stefan
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Apr 13, 2006 9:48:53 GMT -5
I got this e-mail- I'm sure you have seen it before- Now my sister works for Mobil Exxon- so I have a vested intrest in her NOT losing her job- but the concept is pretty good
I will not buy Mobil, Exxon or Esso gas!
Spread the pledge.
Okay this may or may not work but on my way to work this morning gas had gone up more than 20 cents over night... and with EXXON MOBIL who made 36 BILLION in profit last year we have to try something!
GAS WAR - an idea that WILL work
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 next summer and it might go higher!! 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 on and join with us! By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $1.50 is super cheap. Me too! It is currently $2.79 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 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 =3D 300) ... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 =3D 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 that we not buy from EXXON/MOBIL UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $1.30 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN.
THIS CAN REALLY WORK? Anything is worth a try!!
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Apr 13, 2006 9:50:16 GMT -5
So if 10 of you read it and copy it and send it on who knows?  gosh imagine $1.30 a gallon again. |
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thehawke
freely admits to licking rocks
My Lord and Master
Member since January 2006
Posts: 866
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Post by thehawke on Apr 13, 2006 12:44:22 GMT -5
I dont buy from exxon/mobil anyway. When they merged, exxon had domestic partner benefits for its gay employees. Well, mobil didn't like that so after the merger was complete, they nixed domestic partnership benefits, forcing even more people to be without adequate health coverage. Why? Because they are gay. So I don't buy from them anyway.
We are looking at buying a Prius (Pious if you watch South Park) next year. Yeah the environment thing is nice but no smug alert here - just would like $50 of gas to last longer than a week.
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Apr 13, 2006 13:41:23 GMT -5
Oh me too- I have a Chevy that I don't drive- gets 8MPG- My work truck get 18- My wifes Toyota Rav 4 gets 28 to 30- I'm seriously considering a Subaru Baja- they get in the 28 range- I was gonna go with a compact car- but I'm so spoiled by the 4WD in the winter that it would be real hard to give it up. Yea My sister works for Mobil- A lot of Exxon employess were VERY Pissed off with the merger- They had a lot of people just walk out over the health care
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Post by Cher on Apr 13, 2006 14:33:00 GMT -5
It would be very cool if it could be done but you'd never get everyone to do it. I only by at the Amoco station which BP now owns.
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Post by hermatite on Apr 13, 2006 14:36:31 GMT -5
Well, (get the bashing sticks ready), $4 a gallon is about what the rest of the world pays...in some places even more. I dunno...maybe that's what it's really worth? I know I know...go ahead...hit me over the head. I just don't see the issue.
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thehawke
freely admits to licking rocks
My Lord and Master
Member since January 2006
Posts: 866
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Post by thehawke on Apr 13, 2006 14:41:55 GMT -5
if it was worth that, then it seems to me that the profits wouldn't be so damn high. Right now, it just looks like so much artificial inflation perpetrated by the oil companies. This is why I am firmly behind the windfall profits tax that was recently buried by the republicans. If it is actually worth that much, then it should cost much more to produce. But it doesn't. We are all being taken for a ride until we make a firm commitment to alternative energy.
FYI, I would buy citgo exclusively if I had a station near me. I've only seen one and it is 75 miles south of me.
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Post by akansan on Apr 13, 2006 15:04:46 GMT -5
Living in one of the oil producing sections of the country, I've seen what it takes to produce and refine. It makes you complain a little quieter.
When gas prices top $1.90/gallon (or ~$45/bbl), it's economically feasible for the oil industry in the US to produce and refine gasoline. When gas prices are below that, the US manufacturers cannot produce gasoline or heating fuel at a competitive cost because of wages, insurance, etc. The oil that comes out of the ground today isn't the gas you're putting in your car tomorrow. It's the gas you're putting in your car in a 6 months - a year. So when the stupid idiots who buy and sell the oil futures that sets the $/bbl hear that OPEC is dropping (or maintaining) the bbls/year, they panic. They send the price of oil up right now, which technically should only affect what people are purchasing right now...but the average price of gasoline is determined by the cost of a barrel of oil.
Large companies that have stocks of already refined gasoline - or gasoline refined out of country - do make record profits this year. They purchased their oil at a lower price. If the price of oil continues to stay high, though, those profits would even out once the stockpiles dwindle.
When gas prices top $1.90/gal., our little towns actually have an abundance of work. When gas prices drop below $1.50/gal., our economy dries up leaving many families struggling. So I cheer for the economy down here everytime I get gas, all the while cringing when I pay.
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Post by parfive on Apr 13, 2006 17:17:11 GMT -5
I love it when people bitch about the price of gas but pay the equivalent of $10 - $20 a gallon for bottles of water. Vick's Nyquil is about $178/gallon. Good thing my car doesn't cough or sputter.
Rich
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chassroc
Cave Dweller
Rocks are abundant when you have rocktumblinghobby pals
Member since January 2005
Posts: 3,586
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Post by chassroc on Apr 13, 2006 18:31:49 GMT -5
When the current president took over the oval office, he turned over energy policy to his(and Cheney's) closest friends in the oil and gas industry and what a surprise, the price of gas and oil has risen through the roof. Gee I wonder why that is? And gee, the President is rich and getting richer every day. The guy never saw a dollar he didn't like, the greedy bastard.
If anyone else were President it would be a national emergency; there would be a windfall profit tax on these greedy unpatriotic SOBs who's only purpose is to line their pockets and screw the rest of us. Instead this President blesses them and gives them even more money for various exploration and alternate energy projects and free or very cheap leases on givernment land that should go to the welfare of the taxpayers not his buddies.
