[Imc] Fwd: Don't Buy Gas on June 1st

[Arun Bhalla]

This sort of message (which is almost an urban legend now) goes out 
across the net everytime gas prices get high.  (Incidentally, it seems
that gas prices have already dropped from their recent peak.)  It would
be great if such a boycott were happening across the country simultaneously,
but even then, this boycott is only effective if gas *usage* decreases.
Gas companies will never notice a one-day boycott if usage remains the
same.  Think about what would happen -- people participating in the boycott
would simply increase gas purchases on May 31st or June 2nd.  Let's say
that gas/oil companies look at revenue on a weekly basis, which seems 
reasonable to me.  In that case, there wouldn't even be a glitch in their
sales.

The best way to get prices to drop is to consider using gas-free or
gas-efficient alternatives as a regular part of your lifestyle.  An ideal
situation at the minimum, in my opinion, would be having a gas boycott
from June 1-3 (the whole weekend), with wide media exposure (indy and
commercial) so that the general public know to boycott, and the gas companies
know what's going on.

Arun
p.s. Personally, I think gas prices are too low, but my livelihood is not
directly influenced by using it.  I'd rather see higher gas prices result
in less gas usage rather than higher profits for Big Oil.

John Wason writes:
> I know most of you guys ride bicycles (*smile*), but for those of you who
> drive cars or even motorcycles, we might be able to make a little bit of a
> difference here.  Even those of you who don't have cars know people who do,
> so please forward this as widely as possible.  Boycotts are one of the most
> effective tools there are, and we should use them more often than we do.
> 
> I guess the only unanswered question I have at this point is how we can
> find out whether or not the "independent" gas station we patronize actually
> gets its gas from Exxon/Mobil.  We could ask the manager or someone who
> works there, I suppose, but they may not know or may be unwilling to say.
> 
> At any rate, let's boycott Big Oil and see what happens!  :)
> 
> John
> 
> 
> >Friday, June 1, is "NATIONAL DON'T BUY GAS DAY." 
> >
> >If everyone in the country doesn't buy gas on that
> >day, we send a very strong message that price gouging
> >has to stop! 
> >
> >Please send this to as many people as you can. By  
> >June 1, everyone in the country will know about it.
> >Fill up before June 1st. 
> >
> >ALSO STOP BUYING GAS FROM Exxon or Mobil!
> >Here's the plan: For the rest of this year, don't
> >purchase gasoline from the two biggest companies
> >(which now are one) namely EXXON and MOBIL.
> >
> >You see, if they are not selling gas, they should be
> >inclined, (i.e., "forced") to reduce their prices. And
> >because of their size and hence market share if they
> >reduce their prices, so will the other companies.  
> >They would have no choice!
> >
> >Isn't that a "juicy" prospect? But to have an impact,
> >we need to reach literally millions of users. But it
> >can be done!! I am sending this email to 35 people. If
> >each of you send it to at least 10 more and each 10
> >send it to at least 10 more and so on, by the time the
>message reaches the sixth iteration, we will have
> >reached over one million consumers. Acting together,
> >we can make a difference.
> >
> >If this makes sense to you, please pass this message
> >on to at least 10 more people.
> >
> >PLEASE HOLD OUT UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO BELOW
> >$1.30 AND KEEP THEM DOWN. THIS CAN REALLY WORK!
> 
> 
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--
Arun Bhalla