[Vision2020] Gas War - An Idea that Will Work

[Barrett Schroeder]

Here is a link to the Snopes (Urban Legends Reference) page on this email
plan, which in some form goes back to at least 2001, citing "high" gas
prices of $1.58 per gallon:

	http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/gasout.asp

The article is somewhat interesting.  I think the last paragraph is simple
and insightful:

"The only practical way of reducing gasoline prices is through the
straightforward means of buying less gasoline, not through a simple and
painless scheme of just shifting where we buy it. The inconvenience of
driving less is a hardship too many people apparently aren't willing to
endure, however."

I would add that we can also hope for more efficient cars, such as hybrids,
or other transportation options.


Of course, as soon as I send this email I am going to get in my car and
drive across town ...


Barrett


> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Tom Hansen [SMTP:thansen at moscow.com]
> Sent:	Friday, April 21, 2006 5:37 PM
> To:	Moscow Vision 2020; 
> Subject:	[Vision2020] Gas War - An Idea that Will Work
> 
> The following email was forwarded to me by a friend of my father down in
> Los
> Angeles.
> 
> The idea makes perfect sense without putting a strain on us regular folk.
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> 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 action. 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,all you have to do is send
> this to 10 people.... I'm a mathematician, 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.
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Your thoughts?
> 
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho << File: unnamed.htm >>  << File: ATT10254.txt >>