An Idea to Bring Gas Prices Back In Line ...This Just Might Work!

[dixiechiken]

I received this in an email from my mother-in-law, thought it was an interesting idea, and wanted to share it with you all to get your thoughts. Hell, I figure that even if it doesn't work in lowering prices at the pump, we still get the satisfaction of putting the pinch on at least ONE of the gas & oil biggies! (BONUS!!! :evilgrin: )




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This came to me from a friend, and seems a good and simple idea. As I don't consume that much gas but as our providers are tied into the worldwide network of multinationals as are your providers, I thought you might be interested. (That is, unless you are a stockholder!)


Subject: Join the resistance!!!!

I hear we are going to hit close to $3.00 a gallon by the summer. Want gasoline prices to come down? We need to take some intelligent, united action. Phillip Hollsworth, offered this good idea: This 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 it and join with us!

By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $1.50 is super cheap. Me too! It is currently $1.97 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 act 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 their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit. 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 on me at this point ... keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!!

I am sending this note to about thirty people. If each of you send it to, at least, ten more (30 x 10 = 300) ... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000)... and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth generation 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 it ..... 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 email 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 I didn't think you and I had that much potential, did you! Acting together we can make a difference.

If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on.

PLEASE HOLD OUT UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $1.30 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN.

THIS CAN REALLY WORK!!!

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Well ... what do you guys think? Can this really work? :shrug:

[RC]

1. Won't work

The gas suppliers not only supply each other, but the independents also.

What is really needed is research into alternative power sources. No matter how it it sliced & diced, the problem is reliance on ONE energy source as this country is now. Stop the flow of oil into this country and this country is on its knees with in a week.

[truthspeaker]

2. $1.50 a gallon IS cheap

Try buying gas in Europe sometime. If the costs of pollution were included up front instead of deferred to the next generation, gasoline would be $4/gallon.

Here's a better idea: Do what I did and buy a car that gets 34 mpg.

[MercutioATC]

3. Why do you think that gas prices are out "of line"?

Here's what I think.

America is the innovator of the world...but only when it's profitable to innovate. Even at $3 a gallon, gas is cheap...possibly too cheap to warrant innovation.

At $4-$5 a gallon, I think we'd see a LOT of new ways to use fossil fuels more efficiently as well as development of alternative energy sources, both of which have long-term benefit.

I say, let the oil companies continue to think short-term and price-gouge. They're only assisting in their own demise. Reducing our dependence on fossil fuels is good from an environmental standpoint, an economic standpoint and a security standpoint. I'm willing to suffer some short-term pain for a long-term good.

[Ricdude]

4. It's somewhat ironic...

...that in order to use renewable domestic fuel in a passenger vehicle, I had to by a foreign car.

About a year ago, I bought a VW New Beetle with a diesel engine. On petroleum based diesel fuel, I get 45 mpg mixed city/highway driving. If I keep my highway speeds down a little, I can get 48-50 mpg. Once a month or so, I drive a little farther to refuel, and buy diesel fuel made from surplus virgin soybean oil, with no noticable effect on mileage.

Now, if every diesel vehicle switched to biodiesel overnight, there'd be a bit of a supply problem. And there probably isn't enough available vegetable oil to do that today. However, there are higher yield crops that could be harvested (mustard, jojoba, various nuts), and research into algae that can be harvested for fuel, as well.

The low price of fuel in this country is a major part of the problem behind the flood of SUVs, and other low mileage cars on the market. If gas suddenly cost $3.00/gallon (about half what it sells for in Europe), you'd find a lot more people interested in cars that get better than 20 mpg. You'd also find a lot more people interested in carpooling, to save on fuel expenses.

None of those options are "the solution", though. They are simply postponing the inevitable. "The solution" is a society geared to the scale of the pedestrian, so we don't have to drive so damn far for our daily needs in the first place...