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Stop Sending Those “Don’t Buy Gas” Emails

dailyfueleconomytip.com — Thanks to the recent run-up in gas prices, our email accounts have become cluttered with chain emails asking us to boycott major gas stations on a certain date in the future in an attempt to "cripple" Big Oil. This is a ridiculous idea and anyone with a quasi-functional brain knows it won't work.

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  • appurtenance, on 10/12/2007, -75/+22I think the concept is possible, but the execution is off. If people would boycott a singular company, say Exxon/Mobil, wouldn't that company lower costs in order to attract customers? And if the people thus continued to boycott that company, that company would surely suffer revenue losses...
    Either way, I think all people should decrease their dependence on gasoline.
    • DiggsOnlyNeoCon, on 10/12/2007, -37/+18I'm no economist, but as soon as other companies start selling more of their product, prices will go up. More demand = Lower supply = Higher price?
    • OneBallJ, on 10/12/2007, -7/+110 Break the Chain

      http://www.breakthechain.org/

      when ever some one sends you a "stop the..." "how to prevent..." "I just found out the about.."

      find the exact email they sent you and Link the site reference to them... that usually cuts down on my forwards for a couple weeks.
    • Langford, on 10/12/2007, -2/+41The only way it could work, is to reduce consumption over a long long long time period, with every oil company. If it's a short time period, it will fall and jump right back up, if it falls at all.
    • thatsmyaibo, on 10/12/2007, -31/+6I have to disagree there. Down the street we have a Shell directly across the street from a 76 station. Now if all the traffic were diverted to one over the other for a day or 2, then the other would experience a serious profit loss for the day which would theoretically force them to lower the price per gallon. The problem is people just don't care enough to go out of their way to make a point.
    • wheremyarm, on 10/12/2007, -5/+57Sorry for the comment abuse, but this issue is also addressed in more detail at Snopes:

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

      Plus I think it's better to send these people a link telling them their plan is a well-known urban legend than just a write-up about it, but both are good.
    • therealrico, on 10/12/2007, -24/+121What I don't understand why people are so pissed off at gas company's! Its our fault we are so dependant on gas, why be mad at the gas companies for profiting on it. I say good for them, this is what we get for driving SUV's in the suburbs, and so forth. Not to mention our country has been pretty spoiled for a gallon of gas, compare it to what the UK pays which comes to somewhere around 7 bucks a gallon, last I heard. You wanna hurt the gas company's FINE!! Sell your Hummer, or Jeep, or truck you don't need and buy a Prius.
    • mywhitenoise, on 10/12/2007, -16/+5I was never interested in an SUV, and im from the suburbs. They don't interest me, wasteful consumption never did. I've wanted a Prius before it was cool to trade in your SUV for one. Before I got my Prius (have only had it for a few months) I had a Corolla that was falling apart, I rarely drove it.
    • thatsmyaibo, on 10/12/2007, -7/+40@therealrico

      Believe me I would love to. I have a low emission and high mileage/gallon car, but the public transportation system in LA doesn't give me much of a choice. People in Europe have the luxury of good public transport. We are nearing the 4$/gallon mark and not given much of a choice by our local government.
    • strangewill, on 10/12/2007, -6/+31@therealrico:
      You realize that like greater than half of that $7 is taxes? We pay like what, 20 cents in taxes per gallon? This is companies price gouging, not that it's cheaper.

      Not to mention, you guys have a higher minimum wage, and less distances to travel to and from places, and a way better mass transit system, let along awesome engines that can get like 50mpg on diesel (which can be biodiesel...).

      I thought you guys were suppose to be smarter than us. ;)
    • Homunculiheaded, on 10/12/2007, -3/+22"The problem is people just don't care enough to go out of their way to make a point." The point that we all need cheap gas no matter what the ultimate cost? I think the frustrating thing about all of this is the "but we deserve dirt cheap gas! I need it to run my giant truck/suv etc! Protest big oil so that I can have unlimited cheap fuel!" How about start cutting down how much gas you use, period.

      You realize that the price of a gallon of gas is less than (or close to) the price of a gallon of OJ, one is renewable resource harvested from trees and processed the other non-renewable, drilled from the ground, shipped across oceans, refined then retransported, isn't it cheap enough as it is?
    • InsultComedy, on 10/12/2007, -13/+3DiggsOnlyNeoCon

      I agree. Look at the PSP. No one bought it, now they start cutting the price. An iPhone at high demand will stay expensive, but when the demand drops, then they will start cutting prices. That's how supply and demand works. You can't have overstock inventory. It will diminish value.

      The oil companies know that we use gas for our livelihood. They set the prices with the cartels around the world. Peak oil is a scam to sell at a higher cost. It also controls movement in countries. Only the wealthy can move freely, just like toll-roads.
    • MAJORstrasser, on 10/12/2007, -2/+40This is so ***** retarded. This is all based on supply and demand. People think that if they boycott one company (destroy demand for their product), the company will lower its prices...which is probably true, if done over a prolonged period of time.

      But what the hell do you think the other companies, facing increased demand for their product, are going to do? That's right: they're going to increase their prices. You're not actually decreasing demand for gasoline during this "boycott," you're just shifting it from one company to another. All that'll happen is you'll pay more for gas during your idiotic boycott, only for prices to return to where they were before once you start buying from Exxon-Mobil again.

