The figures are in, and by all accounts the May 15, 2007 gas boycott fizzled. Service station operators across the U.S. reported normal or near-normal sales despite the wide circulation of an email calling for drivers to avoid the pumps in a one-day "gas out" protesting high fuel prices.
The point here is not to say I told you so (though I did); the point is that it's time for all those folks who so zealously forwarded the anonymous, error-laden message to sit up and take notice of one simple fact: passing around Internet chain letters is no way to organize an effective consumer boycott.
They don't call it "armchair activism" for nothing.
Gas Boycott News Coverage:
• Gas Boycott Doesn't Keep Up With Demand - The Courier (Waterloo, Iowa)
• Gas Boycott Ineffective Locally - Register-Mail (Galesburg, Illinois)
• Gas Boycott Doesn't Make Dent Nationally, Locally - The Evening Sun (New York)
• Pump Pressure - The Flint Journal (Michigan)
• Pumps Still Pumping on Day of Boycott - KMEG-TV News (Sioux City, Iowa)
• Gas Boycott Failed to Gain Local Momentum - South Bend Tribune (Indiana)
• Many Don't Boycott Gas - The Coloradoan (Ft. Collins, Colorado)
• Gas Station Boycott Draws Little Interest - KVOA-TV News (Tucson, Arizona)
• Emails Urging Boycott Have Little Effect - Charlotte Sun-Herald (North Carolina)
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1 day boycott will not work we need to organize a boycott against 1 company and not buy any until price goes down lets start with exxon lets see what happens it cant hurt we have tried the one day over and over and nothing lets try and organize something like this
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Ron, honey, that run-on sentence gave me a headache. Ever heard of a “comma” or “period,” child?
So the 15th boycott didnt work! If everone is serious about a boycott. Then it must be repeted for 2 days this time. That is if people want to send a message. J.S.F.
The reason it didn’t work is, rational people understand that there is no gouging so no, the boycott didn’t work and never will.
Good point, Chuck, and RIGHT ON.
Cut consumption and the price will drop.
Walk. With 60% of the people in this country being overweight, this is a great fitness opportunity!
A gas boycott means “no driving” for a day, or more. Reducing consumption overall is the key. The sellers are laughing at the “boycott” because it isn’t. The year plus bus boycott for arresting Rosa Parks was a real boycott.
Maybe when gas hits $4 a gallon and stays there….
let us drill! let us increase production!( the boats are sitting there waiting to off load. another, maybe 2 refineries would sure help). energy companies know that alternative fuel sorces are inevitable, give them the money to do the research. any new taxes are just handed down to us anyways. you really think these guys are going to take a pay cut? you want a pay cut? i own some energy stocks and you want to hit my pocket? EPA? didn’t they MANDATE,,,MTBE,? hasn’t this mandate contaminated aquifers across the nation?
let us drill! let us increase production!( the boats are sitting there waiting to off load. another, maybe 2 refineries would sure help). energy companies know that alternative fuel sorces are inevitable, give them the money to do the research. any new taxes are just handed down to us anyways. you really think these guys are going to take a pay cut? you want a pay cut? i own some energy stocks and you want to hit my pocket? EPA? didn’t they MANDATE,,,MTBE,? hasn’t this mandate contaminated aquifers across the nation?
The best way to boycott gas stations is to stop going to them altogether. The easiest way to do that is to buy an ALL electric car – like the Myers Motors NmG – “No More Gas”. Dump the PUMP!
Why dump incentives on the very people and oil companies who have resisted and thwarted a shift to alternative fuels? A reasonable ‘boycott’ would be to demand incentives for the consumers instead of what we have now, which is higher priced items across the board for anything organic or hybrid.
The best way to boycott gas stations – is to not go to them at all. The easiest way to do that is to buy an ALL electric car – like the Myers Motors NmG “No more Gas”. Dump the Pump! There are all kinds of small companies making ALL electric vehicles – look for them! Some are a bit pricey – like the Tesla – but there are ones available for under $30,000. Don’t believe the major automobile manufacturers when they say they won’t work. They do work!
I think that we should do just the opposite and top off every day. Soon the gas stations tanks would be full and not able to take as many deliveries to fill them up and the refineries storage tanks would soon fill up as well as the stock tanks of raw crude oil. They would not need as many tankers coming over with the crude oil so the supply would be up and the demand would be low dropping the price for a barrel of oil. Maybe it will work??? Maybe not???
