This story is archived
Why one-day gasoline 'boycott' won't work »
Posted by: STONERS 2 years, 6 months agoWith gasoline prices topping $3 a gallon again, a number of readers, including Greg in Louisiana, are wondering about a proposed one-day "gas boycott" that has a goal of taking $2.3 billion in oil company profits. Aside from circulating some questionable math, organizers of this event stand exactly zero chance of having an impact on gas p
Read Full Story at msnbc.msn.com »
Submitted By:
STONERS
Welcome to my profile...I've started a ""STONERS Daily News Group"" Please stop by and have a look and join if you like it ...
Who Also Submitted:
This Story is Archived and Commenting is Closed
Comments: 317
-
STONERS
May 7, 2007, 11:43 a.m.The real problem with this idea is that â;; as some versions of this e-mail helpfully suggest â;;these "boycotters" simply top off their tanks May 14 or wait to fill them up May 16. All that does is shift sales from one day to another. Any money "lost" from lower gasoline sales on May 15 will be made up with higher sales on the days before and after the "boycott."
-
not2needy
May 7, 2007, 11:57 a.m.I have to agree it won't work over the long haul, but it may be a start. They know they have the world over a barrel, and that's where they intend to keep us.
-
johnkamis64
May 7, 2007, 12:27 p.m.Most people think this means 'giving up' the car for a whole day. HELL NO!!! Seems that the best way to take a message to the Fat B@$t@rd$ is planning!!! Your errand is only a few blocks away;grab a bike or slog it. Each week,extend your "carless range" by one block. Then pretty soon,you are giving up a tankful a week.We do have the power to nickel and dime them to death.(By the way....tapering off is a good way to fight addiction!!!)
-
-
tehranchik
May 7, 2007, 12:57 p.m.I would think this idea would be in everyones best interest to make it work and maybe not for one day but for 2-3 days!
-
canadianrancher57
May 7, 2007, 1:26 p.m.I don't think a one day boycott will work, my personel opinion is a boycott that targets one company would be more effective and could be maintained for an extended period. Pick on the largest company likley exxon what do we have to lose. If you are worried about your local gas station you could still buy your goodies there to support him.
-
NoWayMan
May 7, 2007, 1:27 p.m.its a start. and it will at least send a message. but why just one day? why not an entire weekend?
and the idea is to use public transport or go without your car for a few days unless its absolutely neccessary. beyond not buying any gas.
bottom line is, they're gouging us at the pump.
-
natashas
May 7, 2007, 1:51 p.m.I will not add gas to my tank, but I need my car may 15th. I will start staying at home one day a week to reduce sales.
-
jimbuck
May 7, 2007, 2:04 p.m.Don't buy gas that day AND don't go anywhere. Go on STRIKE for at least a day. That will get the message to more thaN just the gas companies. You may lose a day's pay but that is better than giving it to BIG OIL.
-
intewedmgrant
May 7, 2007, 2:33 p.m.In terms of percentages the oil companies profits are nowhere near exorbitant. Look at any software company, such as Microsoft, and you see they have margins in the 40% range. Oil companies have tremendous capital investments and should be allowed to make normal profits on that. The oil cartel is the one that is making all the money. It must cost less than a dollar to get a barrel of oil out of the ground and then it's sold for $65. Now if I had the only woman in town and was selling her for sex, would the price be $1, $25, $50, $100, or as much as anyone would pay? That's capitalism for you. Supply and demand and we demand way too much!
-
bazookadale
May 7, 2007, 5:28 p.m.If people stop BURNING gas for one day - and don't make that up later - that will reduce the years demand by 1/365th, insignificant to the oil companies!
-
intewedmgrant
May 7, 2007, 2:28 p.m.Anyone who is so dumb to think that not buying gas for a day or two makes any difference needs to take a math class! Consumption must be decreased in order to reduce demand. Stop whining while driving everywhere you want anytime you want and all by yourself in your SUV. Man, what a bunch of goofs we have become! I have cut way back on my driving and combine as many errands into one day as possible, but I notice most cars only have one person in them and people aren't really making an effort to conserve. It's easier to whine and blame everyone else for our own stupid wastefulness. Grow up!
-
PunkedChick
May 7, 2007, 2:31 p.m.One day gas boycott, I mean what we all go fill our tanks the day before and drive wherever we need to go the on the 16th we fill our tanks again. I drive an SUV (bad me) I only fill it once a week but between me and my husband we work 7 days a week. There is no public Transportation in my town so its walking or biking away. Still I think to make an impact we would all have to take a loss and take the day or week off work and sit at home on our lazy behinds and enjoy making no money and spending no money. If we could all do that then there would be an impact. For starters the malls and grocery stores would be closed there would be no mail, no deliveries, no emergency personell. Are we sure we want to deny ourselves the luxuries we have come to use everyday? here's a thought grow your own veggies saves a trip to the grocery store for carrots. don't drive to the corner market walk. The reason we are such an obese nation is that no one walks anywhere.
