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cptwright

can we lower gas prices?

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BEFORE YOU THINK, OH BOY. READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT IT, IT MAKES A WHOLE LOT OF SENSE. CAUSE GOD KNOWS WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING BOUT GAS PRICES, THERE GONNA BE A KILLER, NOT JUST AT THE PUMPS BUT EVERYWHERE ELSE CAUSE EVERYBODIES GOT TO MAKE UP THE DIFFERENCE IN HIGHER FUEL PRICES. SO READ ON AND HOPEFULLY WE CAN ALL DO THIS AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

 

 

Now here is something that just might work. We Americans

HAVE to do something about the fuel prices. The gas war WILL work if we

can get enough people involved.

 

I am definitely going to join in. How about you!!!

 

GAS WAR - an idea that WILL work

This was originally sent by a retired Coca Cola

executive . It came from one of his engineer buddies who retired from

Halliburton. It ' s worth your consideration.

 

Join the resistance!!!! I hear we are going to

hit close to $4.00 a gallon by next summer and it might go higher!! Want

gasoline prices to come down? We need to take some intelligent, united

act ion. Phillip Hollsworth offered this good idea.

 

This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy

gas on a certain day" campaign that was going around last April or May!

The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't

continue to "hurt" ourselves by refusing to buy gas. It was more of an

inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them.

 

BUT, whoever thought of this idea, has come up

with a plan that can really work Please read on and join with us! By now

you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $1.50 is super cheap.

Me too! It is currently $2.79 for regular unleaded in my town. Now that

the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that

the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at $1.50 - $1.75, we need to take

aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the

marketplace..... not sellers. With the price of

gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take action. The

only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we hit

someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas! And, we can do

that WITHOUT hurting ourselves. How? Since we all rely on our cars, we

can't just stop buying gas. But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if

we all act together to force a price war.

 

Here's the idea:

 

For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY

gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON and

MOBIL. If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce

their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have

to follow suit.

 

But to have an impact, we need to reach

literally millions of Exxon and Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to

do! Now, don't wimp out at this point.... keep reading and I'll explain

how simple it is to reach millions of people.

 

I am sending this note to 30 people. If each of

us sends it to at least ten more (30 x 10 =3D 300) ... and those 300

send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 =3D 3,000)...and so on, by the

time the message reaches the sixth group of people, we will have reached

over THREE MILLION consumers. If those three million get excited and

pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been

contacted! If it goes one level further, you guessed it..... THREE

>>>>HUNDRED MILLION >>>>PEOPLE!!!

 

Again, all you have to do is send this to 10

people That's all. (If you don't understand how we can reach 300 million

and all you have to do is send this to 10 people.... Well, let's face

it, you just aren't a mathematician. But I am, so trust me on this

one.)

 

How long would all that take? If each of us

sends this e-mail out to ten more people within one day of receipt, all

300 MILLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next 8

days!!!

 

I'll bet you didn't think you and I had that

much potential, did you?

 

Acting together we can make a difference. If

this makes sense to you, please pass this message on. I suggest that we

not buy from EXXON/MOBIL UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $1.30

RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN.

 

THIS CAN REALLY WORK.

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Problem is, Exxon and Mobil also sell their gas (and oil) to their competitors as well. Similar to a drug company making both the brand name and generic brands of the same drug. Whatever makes it a sale and a profit for the company.

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Well, we have officially hit the $3.00 per gallon mark around here. Another thing that just started happening over the weekend is that several gas stations are running out of gas. Another ploy by the gas companies to justify their obscene profits. I can't tell you how angry I am about all of this. Its all a scam and nobody is willing to do anything about it.

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** RANT ALERT! **

 

What makes me angriest is to hear President Bush, as he said last week, say: "A man asked me at the airport : "Mr. President can't you do something about the gas prices?" Pres. Bush pauses and laughs, (heh heh heh) "The truth is I can't do anything about the price of gas."

 

Oh, really? The President worked in the oil business. So did the Vice President. The Vice President had a meeting before taking office on energy policy, presumably with members of the energy community. Between the Vice President and President they obviously know many oil company executives. The President has the bully pulpit of the Presidency to affect policy. He has the ability to influence regulation of the oil industry. He has a Speaker of the House and Majority Leader of the Senate to control what legislation is introduced. His Party has a majority in each House of Congress. He also has the authority with a signature from his pen to release oil from the strategic oil reserve that WOULD influence the price of gas.

