This is one of the best articles I've seen in the Virginia blogosphere in a long time. At all of
The premise of the event is this: if we all don't buy gas on May 15, Big Oil will curl into a fetal position from the loss of income. Soon after, hydrogen-powered cars will fall from the sky and the war on pollution will have been won. One of those cars, bearing Jesus Christ himself, signals the coming of the Rapture.I know, I know, why burst the bubble of a million idealists who think they can change the world with minimal effort? Not buying gas on the 15th is no sacrifice. You'll buy gas the day before or after, and Big Oil will laugh all the way to the bank. What isn't being proposed is a day without cars. In order to stick it to the oil companies, less gas must be consumed, not bought at a different time. Too bad, though, since that requires too much effort and can't be done with the accepting of a Facebook invite and a fill-up on the 14th.
Great job, Kenton, and exactly right! The fact is that the United States consumes 21 million barrels of oil per day - nearly 8 BILLION barrels per year, more than 300 BILLION gallons per year. Until we cut that consumption by a great deal, we're not going to accomplish anything with regard to a) energy "independence;" b) breaking the power of OPEC; c) getting more control over oil prices; d) hurting Big Oil; e) reducing carbon emissions and other pollution; f) anything else. And boycotting oil for one day - then buying it the next day or whatever - will accomplish absolutely nothing. So, if you want to make a difference, don't CONSUME any oil today, and reduce your consumption all the other days of the year. Now THAT will send the oil companies and OPEC a message!
what is interesting is to read the comments. People in this country are definitely noticing this, and there is a vocal minority that seems to be impervious to reason and are trying to whip up a mob of some sort. To blame - big oil companies, the government, and environmentalists, among others.
I saw one guy there trying to explain how he gets 50mpg in his TDI - some other idiot made a comment that diesel is also expensive. Some of these people are just blind to reason - I guess they just want to burn an oil company at the stake.
Do consumers impact gasoline prices?Consumers have very little power as individuals but, if enough consumers give the same "market signal," they can impact prices. First, when consumers buy gasoline at service stations in their areas with the lowest price, they take market share away from higher-priced stations; these stations may then eventually reduce their prices to be more competitive. The second way consumers impact the market is by reducing gasoline consumption. If enough people reduce driving or switch to more energy-efficient vehicles, gasoline demand would decline and prices would be dampened.
I think we need remedial economics for anyone who thinks that delaying your purchase of gasoline from today to tomorrow will do a damn thing, except to make the oil companies laugh hysterically at the non-seriousness of it. Again, if we want to be taken seriously, we need to GET OFF OUR OIL ADDICTION. And that means consuming less. Period.
I suppose what it comes down to is that people expect the system to protect us against disruptive changes, and I suppose the system in this case would be made up of policymakers, oil companies, automakers, and anyone else with a finger in the pot. And if you have the faith and expectation that the system will take care of us, then the average person can ignore the issues and instead watch sports and Hollywood trivia on TV instead. The frustration and anger that we are seeing now is just people who are unwilling to admit that this faith may have been misplaced.