# You want $1.30 a gallon??? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 27, 2006, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-1-30-a-gallon/354433 "2006-04-27T11:12:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-1-30-a-gallon/354433/21 "2006-04-27T15:22:34Z")
How about we just boycott the car manufacturers until they start making cars that run on tap water? ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-1-30-a-gallon/354433/22 "2006-04-27T15:35:43Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > But I’m already boycotting ExxonMobil! Hey, me too! I’m walking _everywhere_! Tripler . . . but only on hardened, paved surfaces. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-1-30-a-gallon/354433/23 "2006-04-27T15:36:44Z")
I’m boycotting beer until the breweries give it out free. > [@liberty](#): > > Oil and gas companies are gouging. no doubt about it. I hear this a lot. Walk me through just how this is bering done, if you don’t mind. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-1-30-a-gallon/354433/24 "2006-04-27T15:40:56Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > How about we just boycott the car manufacturers until they start making cars that run on tap water? Why stop there? I’m boycotting Volvo until they install a Rolling Blowjob feature standard in all their cars. Also, the seats should be made of boobs. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-1-30-a-gallon/354433/25 "2006-04-27T15:46:47Z")
> [@Steve MB](#): > > While they’re wishing, would they also like a pony? :rolleyes: Oh, don’t be silly. If they had ponies, they could just ride them and not have to pay $1.30 for gas. Side note: Anybody have any data on what the price of gas has to go up before it’s cheaper to keep a horse for a daily 10-mile roundtrip commute? ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-1-30-a-gallon/354433/26 "2006-04-27T15:58:13Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Why stop there? I’m boycotting Volvo until they install a Rolling Blowjob feature standard in all their cars. > > Also, the seats should be made of boobs. I will forward this suggestion to our designers and ask them to get right on it. you have my full support. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-1-30-a-gallon/354433/27 "2006-04-27T16:00:14Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > I hear this a lot. Walk me through just how this is bering done, if you don’t mind. Isn’t it obvious? They’re making too much money! Any company that does too well MUST be cheating the people. Oh, and Bush is helping his oil buddies get fat at the expense of the little man, mustn’t forget that. Did I cover them all? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-1-30-a-gallon/354433/28 "2006-04-27T16:04:01Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > Isn’t it obvious? They’re making too much money! Any company that does too well MUST be cheating the people. Oh, and Bush is helping his oil buddies get fat at the expense of the little man, mustn’t forget that. Did I cover them all? :rolleyes: You forgot to demand that Exxon stop bombing brown people. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-1-30-a-gallon/354433/29 "2006-04-27T16:11:36Z")
Hm. There was some recent analysis conducted in California that compared the rise in gasoline prices to the rise in “spot market”(?) crud oil prices, and found that the increase in gas prices was disproportionate. I forget where I even saw this… [CNN.com](http://CNN.com), perhaps? But maybe someone else remembers the study. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-1-30-a-gallon/354433/30 "2006-04-27T16:15:58Z")
> [@Menocchio](#): > > The grasp of economics some people have is truely pitiful. > > Boycotting one gas company will not drop prices. Even if you could get a significant amount of people to join (easier said than done, but let’s play along), you’re simply shifting the demand to the remaining gas companies. In response, they’ll _raise_ their prices. There was an economist on NPR the other day who said basically this. He seemed pretty impatient with the whole boycott. At the end of the interview, the reporter asked him whether there were any actions consumers could take to lower the cost of gasoline. His answer? “Drive less.” The reporter waited a moment for an explanation, but none was forthcoming, so she laughed nervously, thanked him, and ended the interview. It was pretty funny. Sometimes the clever solution isn’t the right one: sometimes the obvious one is. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-1-30-a-gallon/354433/31 "2006-04-27T16:30:43Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Then why have most gas stations installed pay-at-the-pump feature? If they don’t make money on gas, then that seems like an absolutely certain way to make sure that handly anyone comes into the store to buy potato chips. > > Having trouble believing that. I doubt it is something they want to do, in much the same way retailers don’t enjoy paying merchant fees for card transactions. But if you were the only gas station that did not support pay at the pump transactions I bet the loss of customer base would far outweigh the people who still come but now don’t buy anything in the store. Even with pay-at-the-punp I will occasionally go into the store to pick up something, rather than make yet another trip to the grocery store. However, I always pay at the pump, so I will just drive on by a gas station that does not have this feature. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-1-30-a-gallon/354433/32 "2006-04-27T16:31:31Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > Oh, and Bush is helping his oil buddies get fat at the expense of the little man, mustn’t forget that. Naw, ever since 9/11 Bush has been promoting a massive effort to develop alternative energy sources and encourage conservation so as to lessen our dependence on imported oil and improve national security. Only he’s been doing it in total secrecy under the Patriot Act, so that no one knows about it yet. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-1-30-a-gallon/354433/33 "2006-04-27T16:39:00Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Then why have most gas stations installed pay-at-the-pump feature? If they don’t make money on gas, then that seems like an absolutely certain way to make sure that handly anyone comes into the store to buy potato chips. > > Having trouble believing that. Aha - this explains why my nearest station’s receipts at the pumps are perpetually out of paper, and you have to go inside to get it. ---