 

For him to say that he can't do anything about the price of oil is ridiculous and untrue. Whether he REFUSES to do anything about it is another manner.

 

Whew! END RANT

Edited by trekz

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Well, we have officially hit the $3.00 per gallon mark around here. Another thing that just started happening over the weekend is that several gas stations are running out of gas. Another ploy by the gas companies to justify their obscene profits. I can't tell you how angry I am about all of this. Its all a scam and nobody is willing to do anything about it.

This one is not oil companies fault to a point. It had just happen at the same time, but they have been working on this for years. They are changing gas additive from MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether) to ethanol. MTBE has found to contaminate groundwater. It was also found water molecules from the pipe and tank will stick to the ethanol. Water is not health to the gas engine. They are waiting to drain the storage tanks to line the pipes and the tank itself so ethanol will not get water in the gas.

Edited by Odie

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Is that US Dollars? I can't imagine paying $5 a gallon for gas...ouch...

 

1 gallon = 3.79 liters

1 AUS dollar = 0.75 USA dollar

It's in Australian currency. In American money she is paying $2.85 per gallon.

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** RANT ALERT! **

 

What makes me angriest is to hear President Bush, as he said last week, say: "A man asked me at the airport : "Mr. President can't you do something about the gas prices?" Pres. Bush pauses and laughs, (heh heh heh) "The truth is I can't do anything about the price of gas."

 

Oh, really? The President worked in the oil business. So did the Vice President. The Vice President had a meeting before taking office on energy policy, presumably with members of the energy community. Between the Vice President and President they obviously know many oil company executives. The President has the bully pulpit of the Presidency to affect policy. He has the ability to influence regulation of the oil industry. He has a Speaker of the House and Majority Leader of the Senate to control what legislation is introduced. His Party has a majority in each House of Congress. He also has the authority with a signature from his pen to release oil from the strategic oil reserve that WOULD influence the price of gas.

 

For him to say that he can't do anything about the price of oil is ridiculous and untrue. Whether he REFUSES to do anything about it is another manner.

 

Whew! END RANT

 

And for all that ranting, you missed the boat almost entirely. What you're implying would be a price ceiling, which from economist's standpoint is one of the worst things you can do. In a similar vein, it's not the place of the president to "bully pulpit" businesses. This is not socialism, nor is it communism.

 

The federal oil reserve is for EMERGENCIES, not mere inconveniences. We still pay less in gas than pretty much the rest of the world. The reserve, imo, should be used for when the line is dry and no one's selling it to us.

 

And you completely ignored the best strategy that the government can execute that will most likely reduce gas prices: anti-trust litigation. So far in Bush's presidency, launched federal probes alone have caused gas prices to temporarily dip. A serious investigation from the Department of Justice is about the best thing Bush could initiate.

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And for all that ranting, you missed the boat almost entirely. What you're implying would be a price ceiling, which from economist's standpoint is one of the worst things you can do. In a similar vein, it's not the place of the president to "bully pulpit" businesses. This is not socialism, nor is it communism.

 

In the past president had used "bully pulpit" in the name of American people who elected him into office when big business abuses their trust with the people. I remember this president was elected by the people not by big business. If the American people feel they unjustly price for a product they have right to demand their president to do something about it.

 

The first president to use the "bully pulpit" was Theodore Roosevelt against Standard Oil which created Sherman Act. If the oil companies are in engaged in price fixing it is the president has the authority to investigate the matter.

 

Price ceiling maybe needed because the price in fuel will affect everything else. Fuel price affects every sector of our life. Name on thing that fuel doesn't touch. That would include transpiration to picking the crops. Someone will have to pay the difference, and I don't see companies taking the losses they don't need have to in the first place.

 

The federal oil reserve is for EMERGENCIES, not mere inconveniences. We still pay less in gas than pretty much the rest of the world. The reserve, imo, should be used for when the line is dry and no one's selling it to us.

 

In the past the oil reserve was used off-set gas prices at the pump. I can go back to Reagan to Clinton. In fact their less oil- refineries today than there were last year at this time. It also happens at the same time when crude oil supply was down. This is not the case this time with crude oil. In fact the supply is at all time high with fewer refineries to produce than there was last year. I wonder why the oil companies closed down refineries and not new one since the 70's.

 

Maybe the demand hasn’t really gone up, but the amount of gas from the refineries has gone down. This would drive up the prices to make the demand look more than it should be so they can have record breaking profits like they did last year.