      If you were truly intelligent, you'd get out of that SUV of yours and buy yourself something that gets decent mileage to actually decrease demand for gas. But the key word there is intelligent, and intelligence is something the general public lacks.
    • mywhitenoise, on 10/12/2007, -5/+47The bus is a rip off, my job pays for bus fare, so I take it anyway. But if they weren't paying for it, i'd just drive my car.
      A single fare bus ticket is $2, gas is $3.50 per gallon.
      I get about 47 MPG, and my job is about 30 miles to and from my house. I'd pay roughly $2.75 for that trip. Where as taking the bus would be $4 a day. I thought buses were supposed to be cheap?
    • roosterjm2k2, on 10/12/2007, -13/+5The logic is flawed...

      If you boycott one company, the others get an influx, so while one drops its prices (maybe) the others raise theirs...forcing people to go back to the original one, and with that influx, they raise their prices back to the level of the others...

      Its like dropping a rock in a puddle. When you do so, you lower the water level in some areas, and raise it in others (ripples), eventually though, when the water settles down even again, the water level is higher than it was at first (technically, because of the displacement of the rock, but this is a metaphor, so thats not important)

      1 Gallon = 128 Ounces. 1 bottle of water (lest say $1.25 to be fair) = 24 ounces. Thats 5 and a 1/3 bottles per gallon, thats $6.67/gallon.
      Gas is at $3 a gallon.

      Gasoline is still less than half of the price of clean water. Put it in perspective, and think about it.
    • deuceswilde, on 10/12/2007, -7/+16@ apputenance
      Despite being dugg down, you're right on the theory side. Cross brand elasticity of demand is significantly different than simple elasticity of demand (elasticity= measure of necessity), so while people would always need gas, they would not need Shell, or Exxon specifically. By boycotting a single company you could potentially create a genuine drop in earnings. However, this only works if everyone targets ONE company and even then the profits are going to the other oil companies and it would require a huge number of people, organization and determination, and frankly that just wouldn't happen.

      @DiggsOnlyNeoCon
      Kinda, aggregate demand would probably be the same but the individual firm demand curves would change, so it could still affect a single company, although like I said above people would never be able to organize that to the point it would work.

      @therealrico
      Exxon made $39.5 Billion in profit last year ($110 million a day). That is off of total earnings of $377.6 Billion, and in a perfectly competitive system the profits should approach zero and even in a profit gaining model this is excessive. The oil companies are hegemonic and can control prices however they want. Like the market for diamonds, when only a few companies control all the output they can simply limit their natural output to raise prices artificially, and yeah it sucks.
    • deuceswilde, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17@rooster

      Using bottled water prices is a pretty suspect way of measuring clean water. To put it another way most tap water (clean and drinkable by any standard, the rest is up to taste) is along the lines of $5 per 1000gal, so in that case gas is more... much more.
    • zatrix, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1@roosterjm2k2 - First off you forgot to compare that to the price of a coffee as is typical with people who compare gas to other liquids. But I'm not sure you realize how dumb it is to compare gasoline to water prices. Last time I checked you didn't pump 60 liters of water at a time?
    • jaybob007, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11@roosterjm2k2

      Yeah, but you can also get a gallon of water for usually under a dollar at any grocery store.
    • Serenikill, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Summarized at about.com

      http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/government/a/gas_boycott.htm
    • roosterjm2k2, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2Actually, bottled water -is- a better comparison than tap water.

      Bottled water is processed and shipped, is not supported by local tax and is, for the most part, as optional as gasoline.

      Tap water, is simply filtered and piped, payed for largely by taxes (your water bill is generally lower than actual cost) and is much more a necessity than gas or bottled water.
    • hdtvdust, on 10/12/2007, -8/+4 roosterjm2k2..I buy gallons of water for 58 cents. Do you have any other flawed logic to give us?
    • merreborn, on 10/12/2007, -6/+9"I get about 47 MPG, and my job is about 30 miles to and from my house. I'd pay roughly $2.75 for that trip. Where as taking the bus would be $4 a day. I thought buses were supposed to be cheap?"

      Driving is only cheaper if you forget that you had to pay for your car, as well as wear & tear / mileage. And, you can make better use of your time on the bus than you can while driving.

      Also, if you're gonna take the bus long term, you don't use single fair, you pick up a monthly pass, which frequently cuts the price of daily fair by at least 50% if you ride 5 days a week.
    • mywhitenoise, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12"Also, if you're gonna take the bus long term, you don't use single fair, you pick up a monthly pass, which frequently cuts the price of daily fair by at least 50% if you ride 5 days a week."

      A monthly pass is $95, it's still cheaper to drive my car. And my bus stop is 3 miles away, so I need to get there somehow.
    • loungechair, on 10/12/2007, -6/+15@mywhitenoise

      "The bus is a rip off, my job pays for bus fare, so I take it anyway. But if they weren't paying for it, i'd just drive my car.
      A single fare bus ticket is $2, gas is $3.50 per gallon.
      I get about 47 MPG, and my job is about 30 miles to and from my house. I'd pay roughly $2.75 for that trip. Where as taking the bus would be $4 a day. I thought buses were supposed to be cheap?"