Talk about boycotts is just that: Talk. If we’re serious about the cost of gasoline and its impact on our budgets then we need to buy more fuel efficient vehicles. Preferrably hybrids.
I bought a hybrid and a fill up is 1/3rd of what my Explorer would have cost.
BUT WE AT LEAST ARE TRYING TO FIGHT BACK. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? SINCE YOU ARE ALL WISE AND KNOWING, WHY DON’T YOU ORGANIZE A SUCCESSFUL PROTEST? DON’T THE OUTRAGEOUS GAS PRICES UPSET YOU? ESPECIALLY IN LIGHT OF THE HUGE PROFITS THE OIL BARONS HAVE MADE OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS!
It was reported on the news this morning (WINS, 1010AM, http://www.1010wins.com) that at least one oil company is experiencing profits of $30 per barrel. If per-barrel prices are in the $60-70 range, that means there’s plenty of room for prices to come down. But the oilman in the White House won’t do a thing about that, since he’s not up for re-election…
OH ya Brian, BLAME BUSH>> when will you silly people take personal responsibility for your OWN actions, instead of waiting for the Government to TAKE CARE OF YOU? Take care of YOURSELF. you bitch and moan about fuel, DO Something tangable. instead of crying that its the BUsh whitehouse, WHAT GOOD WILL that really do?
MY house is Totally SOLAR, my water is pumped by a windmill, my trucks are DIESEL, my cars are old, 30mpg plus. a Prius is in the works. Do SOMETHING…
just dont complain.
Dirtdoc
This time I even heard ‘the boycott’ solemnly announced on a major newsradio station! I laughed that even THEY fell for it! So i look forward to hearing it on network tv news next year…
in 2000 (or might have been 2001), the haulage industry in the UK – thats truck drivers to the rest of you – launched a series of blockades of oil terminals over here in the UK over a period of a couple of weeks only fuel truck delivering to emergency services were allowed to leave. Its result? nothing – except bare food shelves and those of us out trying to earn a living gor screwed a bunch of uneducated neanderthals.The price of fuel is stil up we pay nearly £1 per litre now -most of that is tax – so will the US readers stop complaining. Having said that oil will not lat forever so serious discusion is needed on alternative fuel sources. Yes I know I’m British but I am NOT going to say sign Kyoto – it won’t make any difference
TRY TO JUST BUY GAS AT A SMALLER CHAINS. STAY AWAY FROM EXXON AND SUNOCO!
STOP LINING BUSH AND CHENNEY’S POCKETS. IMPEACH!
Hey I can understand where everyone is comming from.This literally sucks..And the oil companys are still making huge profits.I say get out your bikes, start riding to work.Hey leave a bit early and its good for us as well. Hey Im a 47 yr old female and have not riden a bike in like 30 yrs,but Im going to do my part. Vickey fr Detroit
A one day boycott will not make a difference. I think the best way to hurt the oil companies is to not use our cars for at least one day per week. Even if it means taking turns to car pool. A one day boycott, in my opinion does nothing. I’d fill up the day before or the day after, accomplishing nothing. We need to use less. How about starting that? Spread the word. Everyone pick one day that you always use your car and find an alternate means of transportation, OR…stay home and play on your computer, like I just did
.
Even if we NEVER purchase fuel from Exxon or Sunoco, you are still purchasing their products when you buy fuel from ‘ABC’ filling stations as they purchase from whichever major refiner has the lowest price at the time they make their purchase. Get used to it. We are stuck with high fuel prices until we find alternate fuels.
Fight back against whom? Why are you trying to attack “BIG OIL” by boycotting innocent gas pump owners? What does Exxon have to do with the price of gas? If the price of eggs go up would you also be made at the chickens? Nonsense.
The price of gas goes higher due to economics. The demand has gone up worldwide and the supply has stayed the same or grown very little. In Europe they have $5-6 gasoline because of out of control taxation by their government. In the United States we stand on our edifice of environmentalism by refusing to drill our own oil or permit refineries to be built. Now we are enjoying the fruits of our governmental stupidity by being nearly dependent on foreign oil sold by dictators and despots in Iran and Venesuela.
Here’s a crazy idea – let’s strike all of the regulation and let the free market drive the price back down under a dollar. We don’t have a problem we can’t fix, we have a problem we created on our own and refuse to acknowledge. Exxon didn’t cause the price of gas to go up and anyone who says they did is simply uninformed.