 

And you completely ignored the best strategy that the government can execute that will most likely reduce gas prices: anti-trust litigation. So far in Bush's presidency, launched federal probes alone have caused gas prices to temporarily dip. A serious investigation from the Department of Justice is about the best thing Bush could initiate.

 

It was only temporarily because the anti-trust litigation was called off. Once the government back off from it the litigation the companies went back to their "price fixing".

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And for all that ranting, you missed the boat almost entirely. What you're implying would be a price ceiling, which from economist's standpoint is one of the worst things you can do. In a similar vein, it's not the place of the president to "bully pulpit" businesses. This is not socialism, nor is it communism.

 

In the past president had used "bully pulpit" in the name of American people who elected him into office when big business abuses their trust with the people. I remember this president was elected by the people not by big business. If the American people feel they unjustly price for a product they have right to demand their president to do something about it.

I would argue that that is more what Representatives and Senators are for.

 

The first president to use the "bully pulpit" was Theodore Roosevelt against Standard Oil which created Sherman Act. If the oil companies are in engaged in price fixing it is the president has the authority to investigate the matter.
Ok, for the record, I wish to state that I do not consider anti-trust litigation to be "bully pulpit" politics.

 

Price ceiling maybe needed because the price in fuel will affect everything else. Fuel price affects every sector of our life. Name on thing that fuel doesn't touch. That would include transpiration to picking the crops. Someone will have to pay the difference, and I don't see companies taking the losses they don't need have to in the first place.
Exactly why a price ceiling would be terrible. You can force them to sell it for no more than a certain amount of money, but you can't force them to produce a certain amount of output. When you use a price ceiling, you're practically guaranteeing shortages. And the result is lines at the gas station reminiscent of the '70s.

 

And you completely ignored the best strategy that the government can execute that will most likely reduce gas prices: anti-trust litigation. So far in Bush's presidency, launched federal probes alone have caused gas prices to temporarily dip. A serious investigation from the Department of Justice is about the best thing Bush could initiate.

 

It was only temporarily because the anti-trust litigation was called off. Once the government back off from it the litigation the companies went back to their "price fixing".

 

I know, which is why I want to see the probe that Bush ordered today to stick around a little bit longer and actually yield some results! Unfortunately, oligopolies have become incredibly tough to convict.

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The gas prices rant was MY rant, which I am entitled to, (since a number of people on this board have made rants over the years), and it was a RANT, not a meticulously, carefully thought out plan for a solution to our energy woes, and it was clearly labeled RANT. To analyze it as if it was a thoughtful plan is ones right, but is not necessarily reasonable or worth analyzing. My main point was that when President Bush said there was nothing he could do, that was not true, which is borne out imo by the fact that President Bush did take some actions this week.

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Its really simple folks, everyone repeat after me: Supply and Demand.

 

Supply and Demand.

 

Note that supply and demand affects an entire industry, not just a few companies in it.

 

If we succeed in boycotting ExxonMobile and bringing their price down, without making any other changes in our gas comsumption, all we will do is send more business to other providers (many of whom are ExxonMobile customers anyway) and drive their prices UP. In effect nothing has changed.

 

It is like those times when people said to not buy gas on certian days. People simply filled their tanks the day before, or they forgot to and bought gas on those days anyway. The one day blip doesn't even show up on the quarterly reports because the same amount of gas got sold.

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It is always that simple, but there are other factors that are not talked about with high gas prices this year. Crude oil supply and price are at the all time high. The demand hasn't changed all that much since last year. The growth in gas in the US is just 0.9%. Not much in my book. The refineries production is down from last year. This year they are operating just a little bit above 80%. Last year production was at 96% to 97%. I am wondering why are oil companies slow in speeding up production of their refineries. Maybe they want to have another record breaking year in profits like they had last year.

Edited by Odie

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Demand in the US may not be up significantly but worldwide demand is up and oil that may have formerly come to the US is being diverted to other developing nations like China - so there are supply demand issues.

 

However, my apologies to the economists but a theory of human behavior isn't a natural law like gravity - in other words gas companies are making record profits - meaning the price at the tank for gas is in no way related to costs of acquiring, refining, and distributing it - so oil companies have an excuse to make excess profits.

 

As for refineries - there my be a couple of answers - regulations making getting the proper permits difficult OR a conscious choice by oil companies not to do anything that would lower gas prices - ie if they had more refineries they would have more supply and thus no excuse to keep raising prices.

