Please read! Possible solution to raising gas prices

[jjw]

I hear we are going to hit close to $3.00 a gallon by the summer. Want

gasoline prices to come 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 it and join with us!

By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $1.50 is super

cheap. Me too! It is currently $1.97 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 $1.50-$1.75, 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, we 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 companies (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 whimp out on me at this point...keep

reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!! I am

sending this note to about thirty people. If each of you send 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 generation 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

youdon'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 email 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 I 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. PLEASE HOLD OUT

UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $1.30 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN. THIS

CAN REALLY WORK.

(Author Unknown)

[TheGeak]

ha!

[rickm]

Oh boy, not again.

[AA540]

In some areas the price is going up due to other reasons, it is called taxes and poor govt spending. In Virginia to make up for loss of Federal money the state is raising taxes. Here is a brief sample, cig tax 2.5 cents to 25c per pack, sales tax 4.5% to 5.5%, gas tax up 3c at the pump and 6% at the wholesale level. That means an extra 12-15cents at the pump. I just got my property tax assestment for my little 3bed 2bath shack, up 20% or about $500 a year, assesments go up about 15-20% a year. Does the govt adjust the tax rate, NO, they just spend more.

Try as you may you are not going to beat the gas price system, however, you can do things like. Plan your trips together, avoid rush hour traffic, keep your car maintained, etc.

End rant.

[TheGeak]

or buy one of those electric cars. Just wait till "greener" powered cars come out and catch on ...we'll watch OPEC and the majority of the middle eastern countries lose a lot of profitability and prominance. Hydrogen, Electric, Solar, anything but gasoline really will be the downfall of OPEC. Sure there will still be a large number old older vehicles still producing a NEED for gasoline, but i sure don't think that it will be enough to sustain an entire country let alone section of the world.

[rickm]

AA, Virginia had some of the lowest cig taxes, it's about time they raised them. Our property tax went up here in my part of NC, I used to pay 700, now it's well above 2k. I wish I saw what they were spending it on. :P

I'm with Geak on those electric cars. If I could get by with one now I'd consider one. I saw a few of them in AZ, I thought they were pretty cool. For the future I'm considering one of the imported models that gets 50mpg plus for an around the town vehicle, though when I move next I want to be close to town so I can ride my bike/take a bus to work.

$3.00/gallon gas would put the fear of God in a lot of people.

Now to get the state to use efficient vehicles. We had a suburban here, it's the primary vehicle for the person who drives about 700miles a week - solo. That 44 gallon tank gets pricey to fill. I guess when it's not your money you don't care.

[winfred]

or i could just drive mom's old turbo diesel volvo, 40+ mpg on the interstate 30+ in town and it aint slow, diesel $1.52, hmmmmm up the boost, add a intercooler and inject lp gas bwahahhahha

[TheGeak]

i can't say i'd blame them for bumping up gas prices once an alternative that was worked just as well was developed. For my next car i'm seriously considering getting a toyota Prius as my daily driver. 60mpg highway 75-80mpg city. can't beat that right now.

I think people are holding back from switching because of the lack of convience and lack of 'understanding' (not to mention how underpowered they can be) While i'd sure hate to have to shell out $3.00/gal to drive the M5 around, i'd do it, just more sparingly. How do you think they feel in Europe, they already pay about $4/gallon. (at least when i was in germany over new years that was average price)


*gets off his soapbox and returns to a normal life*

[Robert K]

If everyone were to boycott a couple of companies, but still buy the same amount of gas, the companies we were buying from would eventually run out. I don't really think every company has an infinite supply. It's got to go through a refinery, and there's only so many of them around. So eventually, the companies we didn't buy from would be the only ones who had gas. And you'd end up having to buy from them to let the other guys catch back up with supply.

A better idea might be to plan trips better and quit driving so much. I believe we Americans consume over half of the world's energy. Know why? Personal freedom! We drive what we want, when we want and as much as we want. Take a look on the road today at all the 15 mpg 2-3 ton, unnecessary sport utilities and pickups that are selling like hotcakes. If I were the oil companies, I'd be raising prices too. That's known as good business.

If you want to put them in their place, plan your trips better. Drive less. Carpool to work. Buy smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles. Personally, I don't think anyone will ever get enough Americans together to teach any big company a lesson, especially if it means driving less, which is probably the freedom we value most. It's a noble idea, but one that's a bit too hard to execute.

Grace and peace,

R Kieffer
1991 535i (sucking gas at a rate of 23 mpg on the hwy...ugh!!!)

[JohnC]

my girlfriend has a geo or suffer with my moms mercedes but those things dont use up that much gas, maybe because i havent broekn it yet.