Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

[rickz0rz]

Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

Filling up or topping off won't effect it at all. (tl;dr the thread)

Just posting this here since I'm lazy.

As Stretchy said, if you want to make a difference, DON'T USE GAS. If you buy it or not, you will still use it--which requires purchasing more.

It's empty on the 15th. Well, no one would make it empty on the 15th! They'd top it off on the 14th, preventing them from having no gas. Net loss to the oil companies: none. In fact, the oil companies might GAIN money because people make an extra trip to the gas station. Everyone else will simply wait until the 16th to do whatever. No loss to them. People in desperate need of gas will get it anyways. Plus, the amount of the population participating in these 'protests' is too small.

If you want to make a difference, make a 'boycott the use and purchase of gas' day and get a large chunk of the population to participate. THEN they will feel it. Bonus points for making it an entire week or even a month (summer months would work awesome, since people could use bikes). I plan on doing that a lot, since I-94 by me is under construction... for like the 40th time in the last 5 years. Meh!

- and i was 4-hour ninja'd by iPatch. neato!

[iPatcH]

Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

I'm going to go ahead and post this here as well:

I see a lot of bulletins asking to not pump gas on May 15th. This doesn't devalue gasoline, in fact, it could raise prices at the local level.

For example, if the owner of a local BP station sells less 25% less gasoline on ONE particular day, it won't actually effect how much he's ordering. Instead...he may just raise prices per gallon at that particular location so he could meet the same profit line and stay in business.

Before I go on, I don't claim to be an expert. But for some strange reason, over the last 10 years or so I've had an interest in "energy" and the way the oil/energy industry works.

So briefly explaining how this works, and why a "gas-out" would be nothing more than ineffective:

- When you first drill oil, the result actually sprays out of the ground. It's very watery and requires an expensive amount of refining.

- A decade down the road, as they drill deeper, the oil isn't as easy to bring to the surface. However it requires very little refining to turn it into gasoline, making it the most profitable and easily available time-period in a oil well.

- Finally, as you go deeper and deeper, it's harder and harder to bring the oil up. The oil gets thicker and is once again very expensive to refine. Then, finally, the well runs dry and is no longer profitable to drill.

So, MOST of the oil wells in the Middle East are currently at their peak period of drilling (hence the name 'peak oil'). Business is good, however, America uses more and more oil every year. This means that our consumption is expanding, however since the wells are at their peak, the production isn't expanding.

Multiply this with a rapidly expanding oil market in Asia and Western Europe, and now we have competition. We literally have to bid with OPEC for our oil against other governments (and always have). That is why our oil prices are rising. Consumption vs. production. We keep using more while they cannot produce enough to meet demand. This drives up the prices per barrel, and, of course, drives up the prices per gallon.

So is it the oil company's fault? Nope. **** them, but nope.
Is it OPEC's fault? Nope. **** them twice, but nope.
Is it your local gas station's fault? Of course not.
Is it our fault for consuming a ridiculous amount of oil? Yup.

I try to look at the bright side of the situation. High oil prices aren't THAT big of a deal in our day to day life. It simply doubles the amount of money we spend to get around in cars. This amount of money is very small in comparison to what we're spending on drinks at a bar per month or even our mobile phone or internet bills.

However, for someone with an 8 MPG SUV that requires 25 gallons of fuel twice a week to make the normal commute, this is pretty significant. So, now that we've all been slapped in the face with $3+ per gallon...SUV and truck sales are at a record low.
People who never gave a **** about the environment in the first place are now flipping their lids because the consequences are attacking their precious Plasma HDTV savings fund.

So the point of all this gibberish of mine, if there is one:

Don't like high gas prices? Here's how to protest:

1. Sell your car and buy a hybrid or more fuel efficient vehicle. The Sun Times recently published an article that breaks down all of the new hybrids and tells you how long it'll take you to break even on the extra investment. Some of them were as short as 16 months!

2. Stop driving when you can. Take the bus/train.

3. Ride your bike if you're traveling less than a couple miles. Think of your body's calories as free gasoline (it IS just built up energy after all).

4. Stop using oil-based/consuming products when you don't need to. This includes, well, just about every-****ing-thing in your life. Plastic bags, iPods, etc, etc, etc. The more plastic, the more oil.

5. Most power plants in the USA are still oil-based. So switch to florescent bulbs, ease up on the AC, turn unneeded lights/appliances off when you're not using them.

But simply not getting gas on May 15th...that's not going to change a thing. The only person it'll bother is the poor guy who owns the local gas station. Besides, you'll just end up buying more gas on May 16th won't you?

Love,
Benn

[kpxkrnkidx]

Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

I'm going to say something that has probably been said many times before in this thread already. However, I'm too lazy to look through the five pages (even though it was probably said somewhere early in the first one).

NOT PUMPING GAS FOR ONE DAY WON'T DO A FREAKING THING TO HURT THE OIL COMPANIES!!!

You know why? Because if no one were to pump gas on that day, the people who participated would pump extra the day before and the day after. That's like 1+(-1)+1. Maybe you can't do the math yourself, but that's not hurting them at all. Heck, they may even profit off of it. So, good luck with putting your "dent" in oil companies.

Buying gas is inevitable. Rising prices are inevitable. No one wants to pay 50+ to fill their car, but it's gonna happen. You're gonna have to deal with it. Can't get over it? Build a car that runs off of water or something.

And to those who participate: kick yourself.

