Are you sure? Not every company has a refinary nearby, and many will take their deliveries from whichever refinary is available. Granted, the gas will be formulated for that particular company’s additives, but the gas may be all refined in the same place.
In some areas of the US there are only one or two refinaries close by. The trucks just fill up and add the additives and off they go to the gas stations.
Not to mention that Exxon franchises stations in a lot of areas to sell their tiger piss. The gasoline that you are not buying could come from a BP refinery and could be sold by someone with no connection to the Evil Empire except for paying for the brand name.
I propose boycotting oil companies selectively on a monthly basis. I would construct a spinning wheel ala “Wheel of Fortune” . On it would go the names of the big oil companies. What are there , seven companies? We make it known to them that we spin the wheel and if their name comes up , we boycott them for one month. Next month we spin again and pick another company. The same company may even win back to back. We need to have our gas but it is up to us where we will buy it. The hard part is “How do we spread the word?”
So in other words, every month you pick six out of the seven major companies to reward with extra business. That’ll teach them, right?
That right there is the problem: We don’t need to have our gas, and until we actually admit that, the oil companies collectively will have us by the short and curlies.
arent there really only a few key companies? i remember something george carlin said. the snopes link is accurate in that “boycotting” will not lower prices. there needs to be a significant decrease in consumption to lower the long term demand.
we are too entrenched by the oil powers, look at the great american streetcar scandal, see who holds the majority of alternative energy patents. watch the documentary titled who killed the electric car
technology has enabled us to live away from our work, but the excessive consolidation and the scaling up of industries have led to for lack of a better word hotspots that you must travel to to pay your mortgage.
to get off oil we have to either
[QUOTE=Chronos]
That right there is the problem: We don’t need to have our gas, and until we actually admit that, the oil companies collectively will have us by the short and curlies.
[/QUOTE]
Most of us do, though, which sort of means that they have us. Personal transport is not an option for most people…it’s the only game in town.
As to the OP, boycotts are pretty much useless. Let me put it in a different way…how much effect did the conservatives boycott of all things French a couple of years ago actually have on France? AFAICT, it had basically zero over all effect. Same here. If you don’t buy gas from Exxon, you’ll buy it from someone else…and all the gas comes from just a few refineries. You won’t hurt Exxon at all, since someone else will buy gas from them if you don’t…and the bulk refineries will still make the exact same profit.
Other than that, pretty much what Lemur866 said.
-XT
Public Service Announcement: This is a 5 year old zombie thread.
:smack: Didn’t even notice.
-XT
I stand by what I said five years ago.
The fact that it’s a zombie explains why a poster was talking about how great BP is/was. I was so confused.
Yeah, I thought that was odd too…though there are people who still support BP and think they are a great company. I don’t think the OP would be in that crowd, however.
-XT
What this guy said.
The word being “people who think boycotting oil companies occasionally has any effect (beyond irritating local station operators and making you drive farther to purchase gasoline and thereby increasing demand) are stupid?”
I prefer my way: I selectively boycott all but the cheapest supplier. Unlike the method proposed by RMustang, this provides a mechanism by which reducing their prices can get an individual supplier out of the boycott.
The best way to reduce gasoline prices is conservation, not boycotting. If overall demand is reduced, the price will go down, assuming that supply stays the same.
The problem in the US is that our demand is so high, that we have to import unleaded gasoline. Why don’t US producers just make more so that we don’t have to import it? Because refinery capacity in the US is too expensive.
I’ll grant that, practically speaking, going without gas entirely isn’t an option for most people. But most people still have a heck of a lot of room for cutting back usage. OK, your job is far enough away that the only way to get there is by motor vehicle, and now is not a good time to tell people to look for a new job closer to home. But you can get there using a vehicle that gets 15 MPG, or you can get there using a vehicle that gets 50 MPG. Cutting your gas usage (total, day in and day out, long term) by 2/3 isn’t quite the same as eliminating it entirely, but it’s close.
[QUOTE=Chronos]
But most people still have a heck of a lot of room for cutting back usage.
[/QUOTE]
Sure, I agree. But the thing is, they are only going to tighten their belts and cut back if they have too. As long as gas remains relatively cheap (hell, even at the current prices in the US, it IS cheap) they aren’t going to bother to try and save…it’s too much trouble, or it costs to much (in the short term). People are basically lazy. I’m not talking American’s here…I’m talking people in general.
When gas gets to be $5/gallon, or $10/gallon, then people will make different decisions based on the new data and how it impacts their budgets. I’m in the same boat…I could probably afford a Leaf if I traded in my current car. But I LIKE my current car, I enjoy driving it, I can afford to drive it, and for now the equation of distance I drive per day vs the price of gas doesn’t make it worth my while to buy a Leaf just to save money. Bump up the price of gas, however, and that will certainly change.
Sure…but the thing is, there are a lot of factors that go into the decision process of buying a new car (or keeping the one you have). Does the 50 MPG car cost significantly more than the 15 MPG car? Do both cars meet the buyers perceived needs, where ‘needs’ can be defined as everything from ‘can haul all the kiddies’ to ‘is fun to drive’ to ‘can I afford the payments?’…and myriad other sometimes silly definitions of that term by the individual buyer.
In my case I decided several years ago that I wouldn’t buy a car (new or used) that gets less than 30 MPG, and I’ve stuck to that. But each individual buyer is going to have their own set of parameters they use when buying a vehicle.
Sure…the same could be said about cutting your electrical usage by 2/3rds as well. But it would have to be important to the individual to do so. For instance, cutting my own gas usage by 2/3rds would save me something like $80 per month based on the current price of gas. Ok…that would be cool, but what would it cost me to get that savings? My current car is paid for…I bought it used and put a lot down on it, and the only thing I have to pay for atm is gas and insurance. If a Leaf costs me $300/month for 5 years then I’m out $220/month until the thing is paid off. I don’t see how that’s worth it to me, especially considering that my current car allows me to go on longer trips if I need to (which I do from time to time), and that if I got a Leaf I’d need to rent a car periodically to make those extended trips.
It’s the same calculations I use to decide if I could really get that new Dodge Challenger. I mean…I’d LOVE to have one. How cool would that be? Very. But…it would mean I’d have a damn car payment again, which I really don’t want to have. So…I just look at it wistfully and then move on. Same with the Leaf. If someone gave me one, I’d go nuts…how cool would it be to have a vehicle that could easily drive me to work every day on an overnight charge? VERY! Would love to have one. But…I don’t want to pay $25k (with incentives and tax breaks from the government) for the fun or coolness factor.
-XT
Hey, I do that too! We must belong to the same movement.
But you (generic you, not just you specifically) will eventually replace that car and buy a new one, anyway. When you do, will it be a guzzler or a sipper? You have that choice. Now, there are (as you say) many other factors that go into that choice, and you may decide that, given everything, it makes more sense to buy the gas guzzler. But if you do, it’s then somewhat immature to turn around and complain about gas prices, and say “We need to DO something!”, when you had the opportunity to do something, and passed it up.
“I sent a boat, I sent a raft, I sent a helicopter, what more did you want me to do?”