 

Or, the rising prices are part of a concentrated effort by oil companies to gut any environmental regulations - everytime voting on drilling in Alaska comes up - prices go up - or the President yesterday gave the oil companies just what they wanted - no environmental controls - and why should we care - the people who will ultimately pay the price for this aren't grown yet so we don't have to deal with them.

 

The truth is Americans need to alter their lifestyles to be more conservative - the biggest thing people could do is eat more locally grown food (yes something like 40% of gas consumption in the US is used in trucking food across the country). Politicians are not going to suggest people be conservative because ultimately they want to keep prices high to accomodate the oil companies and they want people to be wasteful and improvident because that is what keeps our economy going.

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Oil refineries take time to build and an enormous amount of capital. Its not like a producer can just say "We're building a couple refineries" and have them spring up overnight.

 

My earlier point, however, is if you want to influence the price of gas there are only 2 ways, use less overall or increase output overall. Only targeting one or two suppliers in the enitre market or only targeting one or two days in the week will not get you there. Demand doesn't change, it is simply shifted elsewhere.

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it may only shift demand but a shift away from a major company can hurt them enough to help us. anyway better to try and fail than to sit around and let them continue to shove it in and bread it off.

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But how would we take advantage of that help? By buying from the major producers when their prices are less than the minor producers. So in the end not only would this be a shift of demand from one firm to another firm in the same industry but the shift itself would be only temporary.

Edited by Lt. Van Roy

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The only way we'll really reduce gas prices is to change our lifestyles and use less gas

 

Many of us don't have that option due to work unless its ok for you not to have packages, newspapers, mail, etc. delivered to your house.

 

A quick way to reduce the price of oil is for the government to stop imposing outrageous taxes on every gallon of gas. Currently, the gas tax is about 60 cents per gallon. The oil companies supposedly make about 8-9 cents per gallon.

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The only way we'll really reduce gas prices is to change our lifestyles and use less gas

 

Many of us don't have that option due to work unless its ok for you not to have packages, newspapers, mail, etc. delivered to your house.

 

A quick way to reduce the price of oil is for the government to stop imposing outrageous taxes on every gallon of gas. Currently, the gas tax is about 60 cents per gallon. The oil companies supposedly make about 8-9 cents per gallon.

 

About 40% of fuel consumption in this country is spent on shipping food across country. That means that here in Sunny Florida you can buy California oranges in the grocery store instead of the fresh from the tree oranges your neighbor down the road is selling. Everyone can change their lifestyles - they can eat more locally grown foods - ironically the food at your local farmer's market is going to taste better anyway. And ironically as well - if we included more fresh fruits and vegetables in our diet and less fast food we'd be healthier besides saving gas. Almost everyone - even apartment dwellers like myself can grow a few foods for themselves - I can't see why anyone that has ever tasted a home grown tomato would buy grocery store tomatoes anyway.

 

I have to commute but I can choose to drive a Civic rather than a Suburban - AND if there was really any interest in reducing the gas burden on the American taxpayer - more companies would offer options for working from home or for a four ten hour day workweek. Actually a coupel of school district, Kentucky, went to a four day week and saved a lot of money. People can choose not waste electricity - you need some fuel source to generate electricity. Not every solution fits every person but if every person did a little - the cumulative effect would be significant. Everyone can do something to use less gas.

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At our house, we have a GMC Jimmy, a Ford Excursion, a Chevy Silverado 1500, and a pair of Kia Rios. Julie usually takes one of the KIA's to work, since she works about 20 miles away, but Gary and I both work less than 3 miles away, and Krissy works about 5 miles away, so for the daily drive, it's not a big deal. When Gary has to drive at work, he takes his Kia.

Edited by Jim Phaserman

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Referring to the 1st post in this thread, it looks like some people are going to try cptwright's idea..

 

 

 

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Texas Town's Fuel Boycott Draws Support, Doubt

By LYNN BREZOSKY, AP

 

BEEVILLE, Texas (April 30) - High gas prices are unquestionably painful in this small South Texas town that is at least an hour's drive from malls and specialized medical care, but some residents are doubting the wisdom of the county board's call for a boycott of Exxon Mobil Corp.

 

 

 

Ben Margot, AP

The boycott against Exxon Mobil will continue until gas is down to $1.30 a gallon, said County Judge Jimmy Martinez.