      You forgot to factor in the fact that you also paid for the car and pay insurance and repairs on it. 4 bucks a day for the bus is a lot cheaper over a month than paying a lease or car loan, paying insurance, and putting gas in your car.
    • modifiedbears, on 10/12/2007, -7/+18Anyone defending an oil company is a ***** tool. The amount of profit they are making is ridiculous and unjustifiable.
    • Jozer99, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8How do people think this is gonna work? If you boycott gas for a week, unless you sell your car, you just buy twice the gas next week. Oil companies get the same amount of money, they just have to wait an extra week. I'm sure they are quaking in their boots. If you really are such a hippie environmentalist, sell your f**king car and get a bike, or a lama, or whatever REAL environmentalists ride around on.
    • moofer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Let's face it. These emails never work. People will need gas for a long time to come. What the internets need to do is coordinate a 1 to 2 week boycott of a specific company. Overall, the same amount of gas will be used, but if Chevron gets their stations boycotted for a 2 week period nation-wide as a penalty for gouging the consumer, it might make a difference. Change up the companies that are up to no good.
    • jorach, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Oil companies actually make most of their profits based on the price of crude oil which is determined on the open market.

      http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5365439
    • jorach, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1It didn't show up the first time. Whoops.
    • mywhitenoise, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11@loungechair
      "You forgot to factor in the fact that you also paid for the car and pay insurance and repairs on it. 4 bucks a day for the bus is a lot cheaper over a month than paying a lease or car loan, paying insurance, and putting gas in your car."

      You forgot to factor in that the transit system is not your personal chauffeur and stops picking up around 6:30 (in Sacramento, CA at least), and no weekends. What if i want to go to San Francisco for the weeked? Then i need to take a Greyhound, and how am I going to get to a Greyhound station? People need cars to get to bus stops (I'd ride a bike if they were in a mile or maybe 2 proximity). Either way,it only costs about $35 to fill up my tank, which will get me close to 500 miles. 500 miles divided by 30 is about 16.5 round trips to work. That's about $40 a month to get to work, less than half of what it would cost to take the bus. Not to mention I got my Prius for $17,500, and insurance is pretty high...$160 a month, but that's because i'm a 21 year old male...whatever, I'm not losing anything. Way better value than buying any other car. Repairs on a Prius? Haha! It's a ***** Toyota, dude. There's not going to be any repair expenses.
    • ultrafine, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Instead of bitching about the forseeable continual rise in gas prices, do what I did and buy some Exxon-Mobile stock (XOM). They continue their profits, and the stock rises during these times. Sell in a few months and you should be all set!
    • yoinkdigg, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1@mywhitenoise

      I wouldn't say "BEST" value. I'm looking at either a Prius or a VW Golf TDI. TDI is faster, gets 47-52 mpgs and I can get a 2005 one for 12-14k. I'm leaning more towards the Golf ;[
    • Al3x, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@DiggsOnlyNeoCon

      The aggregate demand for gas is not changing any, and one could argue the aggregate supply is not changing either.

      The only way I could see this working is if everybody did not buy gas for two-three days, the aggregate supply available of gasoline would go up, the prices would go down (slightly). This would be for a day, but because of "menu costs" or the time and cost it takes to change prices, people would buy up gasoline before the prices have time to change from the reduced supply....I think.
    • TheWorm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3No one really belives it will cripple a trillion dollar in one day. It's not about that. It's about protest. It was a good idea maybe the first time, but I realize that now it's getting old when every other day seems to be one of these days. It would be best if anyone who is able just switches to hybrid or biodiesel.
    • sumskater41, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I guess that would be possible, but it wouldn't be putting it off for a day or something, it would just be a mass boycotting of Exxon.
      But sending emails that say stop for a day are just rediculous, it'd be a lot more effective to send emails saying the effects of buying so much gas and encouraging people to bike more places.
    • rnknowles, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1The reason that this wont work is that 60% of the gas you buy ANYWHERE comes from ExxonMobil. No matter if it's from a Chevron station or Valero station or no name convenient store. Ya see, exxon is the largest gasoline producer, they don't provide gas for just their stations, in fact, no-one's gas is actually THEIR gas once it leaves the refinery because it is transported via pipeline. Once in the pipeline it is pumped to tank farms where All the gas is stored in huge tanks according to grade.87, 90,93 etc. Premium Valero gas is stored in the same tank as premium Shell gas, Phillips regular in the same tank as Exxon regular, and so on this is called blending and is unavoidable because it is simply not possible in today's market for each refiner to have their own interstate pipeline, storage facilities, metering and booster stations etc.
      Basically it goes like this...... Ya have a bunch of refineries pumping gas from their plants into their own pipeline which, because of cost of construction maintenance, taxes, fees, and capacity limitations, are not very long. Their pipelines "tie in" to larger pipelines at specific points then the larger pipeline carries the gas to a larger storage facility owned by a pipeline company where the gas is then pumped through a series of more pipelines to several, more numerous smaller storage facilities, where the gas is then loaded into trucks or rail cars, or other pipelines, ships, barges, etc. From the trucks it's delivered to company owned storage places where their additives and detergents are added to the gas....... I know this because I've been in the petro-chem transportation industry for a long time. Anyone else who's worked in a refinery, pipeline company, storage or shipping company will tell you the same. Ya can't boycott one without boycotting them all. Let's all just ride horses...ooops but then there's the methane issue!
    • neeyo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3No the core reason this idea is so stupid is because it's basically saying "nobody buy gas on Thursday............. but then everyone buy gas on Friday because, hey, you still need gas."