I’m all about getting fuel cells, hybrid technology and other alternative fuels brought to market but that is going to be a 20-30 year journey. If we wait that long, we’ll be enjoying $20/gallon and riding our bicycles like the Chinese.
And to think that some of these brillant people vote!
Gas outs of one day are a waste of time.
If you really want to make a dent you must pick ONE COMPANY TO BOYCOTT. You boycott it for months and months or years. There are plenty of other gas stations around.. I’m thinking maybe Exxon/Mobil since 1. its the biggest company and 2. they didn’t pay one nickel of their fine for the Exxon Valdez disaster. If they don’t get their fair share of the pie, prices will drop and other companies will follow suit.
Chuck Manson said in the comment above this that, “The reason it didn’t work is, rational people understand that there is no gouging so no, the boycott didn’t work and never will.”
So….what refinery or oil company do you work for, or what company’s stock do you speculate with. People with YOUR rationale that defend the oil companies are usually only looking out for themselves. I guess Mclure (just above me in this blog) thinks along the same line as Chuck.
My method to fix this is three-fold…
Get the government to nationalize gasoline and oil production…they can take the oil out in trade from Iraq for helping “free” them then we get our billions of dollars back for the war investment….
then the government drops the price of gas, just like that…when the free paid-in-kind oil runs out, the price is allowed to rise a bit…the the government can take a hit on the low prices since they lose money on so many other programs…why not another one.
Thirdly…we kick all the ILLEGAL ALIENS (there’s no other name for it)out of our country along with their kids (if they want they can come back when they’re 18 and can pay taxes). When they leave, the demand for gas should subside a bit with 12,000,000 less people commuting (and probably not paying taxes….
Our country needs to wise up and develop some political party that looks out for AMERICANS…or we will turn into a third world party and have monopoly money for currency (like Canada-that country is full of failed entitlement programs)
That’s my opinion…it’s a free country and I was a 6 year Army vet to defend people’s right to opinionize, so if you don’t like it…Kiss my….
$3.27, which is what we pay in Sonoma County, California is really nothing compared to what the rest of the WORLD pays for gasoline!! Thirty-three years ago gasoline was $3.50 an Imperial gallon in Malaysia!! What are we complaining about?!
We really need to push manufacturers to produce small, efficient vehicles. Forty-five years ago, I drove a Fiat 600 which got 35 miles per gallon. But, Fiat isn’t even sold in the US anymore! I wonder why. The ubiquitous Smart Car, which is found all over Europe is having trouble getting marketed in the US. Again, I wonder why.
WE are the market and it is up to us to demand fuel efficiency, otherwise it isn’t going to happen.
START WITH EXOON MOBILE. IT WILL WORK!!! Bankrupt one gas company and soon the others will follow. I have been saying it for awhile. Lets just DO IT!
A boycott is not impossible, however, it is extremely impractical. I live in NJ and watch the people who live here commute to NYC every day. I’d wager a huge portion of them don’t give a good god d*mn about wasting gas or car pooling; not to mention that if everyone that drove to work used mass transit instead, the trains and buses would never be able to handle the volume. Regardless, people still drive extremely long ways to get to the commuter parking, wasting gas anyway. This of course is covering the middle to upper class who can afford to commute and get profitable jobs in the city.
The middle to lower class that live in NJ, well if you live out in the sticks, (which are becoming less and less the sticks, and more a suburb of ‘The City’), you still have to commute because the increase in population has saturated the local job markets. And the cost of living demands better paying jobs, forcing most to look far and wide. I know several people that live in PA and commute to NJ, even to NY, because they can’t afford to live near the good jobs! So telling these people to stop driving for a day is like telling them to stop eating for a day. It won’t kill them, but they’d much rather not.
My opinion: stop the influx of immigrants, stop having so many god d*mn children, (it is not your god given right to reproduce, it is your social and morally bound duty to be responsible and control the population.) and MAYBE we can stop the increase in gas prices.
You should feel outraged by the price of gas, but you should feel just as outraged by the price of bread, milk, beef, cars, paper, furniture, doctor bills, etc. As the country bloats population-wise, the demand goes with it. And as long as 5% of the population controls 80% of the money, (or whatever the hell the made up statistic is) companies will not feel obligated to lower prices until the VAST majority deems it necessary.
This government was founded on ‘of the people, by the people, and F O R the people’. When is the last time a politician ask how YOU were doing?
