New Gas Boycott Idea

[Bonobo]

I got this e-mail from a friend and wanted to share cause I think it's a good idea:

GAS WAR - an idea that WILL work

This was originally sent by a retired Coca Cola
executive It came from one of his engineer buddies
who retired from Halliburton. It's worth your
consideration.

Join the resistance!!!! 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.

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 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 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 30 people. If each of us
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 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 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
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 much potential, 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




If you can't be a good example -- Then you'll just have to be a horrible warning!

[eleny]

1. I started buying Citgo the other day

One perosn at a time.

[progressivebydesign]

2. I buy ARCO exclusively. The don't gouge!! n/t

[mike_c]

3. I'd add Chevron to the list, at least in CA....

eom

[Flabbergasted]

4. I'm in.......

[Old and In the Way]

5. Just received this today and posted in the energy forum.

This is a chain letter that has made the rounds. Anyway, I'm not sure cheap gas is anything but a short term relief....it will increase demand and stress supply further. But it does show how viral campaigns can leverage the internet to effect mass change.


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

[Flabbergasted]

6. Except that we as a group (liberals) need some causes to work

all the way through. This sounds good!

[dweller]

7. see Snopes ... n/t

i'm too tired to look it up.



dp

[Warpy]

8. I buy Brand X

and I haven't owned a vehicle with more than 4 cylinders since 1969.

Plus my other car is an electric moped.

I just hope prices fall soon. People are getting badly hurt, especially marginal workers.

If you can afford to, start tipping well.

[sipnsail]

9. I don't buy gas at Exxon because of the Exxon Valdez oil spill

and I am all for a boycott of Exxon/Mobil gas stations, unfortunately just because the station is not an Exxon station does not mean they are not getting their gas from Exxon/Mobile.

[newyawker99]

25. Hi sipnsail!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[cynatnite]

10. won't work

A boycott of a couple of brands of gasoline won't result in lower overall prices. Prices at all the non-boycotted outlets would rise due to the temporarily limited supply and increased demand, making the original prices look cheap by comparison. The shunned outlets could then make a killing by offering gasoline at its "normal" (i.e., pre-boycott) price or by selling off their output to the non-boycotted companies, who will need the extra supply to meet demand. The only person who really gets hurt in this proposed scheme is the service station operator, who has almost no control over the price of gasoline.

The only practical way of reducing gasoline prices is through the straightforward means of buying less gasoline, not through a simple and painless scheme of just shifting where we buy it. The inconvenience of driving less is a hardship too many people apparently aren't willing to endure, however.

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

on edit: I won't buy gas from Exxon at all. I mostly stick with Volaro and Citgo.

[mtnsnake]

11. Your idea is much better than the alternative, which is doing nothing

It's a start, and when people get thinking along these lines, good things can happen. Thanks for the idea. It might need a little tweeking, but it's something to strongly consider.

Recommended

[cynatnite]

12. Gas prices go down when people buy less

It's not based on the shifting from one company to another.

Most here at DU don't buy at places like Exxon anyway. It's been that way for some time, but it has had no effect on the price of gas at all.

This idea has been debunked with a lot of common sense. The less gas we buy, the lower the prices go. The more, they go higher because of demand.

The snopes article is dated Apr. 13, 2006.

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

[mtnsnake]

13. Yeah, no kidding. So let's come with a plan to make the country buy less

Without a plan, nothing will ever get accomplished. There are no leaders anymore. At least the OPer is trying to do something about it.

[cynatnite]

16. And support a mistaken premise?

That's what you're advocating when there is a far better, simpler and common sense approach to a serious problem.

The plan is: Buy less gas. Period.

It's a proven fact that shifting to another company without buying less gas does not work. Buying less gas does work.

The prices are based on demand. When there is no demand, prices go down.

I'm not going to support a mistake because of sentiment. I want to support something that will work.

[mtnsnake]

17. I KNOW prices come down when we buy less. Why are you arguing??

I'm not the one who suggesting buying the same amount of gas from different companies and shunning the other ones. I even said the plan mentioned by the OPer could use some tweaking, but at least he came up with a plan.

Yeah, we all know the price of gas comes down when less is bought. What's YOUR plan to get that accomplished?

[cynatnite]

18. I got the impression you were praising the OP for the mistaken premise...

That's it. Not arguing. Just stating fact.

[mtnsnake]

19. You were the one with the mistaken premise...

for getting that impression.

I praised the OPer for TRYING, for at least coming up with a plan. Any plan is better than no plan any day of the week and twice on Sunday. By coming up with a plan, even a plan that's "mistaken" in your eyes, it leads to positive discussion, which in turn might lead to a better plan and one that might work.

So far, the OPer is the ONLY one I've seen even try with something concrete. You can preach all day and night about how less comsumption leads to lower prices, and you're right about that, but coming up with a plan to get that accomplished is another story.

[cynatnite]

20. My apologies for misinterpreting your post.

But 'any plan' just doesn't cut it. I prefer the one that works. That means I do all my errands at one time, stay home more and not do unnecessary driving.

Each person has to make the decision on whether or not they are going to act responsibly in their own lives.

I think a person would have to live under a rock to not know that buying less gas can affect the prices.

People know it. It's just up to them to follow it.

[mtnsnake]

21. Thanks

I want a plan that works, too. What amazes me to no end is that every time prices go up in my area, the gas stations seem to get more crowded each time. When are people going to learn that these greedy oil barons are going to keep jacking the price up as long as we're willing to pay for it? We really do need to get together on this and find a way to all start using less. Even using 5 or 10 percent less would hit them enough to drop the prices.

[cynatnite]

22. It's the same way here

I've learned to stretch a tank for two weeks. One time I went almost three weeks, but I let it go really low, too.

I do agree that a an aggressive nationwide effort to use less gas would make a major impact. From the sound of it, we may get our wish this summer if prices continue to rise. The oil companies will lower if they find they're getting less profit. One could hope, I suppose.

[Swamp Rat]

14. I rode my bicycle today

:)

[dweller]

24. now, that's a plan!

otherwise, let's shoot out some vehicle tires.

whatever it takes to stop them in their tracks.
dp

[RoyGBiv]

15. Sorry, but no ...

A) Boycotting Exxon branded gasoline is not equivalent to boycotting gasoline refined by Exxon.

B) Boycotting Exxon gasoline altogether (branded or refined) is not equivalent to boycotting oil from Exxon.

C) All other companies combined that refine gasoline for purchase in the United States could not account for the shortfall of gasoline if we all stopped purchasing anything from Exxon, thus resulting in a dramatic price increase from those companies.

As is stated on the Snopes article about this, with the current structure of the energy market, reducing consumption is the only available method of reducing gasoline prices.

[fortyfeetunder]

23. That's right, get out of the car

I don't think this boycott would be effective. What would be most effective is everyone getting out of their cars and taking public transportation, riding bikes, walking, etc.

[kestrel91316]

26. How about we just:

STOP WASTING GAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, we need to alter our USAGE. Cut down on unnecessary driving/trips. Carpool. Shop close to home. Live where you work, not 50 miles away. But local foods rather than those expensive imported ones. THINK BEFORE YOUE SPEND.

Oh, and when it comes time to replace the car, replace it with a PRIUS!!!!!!!!!!!