      So. *****. Retarded. Of course, like people have posted, if we're dumb enough as a nation to drive 50 miles to work in a car carrying nobody but our one person that gets 15 miles per gallon, we deserve what we get.
  • FishPoisonCon, on 10/12/2007, -3/+59doesn't this happen every summer? ...and isn't the response the same every single time?
    • op12, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17Not to mention the people reading this site aren't typically the ones to forward such a thing anyways. Tell your moms to stop forwarding those emails :)
    • NoahK, on 10/12/2007, -18/+3The last time a "mass boycott" of gas happened... the prices dropped 30 cents the next day.

      Last year at this time, the price for a barrel of crude oil was 72$.

      Currently, the price is hovering around 61.50$ per barrel.

      There are production costs (to make the crude gas usable by consumers), state and federal taxes, and the final 25% markup the retailers put on the product.

      To the guy below that says the 30 cent drop did not happen. It did. Were you alive back then? The very next day prices were down 30 cents to get rid of extra supply. But the day after that, the prices were right back up to normal.

      Today, if you wanted to buy a carrier of gasoline (100,000 barrels) for private use, you can get it for ~2.25$ / gallon as of last week. Which is just under a million dollars. So if you have the cash, you can save almost 75 cents from going to the pump.

      But you also need your own distribution system...
    • undershirt, on 10/12/2007, -7/+20noah, it's $72, not 72$
    • NoahK, on 10/12/2007, -18/+4That's just how I write my numbers, buddy. But thanks for taking the time to respond to the real issue at hand.
    • epicstruggle, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I wish people would realize that 2 relatively simple things could save us a lot of money.
      --Cut down on the types of fuel offered throughout the country. Last I heard there were over 20 different types of blends offered. Having more choices means more time for refineries to switch from making one blend to another.
      --Build more refineries. We haven't built a refinery in the last 3 decades. It's the refineries that are making a bundle of cash.
    • cookiebearo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3i have to go with undershirt on this one

      it's hard to take your maths seriously when you've invented your own unit system, buddy
    • undershirt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3noah, I didn't mean to ignore your issue. I just think this whole matter is trivial. Demand goes down, supply goes up, prices go down.
    • skyfire1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+172($1) for all the nerds here.
    • schroeder, on 10/12/2007, -2/+130+ billion dollars in profit means they are charging way more than they need to, period.
    • timothybryce, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1When you complain about the price of gas, you simply exhibit for all to see that your socioeconomic class and your level of economic literacy are both lacking.
    • mythandros, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@timothybrice

      I'd rather be lacking in socioeconomic class than be an elitist prick.
    • timothybryce, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Well *****, I sure wouldn't.
    • joelevi, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1On May 15th in 1642, in response to escalating prices of “Horse Oats,” an equestrian breeder named John Wilkins organized the first “oats-out” where horse owners didn’t buy oats for their horses for the day. Consequently the price of oats dropped more than 2 cents per feed-bag ($87 in today’s money).

      Read more at source: http://www.joelevi.com/blog/index.php/2007/05/15/dont-buy-oats-on-may-15th/
  • PhoenixAvatar2, on 10/12/2007, -2/+50I'm surprised that people are still dumb enough to try this.
    • Jaymoon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+103Exactly...

      Tuesday: "Well I'm going to stick it to the man and not buy ANY gas today!"

      Wednesday: "Fill 'er up please"
    • thatsmyaibo, on 10/12/2007, -11/+4"Exactly...

      Tuesday: "Well I'm going to stick it to the man and not buy ANY gas today!"

      Wednesday: "Fill 'er up please""

      I agree. But to boycott 1 company, the competition can lower prices. To avoid buying gas altogether is simply mental. The profit loss is given right back to them the next day.
    • Otto, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15Of course it won't work. Gasoline is a fungible commodity. Boycotts don't work on fungible commodities. You have to use the laws of supply and demand. Reduce demand and you will lower the price of the item. That's the only way to affect the price of a fungible commodity.
    • geoboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I like to compare this "boycott" of pumping gas to the tactic of a 4 year old child who isn't getting their way. Their tactic is to hold their breath for as long as they can in hopes of freaking out their parents. Smart parents know the child will most likely always give up, or in a rare and extreme case will simply lose consciousness and go back to breathing autonomously in their unconscious state. Anyway, with smart parents, the child will ALWAYS lose at this game.

      Oil Companies = smart parents
      People Boycotting Pumping Gas for One Day = stupid 4 year old children

      The children need to grow up and develop a new tactic.
  • coolcutter, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17You'd be surprised how much I hear this crap all the time. I'm a newspaper reporter, and everyone's always looking to me for reasons why they're (We're) paying so much.

    Sometimes you just have to realize when a company has you by the short hairs, acknowledge the fact, and move on.
    • Sparkster185, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Or you start riding your bike to work.
  • Bleachers7, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I saw one yesterday. The new boycott date is May 15 IIRC. The same email goes out every time the gas spikes with an updated date.
    • PhantomZmoove, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Yeah, its just each year the base point of the price is higher when it spikes.