Some of us didn’t even know about the gas boycott due to email being watched for spam, etc. Two years ago two companies were targeted for a boycott in my area of the country. It did work. They (and others followed) lowered their prices because the consumers spoke volumes. We had no shortages and other stations didn’t raise their prices. It went on for a month here. I would LOVE to use mass transportation. Just don’t have it! Amtrack? I help pay for it with my federal dollars but it runs through one town here 45 miles away and the schedule is a joke, as they often run up to 24 hours late. BUT I help pay for the eastern seaboard to have better mass transportation available. And then the New Yorkers make fun of the rest of us who pay for their cheaper better mass transit.
I am sorry if this is in the wrong place or wrong group.
Acting Together Will Make A Difference! visit http://www.end2crazygasprice.com now!
Our objective is to Force the gas companies to lower their gas price by asking the consumers in Canada and in the United States NOT TO PURCHASE ANY GAS from the selected gas companies posted below. We can have a significant impact on the price of gas IF WE ACT TOGETHER to initiate a GAS PRICE WAR!!! So Please Start The Boycott Now!
Until futher notice WE DO NOT BUY ANY GAS from the following companies
CANADA
- Esso
- Petro-Canada
- Shell
USA
- ExxonMobil (all Exxon Mobile Gas Stations)
- Esso
YES, WE CAN WIN BUT…It is absolutely NECESSARY To continue purchasing our gas ELSEWHERE Than at the posted gas stations above and this, until we reach our objective. And, MOST OF ALL, HELP US BY FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO FAMILY, FRIENDS, CO-WORKER etc…! CAN WE COUNT ON YOU…?
Please visit http://www.end2crazygasprice.com and join us to implement it.
NO PROTEST! All you have to do is to remember the next time you fill up, STAY AWAY from SHELL, PETRO-CANADA, ESSO, and All ExxonMobil Gas stations.
“BOYCOTT” is the only option left for us to fight against this crazy gas prices, unless the government involve and regulate the gas price somehow!
High gas prices are good. We obviously can’t keep poluting and raping the place that we all call home. These prices–the invisible hand–will, over time (or hopefully anyway), force us back to a more localized lifestyle. As the result of our contantly-traveling-for-little-reason (anti-local)lifestyle, we’ve run into many problems; high gas prices just being one. A community that has remembered the importance of “local community” isn’t affected much by this phenomenon.
You want to boycott? Everbody stay home over Memorial Day. don’t you think it’s interesting that the price always spikes prior to a major driving holiday? I call BS! This is Eron all over again.
I say again, stay home over the holiday! Decrease your consumption…and yes..it’s good for the planet.
boycott will work , if we would boycott one supply at a time, just everybody don”t buy any product from like mobil for 3 months,or untill they stop with the Greedy Pricing crap, Make a list of which Dealers are on this list so it can be posted on the internet the more people that help the lower the prices will go ,Lets give it a try,what have we got to lose?
You so-called conservationists are funny! “stop driving”, “don’t fill -up”, “boycott one oil co. forever”. C’mon people, stop the BS already. You are not willing to give up your SUV’s for a Smart-car, even though two-seats is really all you ever need most of the time, not seven! I know, conservation is for the “other” people to do, meanwhile you ride fat-assed to your next “conservation” bitch-and-complain meeting in your 7-seat Expedition, sucking down a 32-oz. Slurpee, and yacking on your cell phone doing 90 mph!
You are spoiled by your habits, and giving up your gas-guzzler isn’t an option. Somebody else giving up theirs is OK with you though!
I want to thank all of you rich, spoiled and selfish bastards for inflating my oil company stocks and energy mutual funds. It is because of you all that I will retire early from my oil co. job and enjoy the rest of my life on a golf course in the Carolinas where I will have my own electric cart to get around.
You people are REALLY STUPID!
Well it depends, if people were driving their bicycle instead of driving (as Bike to work Week also fell on the “National Gas Boycott”) then the demand would have been about the same for that day as those people probably also had gas in their tank. Instead, they would not use that gas until it was another day. Overall they would still be a drop in the bucket but for that individual it might have been a minor success (I am assuming for the moment that their round-trip to work and back is about the same as a gallon of gas).
I don’t know how many actually participated in “Bike to Work day/week” over previous years so I have no data to work off of in this regards. Maybe they should rename “Bike to work week” changing it to “Get a Friend to Bike to Work Week” (with the assumption that someone at work already rides to work).