It is obvious that we need a little more refining capacity in the country but more refineries would increase the supply and reduce the demand and reduce these obcene gas prices so they do nothing ( and blame it on environmentalists or treehuggers as they so derisively refer to anyone who cares about mother nature or their childrens well being.) Or else they blame it on China or India ( didn't these countries exist before Bush took office?) or they blame it on OPEC ( but never the Saudis, who are OPEC) oh they are Bush buddies, cannot bash them...But weren't the Saudis(in al-Quida) responsible for 9/11? Oh we'll just tell the American public it was Saddam Hussein's fault, they're stupid enough to believe that nonsense and any other lies we throw their way and Fox news and talk radio will swear to it so it must be true.
I don't believe it is just Exxon Mobil Shell Sunoco or Texaco or Hess or Conoco or Gulf. We are all responsible for allowing ourselves to be taken in by a regime that cares so much for money that they will screw anyone for a buck including and especially you and me. Vote these right wing loonies out of office before they ruin this country in their need for greed and their disdain for you and me.
csroc
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WyckedWyre
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since April 2007
Posts: 1,391
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Post by WyckedWyre on Apr 13, 2006 19:12:05 GMT -5
YEP. There's a fox in the henhouse, alright.  S |
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RedwoodRocks
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2003
Posts: 762
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Post by RedwoodRocks on Apr 14, 2006 1:12:07 GMT -5
Boy, are we going to get blasted by Mark if he sees this post. I bet he is probably paying $7-8 per gallon with all the taxes the Brits pay! With the relatively high gas prices, I am seeing fewer of the big SUVs on the road and a lot more of the hybrid Prius's.
Cal
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KG1960
has rocks in the head
Member since August 2008
Posts: 512
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Post by KG1960 on Apr 14, 2006 20:44:34 GMT -5
Here are some observations that I have made. Draw your own conclusions. I may not have the whole story but this is how I see it. I have occasional business dealings with bulk gasoline terminals. These are where the tanker trucks load up to deliver gasoline to the retail gas stations.
First, I see trucks of many different brands filling from the same storage tanks. I see independent trucks filling up that deliver to several different brands of gas stations. I must say that a few, but not all, gasoline brands have a small tank of their "secret ingredient" that gets added to the truck when it gets a load for that brand. The terminal manager said that only about 3 or 4 gallons of this is added to a 8,000 gallon truck.
Second, this was two summers ago, I was talking business with the terminal manager in his office and he was continually being interrupted with telephone calls. After a little while he apologized and said that the refiners were rationing their gasoline to the various terminals. Some terminals had already used up their weekly allotment, and the retailers were calling all the terminals to see who had gasoline left. I was there on a Tuesday. The manager said that at this rate he will be out of unleaded regular perhaps by late Wednesday and out of premium by Thursday. His next allotment comes in on Friday via pipeline. The point here is that the retailers did not appear to care what brand the gas was as long as it was gasoline.
The point I'm trying to make is that gasoline you might buy at, say, a Shell station may not have come from a Shell refinery. It seems to me that if you boycott a particular brand, you might not be hurting the corporation but just the local retailer.
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Post by BAZ on Apr 14, 2006 22:49:38 GMT -5
KG, your point is the truth here in Flagstaff. We have all of the big names, Exxon, Shell, etc., but we only have one tank farm! I used to deliver Nitrogen to that farm and heard direct from the transportation director's mouth. All filling stations in Flagstaff get their fuel from the one farm. (which is Giant Midcontinent) It is all the same stuff with the exception of the octane grades.
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Post by BAZ on Apr 14, 2006 22:51:00 GMT -5
Oh, and I haven't bought from Exxon since the Valdez disaster.
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Post by joe on Apr 14, 2006 22:57:20 GMT -5
Even if they did keep it seperate, if you bought from some companies and shunned others the ones that you bought from would have a greater demand than usual and buy what they needed from the companies you shun. It'll be business as usual.
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Post by LCARS on Apr 14, 2006 23:03:45 GMT -5
Even IF a large co-ordinated boycott effort could put a dent in the sales of one brand, it could only force a price drop of a few cents/gal until people start to see a cheaper price & flock to it. People are alot like lemmings. Effective at surviving as individuals but dumb & predictable en-masse.  I still like the one where if EVERYBODY in America did not go to work at the same time for 24hrs, the economy would collapse before sunset.  |
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Post by akansan on Apr 14, 2006 23:39:31 GMT -5
BAZ - Phoenix is basically the same way. It all comes in on a pipeline. I had a friend out Phoenix when the pipeline went down and they had to truck the gas in. Gas prices soared over $3/gal there while (most of) the rest of the country was paying $1.40. This would have been two or three years ago.
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thehawke
freely admits to licking rocks
My Lord and Master
Member since January 2006
Posts: 866
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Post by thehawke on Apr 15, 2006 15:07:05 GMT -5
And while we are talking about gas prices, the CEO of Exxon has earned an average of $144,573 PER DAY!!!Two days would pay off ALL our debts at that rate, including our mortgages. |
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Post by rocklicker on Apr 17, 2006 1:05:29 GMT -5
I haven't bought gas from Exxon since the spill in Alaska. Also Mobile since I heard they merged. I personally don't mind the high gas prices. It will get the giant gas guzzlers off the road. I drive a sedan that gets about 30 miles to the gallon so I don't mind high gas prices, though I feel bad for others who have to drive big trucks and vans, like for their jobs or because they live on dirt roads.
Steve
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gosh imagine $1.30 a gallon again.
S