  • mywhitenoise, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3people dont buy gas one day, everyone goes to buy gas the next day. Of course, I only buy gas about once a month with my Prius.
    This is a retarded protest, instead of not buying gas, don't drive at all!
    • scispaz, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Funny, I only buy gas once a month and my car old gets 20 miles a gallon. I just live less than 10 miles from work. I get a car that I like (I
    • scispaz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Also, I know that living close is not an option for a lot of people.

      But please Prius owners, think of the amount of smug pollution you are doing on digg. There are lots of equally good or better ways to save the environment than bragging about your new car.
  • rainergamer, on 10/12/2007, -6/+03 dollars here. I haven't even read a single thing about rising gas prices after the initial price-drop last summer. Just goes to show how gullible and absent-minded most of the public is.

    refer to Fahrenheit 9/11, as if there's anyone who hasn't seen it
  • zeekme, on 10/12/2007, -9/+2How about everybody boycotting one company, forcing them to drop their prices and creating some healthy competition!!
    • jmpeagle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1hahahahaha...I am just going to assume that was a joke because that would increase gas prices
  • scoffey, on 10/12/2007, -6/+0The strategy may be a little dubious, but the important thing is that people are willing - to some degree! - to try and reduce their gas consumption. At the very least the attention, negative or not, is spreading awareness. (tho I don't think anyone needs to be made aware of high gas prices...)
  • chazbone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10If I don't buy gas on Tuesday, and you don't buy gas on Tuesday, and all of our friends and their friends and their friends don't buy gas on Tuesday....They'll just buy gas on Wednesday...
  • Quellman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Think this blogger can do anything besides paraphrase snopes?
  • degreesofreedom, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1A CEO of an oil refinery once told me that the only result of consumer conservation is lower prices for industry, which purchases the fuel at then reduced prices. Maybe if an airline boycotted? A trucking company?

    Activities like this boycott are not to effect change in the oil companies so much as to effect change in the minds of many people participating. I'm game.
  • billybibbit, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15it drives me crazy when people think they could really make a difference, and are appalled to find out that you dont support the boycott
  • schwallman, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1i think the point is to not buy gas at all on that certain day. it only makes sense if you don't buy any gas. if you choose to buy gas and boycott one certain company your still buying gas. it actually could work but I guess the people that have money and can afford the high gas prices don't really give a *****. Me I cant afford the gas and would love to see the oil industry take a hit in the profits for a few days. even if its only for a day or two that gas gets cheaper, the oil company's still lost some money
  • ELCad, on 10/12/2007, -4/+23Why is it always some douche with a SUV that sends me that email?
  • jhnewt, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7My cousin just forwarded me a "don't buy gas" email yesterday, and I replied to him and gave a little rant about how stupid the idea was. It's cool to see this news story up on Digg today.
  • 1911wolf, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7"our email accounts have become cluttered with chain emails"

    Too bad for you, go cry elsewhere. I'm thankful I don't have morons for friends that send chain emails.
  • skinfrakki, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6The only way this would work is if people stayed home the whole Memorial Day weekend. If you don't use gas, you won't buy it the next day
  • gebx, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Oil companies will buy gas from each other if in short supply.
    Do you really think that Company "A" would have enough oil inventory to fill the needs of all U.S.?
    Of course not, they would need to purchase more oil... and look there's company "B" with a crap load of gas in it's refineries...

    People are so lazy, its sickening..
    How many of you drove to the local convenience store for milk or cigarettes even though it's only 10 minutes bike/walk away??
  • 666dorado, on 10/12/2007, -6/+0"The more likely scenario would be these companies would actually slightly RAISE prices in order to try and collect some of the money that they may have lost"

    which came first, the chicken or the egg? the thing is that they already DID raise the prices (arbitrarily), so boycotting gas for a day would be making up for their pre-emptive price hike.

    besides, 'shifting' demand has other consequences. just from cashflow standpoint, it could be highly inconvenient. if i worked at a gas station or oil company, i wouldn't want my paycheck 'shifted'.

    anyway, i don't buy that boycotting gas won't work. it's the same as curbing demand (driving less), just within the confines of a single day. high demand for gasoline is a luxury for most (look at all the SUV's with 1 person in them just going shopping), a necessity for some. just like alcohol. if i stop drinking for a day, i'm not going to drink double tomorrow to make up for it. it's very possible that you could 'shift' demand indefinitely.

    however, i agree about getting crappy junk emails. so let's just stick to that point, which is the real reason for the stupid article.
  • korbink, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4I think a better plan would be for people to always go to the lowest priced gas station in sight, even if the line is bigger or it's on the the less convenient side of the street. It kills me to see a gas station with 5 cents higher per gallon with three times as many people as the station across the street. If everybody always went to the lowest priced station, that would force the others to lower their prices.
    • philipdaly, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Korbink is right: Buying the lowest price gas is the ONLY way to force down prices. Consumers need to drive the price war by refusing to buy from the higher priced stations.