Hal, that’s funny. What’s really funny is that you probably work at a gas station and stare green eyed at all those people you sell a 32 once Slurpee to. Your inflated stocks make you exacltly the bastard you complain about. The gas companies are reporting record profits as gas prices continue to rise. What does that tell us? They want to find out what we will really pay. There is still a trillion barrels of gas to be harvested so don’t expect to see any good electric cars for a while. If you haven’t heard Exxon and others are buying up all the patents. Are we so stupid that we did not expect this from our government? Or do we still think that we are in the middle east chasing down criminals? What was Bush involved in before, oh, thats right, he ran a few oil companies into the ground just like he is doing to our country. The price we pay for a gallon of gas will rise until we hit the next recession. So, if playing golf and not doing any meaningful work is what you look forward to, Shallow-Hal, then perhaps you are better fit as a worm buffet six feet under. The gas is simply a symptom of the real problem in America. America has sold her soul. We are without any real pursuit of the Lord. We are on a path to be crushed and enslaved by other contries and it is well we should. Only then will the real people of God cry out for truth.
The best boycott would be for all Americans to take the day off at the same time. United We Stand.
We really need to get to a Bigger Fish kind of thing here ..If the jobs went to 4 -10 hour days it would cut driving on 1 day aweek ..That will help us and hurt the Gas people…. But really if we want to KICK THEM IN THE BUTT we need to boycot something like as NASCAR Events and when the big dogs of NASCAR get the CRUNCH in thge Pocket the Gas people will back off but we would all have to do it ….I really do think this coculd work
4 day work week? We would go shopping (and drive there) and then spend the savings anyway. That extra 2 hours a day in a 4 day work week don’t produce as much as the fifth day. Its just a fact. I don’t like it either.
Boycott Nascar? Come on, is that a joke?
As said in several posts above. We only have ourselves to blame by not demanding alternative choices, buying huge gas hog SUV’s and armchair criticism. Yah, I’me included in 2 out of 3 of the above.
Jim-Detroit
I can’t believe people will think this won’t work. In a best case scenario if most people planned on not using their cars or public transportation on the same day it would certainly send a big message. I have family that live in europe and they think americans are spineless for not taking to the streets and protesting for change. If we made very clear demands in unison as a nation of people the politicians would have to obey the people over the corporate lobbyists ’cause they need votes more than they need the people. If we sit as a nation and talk about how something will never work and not physically try it then the government will have their way with us as the have for the past 7 years!
correction to above:
I can’t believe people will think this won’t work. In a best case scenario if most people planned on not using their cars or public transportation on the same day it would certainly send a big message. I have family that live in europe and they think americans are spineless for not taking to the streets and protesting for change. If we made very clear demands in unison as a nation of people the politicians would have to obey the people over the corporate lobbyists ’cause they need votes more than they need the money. If we sit as a nation and talk about how something will never work and not physically try it then the government will have their way with us as the have for the past 7 years!
grow some balls shut everything down for two days no work ,go no where ,and buy nothing .just stand up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
) Chuck Manson says:
The reason it didn’t work is, rational people understand that there is no gouging so no, the boycott didn’t work and never will..
Are you so clueless that you actually believe there is no price gouging? Explain how gas prices have more than tripled since clinton left office? I bet you voted for W not just once, but twice because you are a simpleton. We should try to organize and show an act like the Boston tea party because the entire scope f the American public is being affected, it is only the rich who do not complain about gas prices while normal working class individuals now are having to choose between food and gas.
This Idea is naive. Is government duty to protect people of USA against stealing money from USA market. Its simple, not extend license for selling gas in USA if company goes over 2$/g. Penalized company hiring people commuting more then 15 miles. Get “Green waves” working on every intersection lights in all cities USA. Transfer fuel for personal cars to propane. More and more restrictions like that will improve falling economy of USA.
Build more refineries and use them here in the United States, instead from the Middle East, which should be more cheaper then going all the way there to get oil and back, which should help keep the cost of gas down. Getting oil from the middle East and delivering it to the gas stations in the U.S. is more expensive, that may cause the cost of gas to go up over $4.00 a gallon last year. It should also help protect Americans who deliver oil from the Middle East from getting killed, because of the violence in some parts there.
People in the industry just don’t understand that the gas comes from a terminal that ALL companies get their gas from.So not getting it from one company won’t effect anything.The next company will just sell more at the same price.