Do we have the guts to form a boycott on fuel in America? I dont think we can?

Question

go even one hour without driving our cars much less a day . We have the power but are just to caught up in ourselves to use it. Power to the almighty oil companies!

Answer 1

The problem with staging a boycott of 1 day of not buying fuel, is that the oil companies know there will be a spike of sales the day before and the day after of what we need.

In order for a boycott to be effective is to cut into the profits of a company. The way to do this is to exclusively purchase gas from 1 company for a month. Granted that company's profits will grow, but the others will be hurt. For instance let's say for the month of June, the population only buys gas from BP, the sales from Exxon/Mobile would be affected.

The problem with the gas industry in the US is that there is less competition now than there was 20 years ago. Less competition means less incentive for "price wars".

Answer 2

It's really not about guts, it's about infrastructure that was built for cars.

Most people don't live in places designed to be car free.

By the way, my one-car household uses one car into town and out of town for two people-shared commute.

The bus takes 1.5 hours, the double commute 10 minutes. Until gas prices exceed $7 an hour, it's cheaper for my family to take the one car. Because the bus lines are designed in an inconvinent way where I live, it takes me just under 3 hours a day of bus riding to get to work and back....that's 3 hours I'm not doing one of my jobs-curing cancer or being a mom....

AND *I* live in a city. If I did not live in a city, I can only imagine the impossibility of trying to boycott fuel, as you put it.

Answer 3

Heck no !

We can't all even agree that, every drunk driver , namely Ms. Paris Hilton should go to jail for driving her gas guzzling Bentley while 3 sheets to the wind.  

We are too stupid and too lazy to fix our own problems and need big brother to take us by the hand and tell us what to think,  what to do and when to do it.

Problem is us idiots keep electing our idiot KING to office , and nothing significant ever changes .  It's been maintaining the status quo since the friggin civil war . We have done nothing , nothing , nothing  since then.  And don't let any mushroom eating , former hippie tell you different.

We have no back bone , and will soon have devolved to the point of again dragging our knuckles on the ground while walking. ( maybe that is the answer after all)

We couldn't boycott ANYTHING  !  1/2 of the people reading this had to look up the word boycott for heaven's sake and half of those people had to cut and paste it into their google browser because they don't know how to use a dictionary.  You think they would actually do it ?  

naaah

Answer 4

To make a difference with a boycott, we need to boycott using as much gasoline for a month or more.  Simply not buying as much today, just means more will be bought tomorrow.  The only way this helps is if we USE LESS.  Today the people not buyng gas unfortunately are still using it by driving.

Here's the real solution:

1 - Carpool

2 - ride a bike

3 - take the bus

4 - ride a motorcycle

5 - buy a hybrid

6 - sell the SUV

7 - telecommute from home

8 - work 4 "10-hour" days a week instead of 5 "8-hour" days

9 - Move closer to your job

10 - Buy a flex fuel car and always fill with E85

11 - Buy a Mercedes or VW and use 100% biodiesel

12 - Buy an old 81-85 300d mercedes and use vegetable oil!

13 - Make high fuel economy the first feature you look for in a new car

14 - Share this information with your friends, family and peers at school and at work.

15 - Good luck!

I challenge everyone reading this on yahoo to pick one of these and do it.  Then we can make a difference.  If the asker of this question see's no change of prices tomorrow at the pump, it's because the boycott didn't work.  This will.

Answer 5

One hour, one day or even one week will have no effect because eventually, you will still need to buy fuel.  Now reducing your consumption permanently, would be a different matter.  I'm not inclined to do so, however, as I like my car and plan to replace it with one that is even more powerful.

Answer 6

MAY 15th,  it has been going around on the Internet as a BOYCOTT day for fossil fuels. Everybody is supposed to not drive as much, dont go to the store, and especially not fill up on gas!!!!!!!!! If everyone does this  just for one day it is supposed to take  a considerable chunk  of  change out of the oil company's pockets! If American could do this even for a week it would be awe inspiring! I believe in America, this is something worthy of every red-blooded American!!!!!!!

WE CAN DO IT!!!!! IF WE STAND UNITED!

Answer 7

hey i heard that if we boycott exxon and mobile it can make a difference. they are the main and biggest company and the most expensive. if they dont have alot of business they will lower the price and the others will follow. it is really simple and we do not have to stop completely (which only hurts us) we just stop using that company and things may change. which is easy for me considering it is always like 15 cents more and i live in a small town with like 3 or four gas stations.

oh and i hear valero is mobile/exxon in disguise.

that may be the solution. so try it. it is easy. i have been doin it for over a month, no trouble at all.

Answer 8

Its not so much about guts, but about smart decisions. Most times we don't think about things like this as long as all is going well. Now that we can see the impact of our dependence, we can commit to some smart decisions.

As has already been mentioned, a short boycut would not affect the oil companies at all because we would go back to the old habbits. using less gas is the way to go. Lets make it a long and sustainable process rather than an abrupt action. Its only in the long run that the impact can really be felt.

Using tips from the list mentioned above like carpooling etc is a good place to start that way we are smart about it and are we don't put ourselves into a grid lock.

Answer 9

Couldn't agree more. It's more of an addiction than anything, Even with government incentives to go "green," too many people simply don't care enough to even consider a hybrid car or starting recycling programs in their town. Until gas starts costing over $5 a gallon, I don't think there will be much progress. Of course, we could always mimic what several European countries have done: raise gas prices to unimaginable rates (i.e. $13 a gallon) which, in turn, would begin forcing people to use public transportation! Seems to be working over there...

