas in the District of Columbia, Northern Virginia and Suburban Maryland comes from the exact same place. They put it in tanker trucks at the end of the pipeline, maybe add a detergent, and sell it as a brand name at the stations. that's all. And if ExxonMobil sells less at their stations, the wholesaler will sell more to Citgo, Chevron, BP and the like. ExxonMobil makes it's money at the refining and wholesaling level, not the local retail level. They don't give a crap what station you buy at, as long as someone buys their wholesale gas somewhere.

[Catrina]

13. I don't use much gas anyway anymore. But if you're right, then what's

needed is a nation-wide strike for one day at least, every month, until these oil companies are broken up and this administration is forced to put money into alternative energy sources ~ better yet, remove this administration as soon as possible, support Chuck Schumer's proposal to break up the conglomerates in the meantime, and force these war profiteers back before Congress, this time UNDER oath and demand that Cheney reveal what went on at his energy hearings.

I heard some good proposals today from Democrats. They may now get more support from Republicans than in the past, since they are scared now that they will be dumped in November. The time seems to be right to start calling all Republicans and letting them hear from the people who are paying for all their disastrous policies.

[jwirr]

14. Exxon-Mobile? What other names are they selling under?

[WhiteTara]

15. no stretch for me, I haven't bought from Exxon

since the Valdez spill. Bastard pigs still haven't cleaned up the mess and are crying no money to finish the job.