Gas Boycott

This is straight off the facebook group. Basically it says if we boycott the two biggest oil companies, Exxon and Mobil, the price of gas will go down. Exxon and Mobil will be forced to lower their prices so that people will contiue buying their gas, and then the other companies will follow suite.

i got this email from my aunt and i figured it was pretty realistic! since i drive a SUV and i pay sixty bucks to fill it im willing not to buy exxon gas! i hope you are too!

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 this summer and it might go higher!! Want gasoline prices to com e 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 $2.00 is super cheap. Me too! It is currently $3.09 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 $2.25 - 2.50, 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, w e 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 co mpanies (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 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 sends 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 th at we not buy from EXXON/MOBIL UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $2.00 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN.

THIS CAN REALLY WORK.

Won’t work. All this does is transfer demand to other gas stations which will drive their prices up. The only way to impact gas prices is to buy less of it long term.

You’re probably right. Might scare em a little tho.

Well great. You can delete this thread now, admins!

Yep, this is bogus. Only hurts the individual station owner which already has thin margins. Oil companies could care less.

Exxon & Mobil aren’t two companies anyway.
There one company, Exxon-Mobil.

Exxon & Mobil aren't two companies anyway. There one company, Exxon-Mobil.
That's what I was thinking. These crazy people...

Maybe I was just had in the greatest chain letter scam in history. ‘If you do not send this to 30 people you know, your gas prices will continue to go up…’

Oh and Ken, it’s “they’re.” Not “there.”

That's what I was thinking. These crazy people...

Maybe I was just had in the greatest chain letter scam in history. ‘If you do not send this to 30 people you know, your gas prices will continue to go up…’

Oh and Ken, it’s “they’re.” Not “there.”

That is correct. The margins are pretty small for the individual stations.Transferring demand does not affect overall price, only the areas of price discrimination. The only way to lower your own cost is sadly to lower your own demand.

If you want to botcott an oil company try Citgo, Hugo Chavez is a Communist anti-American bastard and I see no reason too make any dictator wealthier!

[QUOTE=49RFootballNow;240748]If you want to botcott an oil company try Citgo, Hugo Chaviz is a Communist anti-American bastard and I see no reason too make any dictator wealthier![/QUOTE]

Avoiding Citgo isn’t going to hurt Chavez but I do it anyway because I hate the bastard.

[QUOTE=VA49er;240750]Avoiding Citgo isn’t going to hurt Chavez but I do it anyway because I hate the bastard.[/QUOTE]

Not personnally, but it might hurt the Venezuelan economy which might encourage his military to toss him out on his ass!

The other email scam concerning gasoline boycott is the one-day boycott. The email basically urges everyone not to buy gas on a particular day. Guess what? You’ll still have to buy it the following day or the day after that. The gas companies are not lowering their prices until we have something else to run our vehicles. The scary thing is that the gas companies seem to be the main ones that are developing our “alternative” fuel. This only means that they will have control of that fuel in the future also. Not good for consumers.

The only way to take care of this problem is to become less automobile dependant. If that means walking more, biking more, living closer to where you work, using public transit, etc., do it, if you really have a problem with the gas companies and their prices.

If you insist on having the perceived luxuries of suburban living with the big home, personal automobile, etc., you shouldn’t complain about the gas situation. It is after all your choice.

[QUOTE=Charlotte2002;240793]The only way to take care of this problem is to become less automobile dependant. If that means walking more, biking more, living closer to where you work, using public transit, etc., do it, if you really have a problem with the gas companies and their prices.

If you insist on having the perceived luxuries of suburban living with the big home, personal automobile, etc., you shouldn’t complain about the gas situation. It is after all your choice.[/QUOTE]

Or you can just ride a motorcycle! My monthly commute comes to 800 miles from Belmont to Harris Blvd. I would love to live closer to work, but the increase house prices and taxes would more than offset any savings I see with gas. So I will just keep riding my motorcycle and living in my small town. For the record I would love to ride public transit, if something went to Harris Blvd from Belmont. As it stands I would have to ride into Charlotte and then back out to the university.

Or you can just ride a motorcycle! My monthly commute comes to 800 miles from Belmont to Harris Blvd. I would love to live closer to work, but the increase house prices and taxes would more than offset any savings I see with gas. So I will just keep riding my motorcycle and living in my small town. For the record I would love to ride public transit, if something went to Harris Blvd from Belmont. As it stands I would have to ride into Charlotte and then back out to the university.

yet another reason to vote not to get rid of the transit tax. if the tax is eliminated, all hope of having a useful mass transit system in this city will be lost. Less buses, no express routes, no trains, no anything else.

