It has been calculated that if everyone in the united states did not purchase a drop of gasoline for one day and all at the same time, the oil companies would choke on their stockpiles. at the same time it would hit the entire industry with a net loss of over 4.6 billion dollars which affects the bottom lines of the oil companies therefore may 19th has been formally declared "stick it to them day" and the people of this nation should not buy a single drop of gasoline that day.
So goes this week's annoying email forward (although I had the courtesy to convert it from its original all-caps ugliness).
The stupidity of the whole exercise staggers me. That anyone could believe that a day of not buying gasoline would have even the slightest effect on the oil producers' bottom lines is a sad indictment on people's willingness to ignore inconvenient facts. The inability to perform simple mathematics ($4.6 billion being $16 for every man, woman and child in America, each of whom may or may not own a car, with each car being filled up once or twice a week) is equally depressing.
Then factor in things like the amount of oil that goes to other things (like, say, electricity production). Then figure that everyone will just fill up their slightly-more-empty-than-usual gas tanks on the 20th, having performed their patriotic duty the day before.
The email campaign is, in essence, the answer to the question: "What's the smallest and least effective thing we can do, and yet still feel we're sticking it to those damn A-rabs?" Legislating for more fuel-efficient cars? Too difficult. Removing the insane tax-breaks that make SUVs so cheap and common on the USA? Too difficult. Increasing the quality of public transport? Just too hard. Find ways to reduce personal electrical consumption? No way! We might have to do without!. Promoting research into- and the use of alternative fuel sources? Way too difficult!
Let's just forward stupid emails instead. That'll make us feel better. Yeah.
Nicely put. To think some guy at work told me I wasn't supposed to buy gas today. I didn't know what the heck he was talking about.
I agree mostly. Except I think about 50% of the people are looking to stick it to the "A-rabs." The other 50% are looking to stick it to the greedy bastards who run the oil companies. :-)
Well, let's be realistic here. None of the alternatives you offer are in fact alternatives. I can't legislate for more fuel efficient cars, remove SUV tax breaks, or increase the quality of public transportation. Well, I don't eat smelly food on the bus, does that count?
There are things that individuals can do. But none of those government-oriented ideas you give are among them. There's other easy-to-suggest ideas, like drive less and bike and walk more. Not practical in the short term, and not realistic for most people in the long term without significant changes in our national infrastructure and geographic arrangements.
There's maybe more subversive ideas, like changingtheclimate.com -- I'd like to make one especially for Hummers, "My dick may be small, but my Hummer is big". In general, I think SUV drivers deserve more scorn. I just wish the bumper stickers were cheaper.
critical-mass.org is another great project that works on a level accessible to regular people.
Snopes has dealt with this issue:
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/petition/gasout.htm
And it's not just now. They have a similar e-mail from 2001.
That's why recycling is so "successful". People feel like they're doing something, but they don't have to be too put out. (http://www.sho.com/site/ptbs/topics.do?topic=r )
Want to make a difference with gas? I agree with Ian; bike to work 3-4 days a week like I do... it's about 75-100 miles a week I'm _not_ driving.
I love the SUV argument. SUVs are such a small part of the problem it's not even funny. Sure they consume more fuel than the average car, but I sincerely doubt that if they disappeared it would have any impact on the price of fuel.
Consider the big 18 wheel trucks that deliver goods from one part of the US to the other. The point being that the fuel will be consumed in huge quantities no matter what. It's only going to get worse. Electric cars will help offset the costs by stretching the distance one can drive per every gallon of gasoline.
Regarding doing the least possible to feel better, it's like putting those stupid flags cars - they give people the sense of having accomplished something, when in reality they've literally done the least possible. Here's a fun read around this topic:
When You Ride Alone You Ride With Bin Laden: What the Government Should Be Telling Us to Help Fight the War on Terrorism
by Bill Maher
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1893224902/qid=1085083504/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/104-6198409-4664749?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
Regarding the post about SUVs, there is one characteristic that's off-topic but important: These things are really unsafe for a number of reasons. I don't have the link handy, but there's a great (but long) article on the origins of SUVs and why they're unsafe.
Ian: Yes, you can make a difference by walking or riding a bike rather than driving a car. You can also vote for a government, or if you want to be more active about it, lobby for a government that will make the tought decisions. If we all have the attitude that it's too hard because that's a government controlled action, then we'll get the governments we deserve!
The most important /and best working for example in europe/ is promotion of cars that need less fuel. If ads start campaigns "these cars are cool" many people start thinking that it really is.
People need to go to work and they need gas to do it. That means if people want to avoid filling up on a certain day, and they're getting low, they'll just fill up the day before. Do people really think that a day of not buying gas, when it follows a day on which more people than average bought gas, would really bring oil companies or oil-producing countries to their knees?