The grassroot nature of this boycott impressed me and it might be quite timely, considering Americans’ general opposition to the wholesale slaughter in Iraq. I want to see (hence the ‘research’) how this will affect the current inflated gas price, compared to the much smaller
boycott in April, '97, which was before the internet was a force to be reckoned with, also before America and Britain ;turned Iraq into a Hitlerian killing field. We’re going to participate in the boycott. Here’s what I just got in my email box:
NO GAS…On May 15th 2007
Don’t pump gas on May 15th.
…in April 1997, there was a “gas out” conducted nationwide in protest
of gas prices. Gasoline prices dropped 30 cents a gallon overnight.
On May 15th 2007, all internet users are asked not go to a gas station
in protest of high gas prices. Gas is now over $3.00 a gallon in most
places.
There are 73,000,000+ Americans currently on the internet and the
average car takes about 30 to 50 dollars to fill up.
If all users did not go to the pump on the 15th, it would take
$2,292,000,000.00 (that’s almost 3 BILLION) out of the oil company’s pockets
for just one day. Please do not go to the gas station on May 15th and let’s
try to put a dent in the oil industry for at least one day.
It would be great if it worked, Don, but I have to say I’m not optimistic.
A friend in California just sent me this:
Don’t Pump Gas on May 15
Netlore Archive: Latest version of familiar email chain letter urges Internet users in the U.S. to boycott gas stations on May 15, 2007 to ‘put a dent in the Middle Eastern oil industry’
Description: Protest chain letter
Circulating since: April 2007 (this version)
Status: False / Pointless
Analysis: See below
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but it didn’t cause gas prices to drop 30 cents per gallon overnight. In fact, it didn’t cause them to drop at all. Despite the popularity of the email campaign, the event itself attracted scant participation and was completely ineffectual.
There are over 205 million Internet users in the United States, far more than the 73 million claimed.
If, say, a hundred million drivers refused en masse to fill up their tanks on May 15, the total of what they didn’t spend could amount to as much as $3 billion. However, it doesn’t follow that such a boycott would actually decrease oil companies’ revenues by that amount, given that the average sales of gasoline across the entire U.S. is under $1 billion per day in the first place.
Whether the total impact was a half-billion, 3 billion, or 10 billion dollars, the sales missed due to a one-day consumer boycott wouldn’t hurt the oil companies one bit. Think about it. Every single American who doesn’t buy gas on Tuesday is still going to have to fill up their tank on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, making up for Tuesday’s losses. Sales for the whole week would be normal, or very close to it.
A meaningful boycott would entail participants actually consuming less fuel – and doing so in a sustained, disciplined fashion over a defined period of time – not just choosing to wait a day or two before filling up as usual.