Then see what happens to gas prices as demand rises even higher.

[QUOTE=Noreaster;240797]yet another reason to vote not to get rid of the transit tax. if the tax is eliminated, all hope of having a useful mass transit system in this city will be lost. Less buses, no express routes, no trains, no anything else.

Then see what happens to gas prices as demand rises even higher.[/QUOTE]

Yeah as conservative as I am and as much as I hate most government projects I am all for the mass transit. I am sure it is being mismanaged, but all government programs are so you just have to live with some of them. At some point we won’t be able to build any more roads. The mass transit is a good idea, just 10 years too late. My main problem with it is that it seems hodge-podge… trains here… buses here. They just need to lay out trains each direction.

Yeah as conservative as I am and as much as I hate most government projects I am all for the mass transit. I am sure it is being mismanaged, but all government programs are so you just have to live with some of them. At some point we won't be able to build any more roads. The mass transit is a good idea, just 10 years too late. My main problem with it is that it seems hodge-podge... trains here.. buses here. They just need to lay out trains each direction.

The biggest issue with trains everywhere is right of way acquisition. The Monroe Road line, for example, would require tens of millions of dollars worth of ROW. instead, they will use BRT, which uses a dedicated lane in the roadway, on that extension. It’s all about meeting the required economic models set forth by the FTA. If your line doesn’t meet their model, you don’t get the money from the federal government, plain and simple.

[QUOTE=Noreaster;240818]The biggest issue with trains everywhere is right of way acquisition. The Monroe Road line, for example, would require tens of millions of dollars worth of ROW. instead, they will use BRT, which uses a dedicated lane in the roadway, on that extension. It’s all about meeting the required economic models set forth by the FTA. If your line doesn’t meet their model, you don’t get the money from the federal government, plain and simple.[/QUOTE]

Yeah I understand that and they have to hit certain ridership numbers. It just seems that this contributes to the cost. For instance the line west down 74 towards Gaston County (site of the next growth boom) and the airport right now can probably be had for an affordable price, relative to the south blvd and harris blvd lines. The fact that the area is less populated and and congested would make construction of the line cheaper and quicker, however because it is less populated and congested they won’t meet certain ridership requirements. So that means buses until the population base is there and then it will be converted to train when the ROW sky rockets and building it will cost way more. I understand the reason they have the guidelines, but in this case in contributes to problem. Again I rest my case that the government screws up just about everything.

[QUOTE=WBNiner;240822]Yeah I understand that and they have to hit certain ridership numbers. It just seems that this contributes to the cost. For instance the line west down 74 towards Gaston County (site of the next growth boom) and the airport right now can probably be had for an affordable price, relative to the south blvd and harris blvd lines. The fact that the area is less populated and and congested would make construction of the line cheaper and quicker, however because it is less populated and congested they won’t meet certain ridership requirements. So that means buses until the population base is there and then it will be converted to train when the ROW sky rockets and building it will cost way more. I understand the reason they have the guidelines, but in this case in contributes to problem. Again I rest my case that the government screws up just about everything.[/QUOTE]

Very true. There is an example of this in New Jersey. The RiverLine did not receive any federal funding because it was determined that the ridership wouldn’t meet the threshold and so wouldn’t reduce emissions enough etc. (Line goes along the Delaware River from Trenton to Camden and links to the SEPTA I think). The state went ahead and built the line anyway without federal funding and what do you know, the line has seen an unbelievable amount of success.

The problem with the ridership number projections is that requires an area to already be substantially developed, and if that is the case it is doubtful the area is developed in a transit friendly way. One of the most important aspects of planning is planning for years and years into the future; these federal requirements don’t allow for that, which kind of defeats the purpose.

A good way to spur development in an area is to add or increase public transportation. Access is so important. Charlotte would probably have used foresight to try to redevelop the western transit lines, but would have been limited by the fed requirements.

[QUOTE=WBNiner;240796]Or you can just ride a motorcycle! My monthly commute comes to 800 miles from Belmont to Harris Blvd. I would love to live closer to work, but the increase house prices and taxes would more than offset any savings I see with gas. So I will just keep riding my motorcycle and living in my small town. For the record I would love to ride public transit, if something went to Harris Blvd from Belmont. As it stands I would have to ride into Charlotte and then back out to the university.[/QUOTE]That’s the problem with the wheel and spoke system. Most routes in Charlotte go downtown before you can transfer to another route and that just adds far too much time to the commute. Charlotte is starting to get the idea though and are creating other transit centers (there is one at Eastland Mall, Beatties Ford Rd., and Southpark). Many more are needed to create an effective system so that people don’t have to go downtown to transfer to back track towards their initial destination.