NO GAS...On May 15th 2007 - Page 2

Scottwax · 05-01-07, 10:48

I can't believe anyone would think this would work in the first place.

If you want to be mad at excessive profits, be pi$$ed at the banking and credit card industry, their profit margins are nearly double what oils companies pull in.

ajbarnes · 05-01-07, 12:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scottwax

If you want to be mad at excessive profits, be pi$$ed at the banking and credit card industry, their profit margins are nearly double what oils companies pull in.

So true!

blkZ28Conv · 05-01-07, 04:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scottwax

I can't believe anyone would think this would work in the first place.

If you want to be mad at excessive profits, be pi$$ed at the banking and credit card industry, their profit margins are nearly double what oils companies pull in.

It would not work but it might call attention to the fact that people can have an impact on their profit margins. Unfortunately, as stated earlier the local retailer will feel the $$ impact.

CC's, Banks and taxes.

paul34 · 05-01-07, 04:58

If EV's were produced on a bigger scale, battery technology improved, and those ridiculous NIMBY's shown to be completely ridiculous, we could reduce our dependence on oil by making lots of cheap EVs for people who commute relatively short distances (which would probably be a LOT of people in this country), while having plenty of energy (and not just at night, either) with our great modern power source, nuclear energy!

Until someone figures out effective cold fusion, all we've got is nuclear energy. Let's not let ignorant people keep us from using it - statistically, there are fewer deaths with nuclear energy then there are with coal-fire power plants. Of course, we could keep saying statistic forever, or we could start building nuclear power plants and at least reduce our dependence on oil for power plant burning (which is a signifcant amount in and of itself).

BMW335i · 05-01-07, 07:04

There was an electric vehicle produced in the 90's as a concept by GM and was called the "EV1"...project was shut down and cars were destroyed after GM realized there was no demand and no profits..

truzoom · 05-01-07, 08:21

I've always figured the oil companies had some monetary influence when it comes to whether electrical/solar vehicles would be mass produced for consumers...

But that's another story...

paul34 · 05-01-07, 09:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by BMW335i

There was an electric vehicle produced in the 90's as a concept by GM and was called the "EV1"...project was shut down and cars were destroyed after GM realized there was no demand and no profits..

Yup, because big oil will never go down that easily.

If we ever developed a viable alternative to gasoline that could be mass-produced cheaply (like if we got the mass-production part of making butanol down, which can be directly substituted for gasoline, doesn't require new infrastructure (expensive) etc like the JOKE ethanol is), Big Oil would fight it tooth and nail

Actually, they wouldn't have to fight it... just a few "campaign contributions" by their "lobbyists" in Washington and BINGO! No more hope of cheap oil for you, Americans!

And you can bet the huge media conglomerates (who are controlled by businessmen who just incidentally have very close ties to Washington politicians are or are the politicians themselves) would just "spin" the story so that it would have seemed "impossible" to do it anyway, thus appeasing the Sheep of this country for another few years. It always works.

Scottwax · 05-01-07, 10:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by blkZ28Conv

It would not work but it might call attention to the fact that people can have an impact on their profit margins.

No, it won't. Not buying gas for one day won't get their attention or affect their bottom line.

SpoiledMan · 05-01-07, 10:14

Have to reduce what you use overall to make a difference. I fill my beater up 1-2 times per month. I fill my Teg up maybe 2-3 times per year.

blkZ28Conv · 05-02-07, 05:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scottwax

No, it won't. Not buying gas for one day won't get their attention or affect their bottom line.

A business truism. "A dollar lost today can never be made up."

rjstaaf · 05-02-07, 06:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by blkZ28Conv

A business truism. "A dollar lost today can never be made up."

The problem is the big oil companies will not be losing that dollar. It will be the small oil companies who buy the gasoline and distribute it locally that would suffer from something like that. The large oil companies work together buying and selling from each other to meet regional demand. In regions where demand is high they might have to buy from other companies to meet that demand while in regions where demand might be down they will sell their surplus to regions where demand is higher. Unless you can have a sustained affect on overall consumption as has already been said one day will have absolutely no affect as the next day there will be a surge to make up for the one slow day, in effect that lost dollar is not really lost but just postponed a day...

Danase · 05-04-07, 08:18

Internet fueling 'gas out' protest against rising prices
May 4, 2007

BY ALEJANDRO BODIPO-MEMBA

FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

The nation’s drivers are trying to fight back against fast rising gasoline prices by staging an Internet-driven “gas out” on May 15.

The $3.10 price tag is the highest level for Michigan drivers since they hit $3.12 on Aug. 7 of last year. In addition, today's price is only a dime off the all-time record set on Sept. 3, 2005, following Hurricane Katrina.

Advertisement

Michigan currently has the ninth-highest prices in America, behind states like California, Hawaii, New York and Illinois.

Last year at this time prices were averaging $2.85 a gallon in Michigan.

Meanwhile, motorists in Michigan are paying an average of around $3.10 a gallon, which is just 10 cents off the all-time record set on Sept. 3, 2005, shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.

An Internet chain-letter dated April 30 has been circulating around email systems across the country in recent days urging drivers to avoid pumping gas into their vehicles on May 15. The unsigned letter suggests that a one-day “gas out” could result in the siphoning off of nearly $3 billion from the coffers of oil company profits.

"Some people think $4 a gallon on the horizon," said Jim Rink, a spokesman for AAA Michigan. "If consumers balk at the rise they will curb their consumption and prices will come down."

Industry observers, who say these kinds of chain-letters tend to get passed around as prices rise, generally don’t make have much of an impact on the bottom line of major oil companies.

“This stuff does not work,” said Mark Routt, a senior petroleum analyst with Energy Security Analysis Inc. in Wakefield, Ma., who received a copy of the letter earlier this week. “The only thing that does work, in terms of lower prices, is a change of lifestyle and habit.”

The United States is the world leader in consumption of crude oil – the feedstock for gasoline – at 20.8 million barrels a day. That compares to about 19.7 million barrels a day in 2000.

But a growing number of consumers are convinced that something sinister is afoot with large oil companies.

“I’m going to participate in the gas out because I feel you’ve got to get a message to (the oil companies),” said Myron Goff, a retiree in Livonia, who saw the letter about a week ago. “If people stop buying on one day something has got to happen. It’s going to take profits away from them and that’s all they are worried about; profits.”