**Author:** ![liberty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/958977/32.png) [@liberty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liberty)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-1-30-a-gallon/354433/34 "2006-04-27T17:18:36Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Then why have most gas stations installed pay-at-the-pump feature? If they don’t make money on gas, then that seems like an absolutely certain way to make sure that handly anyone comes into the store to buy potato chips. > > Having trouble believing that. Because, then, they would lose money. They have to buy the gas from their suppliers. I had a gas station owner show me what they make on gas, it isn’t all that much. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-1-30-a-gallon/354433/35 "2006-04-27T17:21:59Z")
When I see a station without a pay at the pump option, I drive to another one. I think the pittance the stations get from gas is better than the nothing they get from customer like me who won’t even patronize a store without pay at the pump. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-1-30-a-gallon/354433/36 "2006-04-27T17:24:23Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Also, the seats should be made of boobs. Tried that. The nipple raise welts like hell. 😃 I wonder what kind of trucks these commissioners drive? Somehow I’m thinking they got 10 mpg pickups, not Priuses. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-1-30-a-gallon/354433/37 "2006-04-27T17:30:58Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > There was an economist on NPR the other day who said basically this. He seemed pretty impatient with the whole boycott. At the end of the interview, the reporter asked him whether there were any actions consumers could take to lower the cost of gasoline. > > His answer? “Drive less.” > > The reporter waited a moment for an explanation, but none was forthcoming, so she laughed nervously, thanked him, and ended the interview. It was pretty funny. Sometimes the clever solution isn’t the right one: sometimes the obvious one is. Did the reporter not understand the concept of supply and demand, or did she think the audience didn’t? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-1-30-a-gallon/354433/38 "2006-04-27T17:33:31Z")
> [@Menocchio](#): > > The grasp of economics some people have is truely pitiful. > > Boycotting one gas company will not drop prices. Even if you could get a significant amount of people to join (easier said than done, but let’s play along), you’re simply shifting the demand to the remaining gas companies. In response, they’ll _raise_ their prices. > > And, if ExxonMobil lowers their prices, even only a little bit (like from $3 a gal to $2.75 a gal), people will break the boycott. Then the other companies will lower their prices, but Exxon will be free to raise theirs again. Once they’ve equalized, they’ll be free to raise up together. Not to mention that gasoline companies routinely sell thier products to each other. Boycotting one would likely result in their gas being sold at an independent station or even at a competitor’s. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-1-30-a-gallon/354433/39 "2006-04-27T17:35:51Z")
I hope the people of Bee County don’t fall for this pathetic bullshit. > [@](#): > > Industry officials said the larger issue is that Exxon gas rarely comes from Exxon refineries. Instead, other local refineries add Exxon chemicals just before it arrives at the station. If local Exxon stations aren’t selling the gas, the corporation simply sells it to the companies who need it. Ultimately it will have little effect on prices. READ SNOPES, TEXANS! > [@](#): > > Still, Martinez is hopeful. He said, “It absolutely will work. Absolutely. There’s no doubt in my mind.” “In fact,” he added, “there’s not very much in my mind at all.” ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-1-30-a-gallon/354433/40 "2006-04-27T17:40:19Z")
You can’t boycott ExxonMobil. Gas stations round the world get their gas from companies you’ve probably never heard of. Country Mark, Valero Fules, Buckeye North, Marathon Ashland. You’re local gas station doesn’t get fuel from the big gas companies. (Unless ofcourse it is a big company gas station). Thats how most work. ExxonMobil, British Petroleum(BP), Marathon sell thier gas to their own stations and to resellers. Who then sell it to fuel transporters, who then sell it to stations, who then sell it customers. That alone puts a hell of alot of extra cost on your gasoline. If you are going to try and boycott Exxon and Mobil, you might as well boycott gasoline. What gets me mad is the guys that come in, bitch about fuel price and then buy cigarettes and lotto tickets. FUCKING RETARD! You can’t whine about paying an extra 40 cents on your 2.5 gallons of gas when you buy cigarettes and lotto tickets. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-1-30-a-gallon/354433.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-1-30-a-gallon/354433.md?page=3)