      We don't need boycotts - we need consumers to become smart & savvy.
  • Deranged, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The only way that the oil company could see a profit dent would be if no one bought gas for an entire week and most importantly everyone found alternate means of travel for that entire time, which isn't always an option for everyone.
    As mentioned before, if no one buys gas on tuesday, they will just buy it on monday or wednesday. So all the people that were due to fill up on wednesday would buy, then those who pushed their tanks a little farther would buy on wednesday, and spend more money that week on gas than they would have if they purchased gas the day before.

    The revenue graph, if performed as the emails say to, would be a relatively level line with an increase at both sides of a dip. The increase at either side of the dip should be equal if not more than the decrease of the dip. So, yeah, the oil company turns a lower profit for one day, but makes up for it in the [VERY SHORT] long run.
  • GoneSouth, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I'm still waiting for the chain e-mail encouraging people to trade in their Suburbans for Priuses (or bicycles).
    • AegisGFX, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4What business is it of your how people spend their money?

      If some guy has a million dollars and he wants to leave all his windows open all winter long and pay huge heating bill just for fun, what the hell business is that of yours? If he can afford a $2000/month heating bill and wants to pay it, good on him. Its none of your damn business how he spends his money. He earned it, he can spend it any way he likes.
    • Deranged, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@aegisgfx
      we're not talking about more efficient heating and air units here, we're talking about the world's supply of petroleum, and more specifically, the united states' high dependency on it.

      It's an economically sound decision to purchase vehicles with better gas mileage no matter how much money you can afford to spend on gas. It is still better for the economy.
    • InfiniteNothing, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0@aegisgfx
      So money absolves you of your social responsibility. Great.
  • esquire360, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2here is my digg from my blog entry i forward to people who just dont get it
    http://digg.com/tech_news/How_can_I_tell_someone_who_constantly_FW_forwards_me_emails_to_Stop
  • notman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5The local news here in Detroit decided to cover this email as if people were actually going to attempt it. Goes to show out out of touch the media is with what goes around on the internet.
  • harksaw, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5It's not price gouging, if such a thing even existed. It's supply and demand. Two billion Chinese and Indians are gradually trading in their bicycles for cars. Gas is going up and will likely do so for the rest of our lifetimes. We need to adapt, not whine in stupid emails. That means making a serious priority check regarding your Suburban.
    • notman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6The supply and demand theory in relation to gas prices is *****. When we reduce demand, they cut back production, thus offsetting the demand again and allowing prices to remain, or increase. We could cut back half of our usage and the oil production would be reduced by half.

      Not to mention the refineries that somehow always have 'accidents' that cause them to shut down, which results in higher prices. Funny, when the refinery becomes operational again, I don't see the prices go down.
  • txgentleman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Most people don't realize the way gasoline is distributed in this country. An Exxon/Mobil station doesn't get their gas only from Exxon/Mobil, there are times when they get gas from other companies. The distribution system is much more complicated than most people realize. In the end the gasoline is coming from the same place, the only difference is some of the additives that are added in before it is delivered to the gas stations.
  • derek20la, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I agree, I'm also tired of seeing all these bulletins saying "BOYCOTT GAS STATIONS ON MAY 15!".

    For some reason, most of them begin with saying that there was a sucessful boycott in in 1997 and that it made the price go down 30 cents in one day.

    A gas boycott in 1997? I don't know why they'd have one back then, because prices were on average about $1.25/gallon ( http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/mg_rr_usw.htm ).

    A general boycott of all gas stations for one day will not work anyway. Unless you used a bicycle or the bus, on May 16 you end up buying that gasoline you "boycotted" the day before.

    And a boycott day occurs yearly - Christmas Day. If you notice, on Christmas, streets and freeways are nearly empty, a gas boycott day by default. Does it affect prices? Not really.

    A boycott of a specific company, say Shell, wouldn't work either. If every one were to boycott Shell but continue to buy other brands, the extra demand on the others would push up the price of the other brands for as long as the boycott held.

    Probably the biggest reason prices have gone up so much recently is gasoline inventories have been low for the last few months. Refineries shut down or minimize production in early spring and late fall to make the switch to/from winter and summer gas blends. They also use this time to do scheduled maintenance. A lot of them were down longer than expected and demand started increasing earlier this year too. They haven't really had a chance to catch up yet.

    BTW, gasoline is still one of the cheapest liquids you can purchase in the US. If you tried buying a gallon of a Mocha Frappuccino at Starbucks, it would cost $30! (a grande size, 16 oz, is $3.75. theres 128 liquid ounces in a gallon. 128/16 is 8, times $3.75=$30)
    • harksaw, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4That's completely different. 89 octane doesn't let me act nearly as pretentious as a mocha frappuccino.
    • DivisibleByZero, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"A gas boycott in 1997? I don't know why they'd have one back then, because prices were on average about $1.25/gallon"

      Back then, people complained about $1.25 being too much. It's in our nature...
    • eleventybillion, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Can't remember the last time I stopped off to fill up on 15 gallons of Mocha frappa whatzit from Starblechs...