-
saneman
May 7, 2007, 2:44 p.m.One way to cut demand for oil in the U.S. is to allow the very fuel efficient European cars into the U.S. The average mpg for cars in Europe is 47 and the average mpg for cars in the U.S. is 27. The reason for the increase in the price of gasoline is because the demand is so high in the U.S. according to the oil companies. However, the U.S. government won't allow me to import one of the European turbo-diesel cars having an mpg of 100 into the U.S. What a crock of sh$t. We could cut the demand for gasoline by one half if we were allowed to import cars which get upto 100 mpg.
-
Fantagor
May 7, 2007, 3:03 p.m.Gasoline is a fungible commodity.
Gas not needed here shall be distributed and sold abroad.
If people want to stick it to the oil oligarchy, stop driving gas hogs or stop driving all together.
One day, sooner than later, that will be the case anyways.
Randy
-
GHOSTWHOWALKS
May 7, 2007, 3:07 p.m.Allow Europe to export their cars here? Nice idea. However it wouldn't work unless they could meet, or exceed, the pollution requirements of the US, and then would raise another problem. How to pay the higher price. My little Festiva gets 49 miles to the gallon and I fill it (10 gallons) once a month . I walk every day, shop once a month, and thumb my nose at the gas company's.
-
DavePee
May 7, 2007, 3:15 p.m.This email calling for a gas boycott has been going around for 8 years now. Even if everyone followed it, and didn't buy gas, it wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference.
-
IanFraigun
May 7, 2007, 3:17 p.m.Well something that could have an impact on one company which may well ring a bell at others as well.
If we all took one company and stopped buying their gas period for at least a 60-90 period you would see some results at least from that company.
Why not as example Exxon/Mobil who gets much of their crude from the middle east. Or possibly Shell or Chevron/Texico or Conoco/Union.
Only one I might avoid boycotting is Arco which is owned by BP which gets all its oil from the North Sea meaning none from the arab countries.
We did that long enough to really hurt one of the majors in the long term pocket book they might get the idea we are serious about doing something this time.
-
Pickle2
May 7, 2007, 3:45 p.m.I agree the one-day boycott won't work. The best scheme I've heard yet is to have everybody boycott a particular gas station - say, Exxon/Mobile - until their prices go down. If everybody would stop buying gas from them for an indefinite period, they would have to drop prices to get customers back. Once they do, shop there and don't buy as from other retailers until they drop their price lower than Exxon/Mobile. It's basically buying gas from the lowest station only boycotting the highest priced one.
But, the only way for it to work is if everybody would do it which is practically impossible.
-
PersianRoyalty
May 7, 2007, 3:46 p.m.this was the supidest idea anyone could have ever came up with. none of this bullsh** is EVER going to work! COME ON!
-
gfunk
May 7, 2007, 3:48 p.m.One email that has been floating around here is boycott the two largest oil companies. Their sales are hurting so they lower their cost to draw back customers thus starting a gas war.
I have resorted to driving 55-60mph on two lanes and 65mph on the express way. It's amazing to me how someone can complain about gas prices and pass me with a 3/4 ton pick up towing a boat at 80mph...
-
losttribes
May 7, 2007, 3:50 p.m.Why waste our time boycotting one gas station for one
day when we could boycott all of them every day.
The convenient stores make a few cents on the gallon
they make their profits off of what you buy in the
stores simply dont buy any thing in the stores you will
save money anyways. Lets put the squeeze on big oils
distributors.
-
Rosullivan1
May 7, 2007, 3:54 p.m.OK---you want to stick it to the Oil companies--We have invested over 1 TRILLION DOLLARS TO find more oil and natural gas for you f'ing tree huggers. And this includes times such as the late 80's and early 90s when we were losing billions of dollars. So let's not invest in finding new oil, but when it is cold in the winter and you need heat, go chop down all your trees to cook your food, bathe your children, heat your home, OK? If some of you would realize that companies like DeepRock water charge you $3.00 for a gallon of water, (if you buy it in 5 gallon containers) when it only cost 5cents a gallon to extract and bottle, while Oil costs 100-200 time more than that to extract refine transport and market, you would realize that you are getting a bargain compared to Water. NOW JUST CHATTA.....
-
gtmike
May 7, 2007, 4:01 p.m.This is a my sugggestion.
I think the following modified proposition will work.
Stimulate competition by boycotting all suppliers except one supplier for one week.
Let's start by buying CITGO ONLY for one week starting May 15, 2007.
Make the sacrifice and hold out the boycott for one week, even if the other suppliers drop by 50% or more.
What do you think?
-
SGT2005
May 7, 2007, 4:05 p.m.Here is my take one day boy cot won't work I agree. But here is some news you probably haven't herd. Oil companies are already complaining about factory problems. some plants report shutting down some areas of the plants due to malfunction of equipment. So guess who's gonna pay for those repairs? oh boy this is there way of saying we can justify why we need to raise gas prices this summer. I would expect to see gas in the summer at almost $5.00 a gallon at least in California. Supply and demand my a$$. We have more gas already manufactured then we know what to do with and its a matter of keeping the consumer mis informed about what really is going on. We have enough gas in reserve to last till 2025. This gas is in storage. So what your being charged isn't what is shipped here, So in laymen terms your being charge for something that isn't shipped but what we already have in storage. How does that make you feel now ?
The first 156 comments are shown. Show all 317 comments »
Submit a Story
Advertisement