EDIT AFTER READING:



Oh. Right. Because the countries who participate in the oil buisness are going to say "oh noez we hurt our customers feelings and now we'll have to lower the prices so they don't cry or something!" [sarcasm]Of course. I mean, there is no possible way that the companies would KNOW that we don't appreciate the high prices, because obviously, if they DID know, they would drop the prices. Right? Of course. So yeah, we better not buy gas on may 15th. That way they will understand that we don't like paying high prices for gas. [/sarcasm]

Who's to say they fill up just as much on those days before? Think about it..if on May 15 I am not to fill my car up with gas, then I'm not going to go through a whole full tank the day before just for the **** of it. Most people do not use a whole tank of gas in one day, with the exception of long distance commuters. They will go through what they use on May 14, then stab the oil company by not throwing money in their stingy faces, just for one day the next. It could possibly help reduce gas prices. It's funny to me to see how eager people are to throw their money away just to argue over NOT filling their tank up on May 15. It's as if you tell a child to not jump on the bed, and yet he still does.

[xWnLx Crisco]

Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

Everyone fill up May 14th YAY

I hope that if it somewhat happened that people did not fill up on the 15th the Oil Companies would increase the price of gas to gain back what they lost.

There is no government regulation on crude oil or where they get it from so the oil companies can do what ever they want to the price and we can't do a thing about it.

[JasonKey]

Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

/clears throat

and every one of you that participated in this thread demonstrated the original comments power, and continue to do so.

regardless of your opinions, keep talking about it, rage about it, ridicule it, denounce it, the more powerful it becomes. You are starting to see why emails warning about viruses in themselves become viruses of sorts.

Thanks Sertman, for even putting that one up in lights as it were

[madmatt621]

Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

Don't pump gas for the week of May 13-19, 2007.

[sertman]

Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

You should read the rest of the discussion before you try and fondle my bubble ..

:P

Think outside of the bubble you discuss The fact that its being discussed on CNN makes it clear that it served a purpose.

oh boy how did i miss this post

what purpose did it serve? to let the media know that the public is fed up with the high gas prices?

YEAH, IT WAS NEWS TO ME, TOO. I THOUGHT EVERYONE LOVED PAYING EXORBARENT AMOUNTS FOR GAS.

sorry to burst your bubble but it's just one of those internet things that ends up on snopes after a while. and it'll be one of the ones that says "false"

[sertman]

Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

this stupid **** seems to happen every year.

apparently everyone missed the news story about all the oil companies massive profits. they're not raising the prices because they HAVE to, it's because they WANT to. and the oil execs have so much political clout there isn't really anything they can do about it. so a small % of the population doesn't buy gas one day. so ****ing what. it won't have an effect because not everyone is going to do it and the oil executives won't give a ****.

[T3hDDRKid]

Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

Alright. I won't buy gas May 15th. I'll just ride my bike fifteen miles to my school and anywhere from three to twenty miles to friend's houses. Like I always do.

[This makes it interesting when a friend invites me over and I say, "I can't, it's too windy.""

Edit: Oh, right, in the winter, I carpool to school and sometimes catch a ride to friend's houses.

[madmatt621]

Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

That's in Canada, and they measure by the liter. They're actually paying more than us after conversion and exchange rate.

1.08 CAD=0.976332 USD

Canada Dollars- 1 CAD = 0.904011 USD

United States Dollars- 1 USD = 1.10618 CAD

[falcondude]

Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

We pay more.

[nforcer06164]

Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

That's in Canada, and they measure by the liter. They're actually paying more than us after conversion and exchange rate.

[madmatt621]

Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

Dude! What the ****?!

[DinsFire]

Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

I'm going to say something that has probably been said many times before in this thread already. However, I'm too lazy to look through the five pages (even though it was probably said somewhere early in the first one).

NOT PUMPING GAS FOR ONE DAY WON'T DO A FREAKING THING TO HURT THE OIL COMPANIES!!!

You know why? Because if no one were to pump gas on that day, the people who participated would pump extra the day before and the day after. That's like 1+(-1)+1. Maybe you can't do the math yourself, but that's not hurting them at all. Heck, they may even profit off of it. So, good luck with putting your "dent" in oil companies.

Buying gas is inevitable. Rising prices are inevitable. No one wants to pay 50+ to fill their car, but it's gonna happen. You're gonna have to deal with it. Can't get over it? Build a car that runs off of water or something.

And to those who participate: kick yourself.

EDIT AFTER READING:

Ah, so the only point is the oil companies .. ok. We could always covert this to a Buy At McDonalds day .. or camp out at Walmart day ..

Stretchy, you are focusing on the corporate direct impact, which isn't really the only point. Think about it, if for 1 day, consumers change their behavior, it does send a message. It IS a manipulation.

Rarely do consumers actually speak up with anything significant. This is an easy one to do.

Will it actually save consumers $? No .. will it hurt the oil companies in any significant way? .. No. Will it send a message throughout the participating countries .. possibly. Is it stupid and participated by only idiots? Wow .. I suppose this really gets you going emotionally. You must avoid TV a lot.

The beauty of something like this is .. this an is easy statement. Easier than getting folks to pile in and buy on the same day

Oh. Right. Because the countries who participate in the oil buisness are going to say "oh noez we hurt our customers feelings and now we'll have to lower the prices so they don't cry or something!" [sarcasm]Of course. I mean, there is no possible way that the companies would KNOW that we don't appreciate the high prices, because obviously, if they DID know, they would drop the prices. Right? Of course. So yeah, we better not buy gas on may 15th. That way they will understand that we don't like paying high prices for gas. [/sarcasm]

[crazymagicician000]

Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

*posts myspace bulletin*