      We should definitely boycott Starbucks and hit those oil barrons where it hurts!! In the tip jar!!
  • monkeyrun, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Guys please don't buy diesel vehicles so I could have cheap diesel :)
    thanks.
  • BohicaTwentyTwo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16Ah slacktivism. Changing the world by not doing stuff. If only every problem could be solved by doing nothing.
  • harrier666, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Breaks my heart. I hear from my cousin for the first time in three years and it was the gas email. I don't have the heart to snopes her, though I usually snopes anyone I can, just because I never hear from her. How about a "hey, how ya doing. I'm gonna spend some gas to come visit you" email instead?... sigh. Maybe I'll reply with the "mormons own pepsi" urban myth. She's LDS and they HATE that.
    • chalkboy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5@harrier666 (#6580705)
      Mormons do own pepsi. :-)
  • edm1950, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0Demand your employer allow you to telecommute. Damn big oil, damn your employer for giving them leverage. Come and go as you feel like it, drive during off peak time to conserve gas. start cooking at home. walk instead of drive. stop buying so much chinese crap. shop the internet instead of the local mall or village center. Consume as little as possible oil prices will have little choice but to drop and your bank account will rise accordingly.
  • nicepants, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17If I owned a gas company, I would double the price of gas on the morning of May 16th, just so that these idiots would get what's coming to them.

    Geez...that's like saying "reduce our demand on the earth's oxygen...don't breathe for 30 seconds at noon"
  • insanebrain, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1Prices should be doubled. . maybe then America understands the 'global warming'-problem.
  • bitszor, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3I agree with everything the author of the article said, but why is everyone still fixated on how to bring the gas prices down? They aren't coming down. At least not to the $1/gallon we were used to paying 6 or 7 years ago.

    Here are some suggestions of things you could do instead of whine about gas prices:

    1. Go to your boss and ask for a raise. Surely if you made more money it would help pay for all that expensive gas.
    2. Sell your vehicle(s) that get less than 15MPG. You look retarded in that truck with the two foot lift and thirty inch wheels anyway (and we all know what you're compensating for).
    3. Carpool. What's carpooling you ask? Our state has a website for this genius carpooling thing -- http://www.sharetheride.com/ -- WHAT A CONCEPT!
    4. Support companies that are researching alternative fuels. They'll most likely figure out an efficient, cleaner way to power your car. If big oil companies were smart they'd be spending some of their trillion dollars in profit on this kind of thing, too.
    5. Commit suicide. We're overpopulated with whiners as it is. We need more people who are "go-getters."
    • hdtvdust, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Big Oil companies do spend tons of money on alternative fuels moron. In fact, people in that area get paid more htan others for most opil companies.

      Why? becuase if they can patent something, then they get 100% of he profits, rather than having to split it.
    • bitszor, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0Which oil company do you work for, moron? Even if one of the big oil companies DID find an alternative energy solution, I'm sure they'd sit on it so they could milk their oil profits a little longer. Should I have said something like support companies like Ovonics? See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovonics
    • notman, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11. Didn't get a raise this year due to budget restraints... don't see why crying about gas prices will change that.
      2. My car gets 30MPH... still costs me $40 per week with these latest price hikes and I only drive to work and school
      3. Happy for you. My state doesn't offer this, so thanks for assuming everyone else has this option.
      4. Got a list?
      5. You first
    • scispaz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13b Move closer to work so you at least drive less.
    • notman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13 continued.... house came before job and there wasn't much choice in job. Houses aren't selling right now, so I can't move. Besides, I work near Detroit Michigan, which means to be close to work, I'd have to live in Detroit (no thanks).
  • ISurfTooMuch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. So what if people don't buy gas on a particular day? They simply shifted their purchase to another day, and the oil companies know it.

    Boycotting one company would only work up to a point. First, you're assuming that everyone can agree on a company to boycott. What if ExxonMobil is the cheapest in one area, but Chevron is the cheapest in another, and BP is the cheapest in another? Will everyone get on board and boycott one company, even if their gas is cheaper in their area? Even if they do, you might see a small price drop at the boycotted stations, but the price will rise again as soon as people end their boycott.

    This is just a feel-good exercise that will accomplish absolutely nothing. So why would people want to do it? Because they don't have to really change their behavior. They just postpone filling up by one day, which won't accomplish a thing. They don't want to do the work that they know they really have to do, like trading in the SUV for a hybrid, taking public transportation, carpooling, and biking or walking on short trips.
  • jnrosemas, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2You can't start a price war between gas stations and the most obvious reason is this: Gas stations only make around 10cents per gallon anyway. And, although this may seem counter-intuitive, their margins are decreasing the higher gas prices go.
    • GoIrish, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1@jnrosemas
      "Gas stations only make around 10cents per gallon anyway."

      If you're an independent dealer, markup is only about one to two cents per gallon -- not nearly enough to cover salaries and overhead. They make most of their money from selling convenience store items like coffee and snacks (much like the movie theatre business). They've already paid the distributors for the gas, so not stopping by the gas station for a day really just screws over the little guy.
  • shableep, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1the only way to boycott oil companies is to drive your car LESS or use alternative energies. now, imagine an e-mail that says "don't drive on may 15th". now we're gettin somewhere.
    • fotbr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Yeah, you're getting more email spam.


      Thanks, I'll pass, and just keep enjoying 70+ mpg on the motorcycle.
  • atarix64, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3Actually it does work. I remember when these letters first started appearing about one to two years ago. A few weeks after the first appearance of the emails the BUSH ADMINISTRATION was on tv explaining that people need to keep buying gas etc, why? Because they had noticed a slip in their sales.