Answer 10

I agree with gyspy.  The only way we are really truly going to hurt the oil companies is if we start going to mass transit, which would be very difficult to do since the American population is so spread out to the suburbs and countryside.  Or unless we started switching to biofuels like E-85 and soydiesel.  Smaller companies typically make the biofuels.

The oil companies and the refineries usually sell their gasoline in monthly lots or more.  So one day of not buying gas will just hurt the people who own the gas stations and not the oil companies or refineries.  Basically, unless we reduce our fuel consumption over the long haul, the oil companies always keep making their nice hefty profits.  And even if we do that, they may raise prices to compensate for the lack of profit.

Politicians could play the biggest role in stopping them, but the Republicans have done a very good job of making sure that doesn't happen.  The Republicans were the ones that deregulated it and they are the ones that have allowed the oil companies to raise gas prices at basically the levels they did in the 1970's and gain their largest profits ever.  The Democrats barely have a majority in either house and any legislation they try to pass in that regards would get vetoed by Bush.  So for now were in a no win situation.  The worst thing is that because gas prices have gone up that raises the price to transport goods.  When transport fees go up product prices go up, which means inflation.  Not only that, but our electricity costs go up, heating costs go up, and all that other jazz.  And who does basically almost 100% of this cost hit?  It hits the poor average American worker taking what little money we have and putting it in the hands of the richest people in the world.  In fact, for the month of April, consumer spending went down the largest percentage since 1970.  To me that says that the poor average American's wallet is getting hit really really hard.  We all need to start writing our congressman and finally start having them put the pinch on the rich guys for a change.

Answer 11

I disagree with those that do not believe that a boycout will be effective. It will absolutely be effective.

If you dont drive for even one day it will make a difference. Exxon alone takes in 1 billion dollars per day in revenue. A 1 time 1 billion dollar loss will be felt and noticed- it would make a difference.

Answer 12

This will not affect the oil companies. Gasoline prices went up, doubled right after gasoline was deregulated. I am afraid the only people who would be hurt by this or a boycott are the poor souls who owns the gasoline store & only makes a few cents on each gallon of gas sold.

The best solution would be to re-regulate gasoline prices,, keeping the same limit on profits of the sale of gas as they are giving the gasoline store owner (gasoline store owner's profits would be subtracted from the profit first, still getting their profit).

Look at the news, gasoline companies profits were the highest on record in 2006. It is time to take control of the prices again, but I doublt if any of our 'elected' officiers will stick their neck out & introduce a cap on oil companies profit limits.But we can try. The cost of gas is destorying our world. My daughter spend approx. $32 aweek on gasoline, when a gallon was around a dollar.Now  she is spending a $100. She is an interpreter for the deaf, it requires driving to them.

This is the answer, we all need to  write our senators & congress repres. Tell them it is time to regulate the profits the oil companies are allowed to make per gallon, being no more than .3 cents a gallon.  in the same letter we must insist on cotinued incentives for electric cars & alternative fuels for our electric companies.

How many gallons of gas do we use a day? The oil companies would still make their  billions & with incentives for electric cars & alternative fuels for our electric companies, & a demand for cleaner burning  vehicles, we can still clean up the air..

Answer 13

The problem is that gasoline and diesel are the only things out there. It's a monopoly, the few alternatives coming out aren't efficiently produced just yet. I think they will be eventually.

I just don't see how we'll ever give up our cars completely. I don't think we can. If we resolve not to buy gasoline, we'll really only be hurting ourselves. Sure, there are other forms of transport, but nothing as efficient as our car. As was stated, his personal carpool takes less time than the bus. We can all ride bikes or walk, but that only makes sense if we live in the city, near our job. I live in a small town and most of the towns around me empty of people during working hours because we commute to a city across the river. There are no jobs closer. One of my jobs was a 25 mile commute, one way, to the north end of the city, the south end would have been 12, but the majority of the workplaces are on the north end. Riding a bike just isn't feasible because the commute would take longer. I can get up earlier in the day, but that would mean less sleep, and I'd be too tired to do my job, which leads to accidents and injuries. And certainly, we can't ride bikes in the winter. I've seen temps of 60 below, but even at 32 above, the wind on the face while biking would cause frostbite. And what about night? Who has the energy to pedal uphill after a hard day's work? I know I wouldn't, I live in a river valley. And it's just not safe anymore to walk at night, anywhere.

Eventually, I'd lose the job. And I think many of us would lose our jobs, without the speed and protection of our cars. I don't think there's ever going to be a perfect solution. What's perfect for one is a disaster for another.

I did come up with a pretty good solution once, that solved about 3 of our most major problems...we as a society could automate all our factories, then work from home as salesmen or such, order our groceries and other necessities online, then the only vehicles on the roads would be maintenace personel and delivery vans. We solve major gas usage, vehicle emissions, traffic jams. Of course, prices would skyrocket to cover the cost of the factory automations, and delivery charges would probably go up, but it takes care of the gas, now doesn't it? Seems simple here, though I had it worked to the finest details. But again, it's just not feasible to implement, so why go into detail?

Answer 14

The problem is, Americans are so addicted to using their cars that going without them would be impossible to convince everyone to do. Also, people would just think, "Oh, I'm only one person. It's not like I'll make a difference." I know this isn't true (!!!) but that's what one average selfish American would do.

Why do you think we are in the war in Iraq right now? To get more oil. Someone seems to be under the impression that Americans want more oil and they want it cheaper- uh, WHEN  was a poll ever taken about this? To really stop global warning, gas prices should be raised, not lowered. This will encourage people to use less gas and because America seems to use more gas than any other country, this really could make an impact on the environment. Besides, the extra money paid on gas could either be used to pay off national debt (the selfish thing to do), or invest in alternative fuel research or numerous other things to help stop global warming.