 

More Coverage:

· Find Cheap Gas

· Gas-Saving Tips

· AOL Autos

 

Talk About It: Post Thoughts

 

 

 

Opponents of the boycott that starts Monday note that oil and gas taxes fund much of Bee County's budget, and they say a boycott could end up harming mom-and-pop gas stations whose main profits are not from oil.

 

The boycott against the world's largest oil company will continue until gas is down to $1.30 a gallon, said County Judge Jimmy Martinez, the county's highest elected official. A gallon of regular unleaded cost $2.92 on average around the nation and $2.80 in the Corpus Christi region Sunday, according to AAA.

 

"I understand free enterprise. I understand we live in America. But, by golly, just because they have a license doesn't mean that they can rob," Martinez said.

 

A Beeville Bee-Picayune poll showed 72 percent of those surveyed plan to participate in the boycott.

 

The rural town of 13,000 people has fast-food restaurants and a Wal-Mart, but the long drive to other businesses and services is more than just an inconvenience for some locals.

 

"It's hurting everybody; everything is going up except the pay," said Debbie Ponce, a 35-year-old hairdresser who no longer makes the lengthy trip in her sport utility vehicle.

 

Martinez said Exxon, based near Dallas, was targeted because of its size and the message it sent with its recent compensation and pension package to former chief executive Lee Raymond. He received $69.7 million in compensation and a $98 million pension payout after retiring late last year.

 

But Exxon Mobil, which made $36 billion in profits last year, said supply and demand are mainly responsible for the high gas prices and pointed out that only about 13,000 of the country's 170,000 gas stations have the Exxon or Mobil brand. And all but about 1,000 of those are owned by franchisors, the company said.

 

Commissioner Susan Stasny, the only dissenter in Monday's 4-1 vote, noted the irony of the boycott coming from the heart of oil country.

 

 

Senators Upset Over High Gas Prices

 

 

 

AP ''They get together, reduce the supply of oil, and that drives up prices.''

-- Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., calling for a windfall profits tax on oil companies

 

Post Thoughts | Prices Soar

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1/3

 

 

In the past five years, she said, the county received $8 million in oil and gas tax revenues, with the county's four school districts receiving a combined $30 million.

 

"We're all concerned about the price of gasoline," she said. "However, the oil and gas industry has been very kind to Bee County."

 

Fuel is the lowest-profit item at the town's three Exxon stations, owner Leticia Munoz said, adding that her 51 employees fear for their jobs.

 

"They realize if it affects us, it'll affect them," said Munoz, whose profits come mainly from sales of tacos, sodas and other store items.

 

Martinez put out a newsletter Friday urging citizens to boycott only gas, not the convenience stores.

 

Munoz said she had gotten a few customers who wanted to show disapproval of the resolution by buying Exxon gas.

 

"One said he hadn't bought Exxon fuel in 33 years," she said.

 

Still, Exxon's reasoning in a statement that it "does not and could not control the market price of gasoline" doesn't matter much to the many who blame the oil companies.

 

Said Martinez: "They're coming into my office, they're having to make a decision whether to drive for dialysis in Corpus Christi or whether they want to put food on the table."

 

 

04/30/06 16:01 EDT

 

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Here's an interesting tidbit. I just heard on the news this morning that the United Arab Emigrates has lowered the price of gas in their country to...............65 cents a gallon!

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The only way we'll really reduce gas prices is to change our lifestyles and use less gas

 

Many of us don't have that option due to work unless its ok for you not to have packages, newspapers, mail, etc. delivered to your house.

 

A quick way to reduce the price of oil is for the government to stop imposing outrageous taxes on every gallon of gas. Currently, the gas tax is about 60 cents per gallon. The oil companies supposedly make about 8-9 cents per gallon.

 

 

9 cents per gallon, 55 gallons in a barrel, right? If each oil company sells 15,000,000 barrels per day, that's $74.25 MILLION dollars a DAY that they make.

 

Now, the Gas tax, that's the Federal tax, states also have their own, which is why gas is more expensive, for example, in Pleasant Prarie, Wisconsin than it is in Winthrop Harbor, Illinois, even though those two cities are seperated by the imaginary line that is the Illinois/Wisconsin border.

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Gas is below $3 a gallon. It was above $4 a couple years ago. I think I know why.

 

We are all 2 years older now. When you get older your digestive and excretory systems become less efficient. That means you fart more.

 

More farts = more gas. More gas means gas prices drop.

 

See? Supply and Demand!

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