    The real way to impact the fuel market it to not buy exon / mobil which is affiliated with the whiteouse and buy from smaller or non affiliate companies. For instance I buy from Irving which is owned by Canadian interests, you should do your own reserach though and be aware of where your dollars go for any purchase your make because it is very important.

    In fact you should make sure as much of your money as possible stays within your state / local community.
  • fotbr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I like the environment enough that I'd rather live 5 miles out in the country and commute responsibly into a small town rather than live in a city and have to drive 30+ miles to hunt or fish or hike or any of the thousands of other ways you can enjoy nature.

    22 mpg city / 28 highway in the compact truck when its too wet or dangerous to ride. 70+ mpg on the motorcycle.

    Summer, its nicer out, people travel more, gas goes up, and I still end up saving money. The last two years the truck sat from May through September only being driven enough to prevent issues from it sitting still. Spring and fall its a mix, but between the two vehicles I still average better than 50 mpg. Winter, well, if the roads are clear and its not snowing, I still ride, but my average mpg drops somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 mpg since I do end up using the truck more often, but only for a couple months.

    Screw the Priuses, more people should ride motorcycles and scooters and use the car/truck/suv/whatever-else only when necessary.

    Suck it BP/Shell/Conoco/Phillips/Mobil/Exxon.
  • EvoEntropy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0ill just fill up all my gas cans with premium on monday, and pour them in the car on tuesday
    then just go about nromally on wednesday

    this will NOT work


    how about this
    dont buy that starbucks or that bottled water or an energy drink
    use that money to buy gas
    gas per gallon is alot cheaper than all of those
  • bcchiang, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2hilarious cuz i got 2 of these email forwards this morning
  • mikeadesign, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3One of the nice qualities about riding a bike or bus everywhere is that you don't have to stress out about gas prices. I'm lucky enough to live in a city where I don't necessarily need a car to get around.

    A note to Prius owners: not everyone has a bunch of money to blow on a feeling of moral superiority, maybe you should give people who drive other cars a break.
    • fotbr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Not everyone wants to live or work in a city, or the suburbs, either.

      But yeah, Prius owners tend to suck donkey balls with their holier-than-thou attitude. Of course, I get almost double their mileage on the motorcycle, but it doesn't have the "I'm saving the earth" halo that apparently is included with the purchase of a Prius
  • cjalvarez, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Stop posting those cry-baby complaints about people sending "don't buy gas" emails.
    • brianary, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Stop replying to stop posting those stop emailing the stop buying gas etc.
    • cjalvarez, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@brianary

      Stop replying with run on sentences. Feel free to try again when you can post a sentence that a grade school kid taking a writing class wouldn't make fun of.
  • aggrogeek, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0I am sick of these finding their way into my inbox and in posts on social networking sites. I wish that people would do a little more investigation before they side with an argument that appeases them.
  • mt066, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1It would be so funny if people actually did do this en masse. Then Exxon would be like "Aah! WTF, you idiots? You just totally screwed with our production and now we have to raise prices slightly to cover what you did to our supply line. You guys are such dicks to us."
  • GLSmyth, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Big oil makes big money because of big consumption. Not much evil about that.
  • nubnub, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2no, everybody will fill up the day before.
    • ISurfTooMuch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Or the day after. And the oil companies, knowing this, will raise prices and make even more money.

      Gas is a drug, and this nation is addicted to it. And, last time I checked, it's impossible for an addict to successfully bargain with a drug dealer. The dealer knows the addict will eventually have to have their fix, so, even if they don't buy today, they'll be back tomorrow.
  • j0hnc, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Six years ago when the oil industry took over the government, I:
    - bought a more fuel-efficient vehicle (18mpg -> 25mpg)
    - started working from home every day
    - moved closer to the places I drive to
    I used to burn a few gallons a day. Now I burn that much in a month. It's not a boycott, it's real change. Don't whine about how you can't make a difference because it would be too inconvenient. It's not that hard, it just takes a few smart choices.
  • lostinnowhere, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3What people have to realize is that the current prices reflect the devaluation of the US Dollar. Look at the price of a liter of gas in Italy - In april it averaged Euro 1.27, and two years ago the price averaged Euro 1.23. Whereas, here in the USA the price skyrocketed.

    The US Dollar is weak, very weak. The problem is all the crap that we are buying from China - Crap that has no long term value - Shoes, clothing, furniture (which is crap these days), and all the other garbage.

    We're in debt up to our eye-balls because we do not produce anything here, nor do people buy the higher quality items that are produced here.

    You think that your stocks and bonds, your pensions and even your homes increased in value over the past few years?..I don't think so.

    The US $ devalued by about 38% over the past 5 years or so...And, it will come back to hit us...
    • TheShadowKnows, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Oil is traded in dollars by market requirement. That's what allows the US to keep kiting trillion-dollar checks - everyone needs dollars to buy oil.

      Iraq decided to try selling oil for euros...ooops.

      At this point what we have is a world currency backed not by gold, but by oil. But that works only as long as the US controls the oil. When the US loses control, or the oil runs out...bye bye American Empire.

      Prices here are primarily determined not by the falling dollar but by market manipulation.
    • TheShadowKnows, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1You can read more here: http://www.energybulletin.net/12125.html
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