A guest post, by my dad, in response to:
On May 15th 2007, all internet users are to not go to a gas station in protest of high gas prices. Gas is now over $3.00 a gallon in most places. There are 73,000,000+ American members currently on the internet network, and the average car takes about 30 to 50 dollars to fill up. If all users did not go to the pump on the 15th, it would take $2,292,000,000.00 (that's almost 3 BILLION) out of the oil companys pockets for just one day, so please do not go to the gas station on May 15th and lets try to put a dent in the Middle Eastern oil in dustry for at least one day. If you agree (which I cant see why you wouldnt) resend this to all your contact list. With it saying, ''Don't pump gas on May 15th"
OK- it's out here and this is my response....
This stuff doesn't work.
Cutting $3 billion of retail gasoline sales in one day makes no difference. That's because we're going to buy that gas anyway. The only way to really make an impact is to stop buying gasoline. Now, putting a $3B dent in the TOTAL sales for EACH AND EVERY month, with no recovery would make a difference.
This is a matter very dear to my heart (must be that old leftover hippie in me). The only impact we can make is to make long-term lasting impacts. One-day "feel good" stuff like this does nothing to the market forces that create fuel costs. And remember that the US has generally the lowest retail fuel pump prices of any industrialized non-oil producing nation. Europeans were paying $3.00/gallon when we were whining about it hitting a buck and a half. However, we never forced the automakers to make realistically fuel-efficient cars- we kept buying those big honking things that suck fuel at rates that make OPEC smile.
I suggest you instead send a written letter (they ignore most e-mails) to your legislators at both the state and national level and demand that
the money currently going to support oil companies goes to building a reliable and efficient public transportation system that includes local and national. Our railroads should be the best way to get around the mid-west instead of the unreliable joke Amtrak has become. It's ludicrous that Bloomington/Normal buses require one to leave two hours early to get from South Main to West College. It silly that the busses stop running before the malls close- how can mall employees use a bus if the last bus leaves before they're done closing their stores? That's the kind of stuff that will make the oil producers take notice.
Ride bicycles, use public transportation, share rides, get your car tuned up, get rid of anything that gets less than 25 mpg (real measured MPG from your actual driving- not the bogus EPA ratings on the stickers when you buy the car), plan trips, be a good and faithful steward of all the resources with which God has blessed you.
In addition, the gas station owner isn't the one getting the money- most places make more profit off the candy, pop, and other junk they sell than the gas. The food chain puts the money into two main places- the oil corporation and state tax coffers.
Make a difference by doing something that really makes a difference...
jte
Hmmmm I'm of mixed thoughts.
I agree that a one-day boycott doesn't make a difference. We'll just fill up tomorrow.
I don't think public transit is going to be a silver bullet. Or any kind of bullet. Americans have time and again expressed a disdain for public transit. Dad- you posted this on my site some time ago at my Nuclear Yeehaw (http://www.fuzzytummyrumblings.net/?p=168) post.
"Boy, you don’t ask for much do ya? Just simply ask an independent, unconcerned, and selfish society to give up our infatuation with automobiles as an expression of freedom and independece? Not that I disagree. I’d love to have a public tranist system in Bloom-burg that works- as in runs often enough that it makes sense to use it, and runs late enough to allow me to use it when I want to. I loved the trains in Europe too."
As you said- America doesn't view a car as a means of transportation. We haven't done that for a long time.
A: Cars are most efficient when the move. We burn roughly 3 billion dollars in fuel waiting for lights, not moving on freeways, sitting in congestion, etc. In most cities over 250k people, it takes almost twice as long to make a trip in peak traffic than in off-peak. Large employers need to stagger start/quit times. Main routes need more lane-miles. Most cities need more alternate routes.
B: stop blaming the oil companies and the government for things we've allowed and even encouraged them to do. As Sean has said- Americans have shown that we're more willing to go to war to keep our gas affordable than we are to buy smaller cars. If this wasn't the case, the Escalade wouldn't have been redesigned this year- it would have been retired.
The fastest, easiest way to fix this trend is to place the burden on the consumer. If your car gets less than 30 mpg highway, you pay an extra thousand dollars per MPG in taxes. You want an Expedition? Cool. You can have a Expedition. Just add the extra 14 thousand dollars to its tag. If your vehicle gets more than 40mpg highway, You get a 500$ per mpg credit. Diesel anybody?
Then you stop giving tax breaks and MPG breaks to vehicles over X weight. Right now, a vehicle over 5800lbs GVWR gets a tax break. Originally this was because the only people who needed/used them were farmers and industrialists. Nobody else needed them. This was a way to make it easier to run a business. Now Soccer moms, IT geeks, and retired golfers buy them just because they can. There can be breaks still given if the vehicle is owned as a company asset. But if it's a private asset, it follows all of the rules/regs of any other vehicle.
And my personal favorite- Start making parking spaces smaller. Then fine people who double park. Good income for the state. Good incentive to not park your damn escalade in the "compact" spots at the grocery store, you pricks. Sorry- that's a personal whine.
Anyway. Those are my thoughts.
Hey Geoff,
Have you priced diesel lately????? Can't speak for the rest of the country but in SC it's still a lot more than gas. Nicole pointed out to me that the citizens of the USA won't consider gas prices an issue until they hit $10/gal. (Not sure where she got the info.) My vote right now is for hybrid vehicles. (Hey JTE, there's nothing wrong with the hippie influence.....now we just call it baby boomers and we get our politcal clout thru AARP :-)) Anyway, back to the subject at hand, my religion professor has filled his hybrid 3 times since the 27th of March and drives the same distance I do filling my Olds (not my choice of vehicles but it gets me where I'm going)weekly. Plus he's going to get a tax break and I'm not. Greenville is voting to merge municipal transit with the county but it still not going to do most people here any good because where it goes is so limited. I'm moving 20 minutes closer to work and still can't get a bus. The best e-mail I have had is to boycot Exxon and Mobil for the summer. The theory is if we hit the big boys and the bottom line is affected, they will lower prices and the rest will follow suit. (God help us if it's a bad hurricane season...I can't move back to the midwest until May of next year.)
Wish I could contribute things that sound as intellectual as the rest of you but I'm still going to graduate with honors.
Mom K.
The hybrids are great in town. For highway driving (my commute) they don't do as well. Gas is about 50 cents a gallon higher than diesel out here to boot.
On top of that, the huge number of lithium-ion batteries used to build a hybrid may create more toxins and pollutants than the gas they save. Jury is still out on that one. I'm obviously not against hybrids or diesels. I actually think a diesel hybrid is the best option out there. America needs to get over its fear of diesel sometime soon.
Bottom line- to me- is that the users are the ones that need to change this. Oil companies will charge us what we'll pay. Until we collectively decide to seek out other options, they'll keep charging and we'll keep paying.