National Gas-Out A Rousing Success
[posted by Jeff]
I just want to thank everybody who participated in the National Gas-Out. Just in case your memory needs refreshing, I will copy and paste the email that was sent to me:
..>
Date:
Mon, 30 Apr 2007 8:26 PM ..>
..>
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 to 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+ American members currently on the Internet
Network,
And the average car takes about 30 to 50 dollars to fill up.or$100
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, so please do not go to the gas station on May 15th and
Lets try to put a dent in the Middle Eastern oil industry for at least
One
Day.
If you agree (which I can't see why you wouldn't) resend this to your
Entire contact list. With it saying, ''Don't pump gas on May 15th"..>
I hate to be such a cynic, but to be honest I was skepitcal that we could do it. But thanks to the dedication of all of the friends in my Outlook contact list, we did it. The oil companies have sold a record zero gallons of gas today, which really is just amazing. Not a single person filled up their tanks today, and I couldn't be more proud.
Here are some of the ramifications from our little protest:
The stocks of all major gasoline companies took a dramatic turn for the worse. Exxon Mobile and Shell hit record lows, with their stocks being worth practically nothing. Stock in The Middle East (MDE) also tumbled slightly, to 11.04. These stocks could have very easily dropped even more, but were saved by the fact that nobody really knows what these numbers mean and weren't sure if they should buy or sell. Although now all of the stock market experts on CNBC are heavily encouraging their viewers to sell all gasoline stocks, so they will likely go even lower. British Petroleum is expected to make an announcement that they are going out of business by 6am Pacific time.
The gas boycott also had local ramifications, with an attendant named Carl being fired from the Wawa on Courthouse Road. Although the manager said it was due to excessive absences, most experts speculate that lack of gas patronage was a primary contributor to management's decision to let him go.
According to "The News", the national gas price average is expected to drop to 48 cents tomorrow. This is due to oil executives going into a panic over the fact that nobody bought gas today. They believe that America has finally figured out how to survive without fuel, and are now slashing their prices to drive up interest in their product. Analysts say the winner of this move "is likely to be consumers".
The following graph compares the oil companies' profits of the last decade to the profits now that we've stuck it to them by boycotting them for one day:
Just for perspective, here is another graph showing the lack of profits:
As you can see, as the profits went down, the lack of profits went up just as sharply. The reason for this can be attributed entirely to the national gas-out on May 15th. It appears that this grassroots internet boycott has really hit Big Oil where it counts--their wallets.
Back to you, Bob.
I just want to thank everybody who participated in the National Gas-Out. Just in case your memory needs refreshing, I will copy and paste the email that was sent to me:
..>
Date:
Mon, 30 Apr 2007 8:26 PM ..>
..>
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 to 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+ American members currently on the Internet
Network,
And the average car takes about 30 to 50 dollars to fill up.or$100
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, so please do not go to the gas station on May 15th and
Lets try to put a dent in the Middle Eastern oil industry for at least
One
Day.
If you agree (which I can't see why you wouldn't) resend this to your
Entire contact list. With it saying, ''Don't pump gas on May 15th"..>
I hate to be such a cynic, but to be honest I was skepitcal that we could do it. But thanks to the dedication of all of the friends in my Outlook contact list, we did it. The oil companies have sold a record zero gallons of gas today, which really is just amazing. Not a single person filled up their tanks today, and I couldn't be more proud.
Here are some of the ramifications from our little protest:
The stocks of all major gasoline companies took a dramatic turn for the worse. Exxon Mobile and Shell hit record lows, with their stocks being worth practically nothing. Stock in The Middle East (MDE) also tumbled slightly, to 11.04. These stocks could have very easily dropped even more, but were saved by the fact that nobody really knows what these numbers mean and weren't sure if they should buy or sell. Although now all of the stock market experts on CNBC are heavily encouraging their viewers to sell all gasoline stocks, so they will likely go even lower. British Petroleum is expected to make an announcement that they are going out of business by 6am Pacific time.
The gas boycott also had local ramifications, with an attendant named Carl being fired from the Wawa on Courthouse Road. Although the manager said it was due to excessive absences, most experts speculate that lack of gas patronage was a primary contributor to management's decision to let him go.
According to "The News", the national gas price average is expected to drop to 48 cents tomorrow. This is due to oil executives going into a panic over the fact that nobody bought gas today. They believe that America has finally figured out how to survive without fuel, and are now slashing their prices to drive up interest in their product. Analysts say the winner of this move "is likely to be consumers".
The following graph compares the oil companies' profits of the last decade to the profits now that we've stuck it to them by boycotting them for one day:
Just for perspective, here is another graph showing the lack of profits:
As you can see, as the profits went down, the lack of profits went up just as sharply. The reason for this can be attributed entirely to the national gas-out on May 15th. It appears that this grassroots internet boycott has really hit Big Oil where it counts--their wallets.
Back to you, Bob.
3 Comments:
How do you come up with all this stuff? You're a talented and witty writer.
My mom was able to convince my dad to move one time because of gas lines in the 70's. After the move they went away. My mom was happier to be closer to my dad's work. But you know what else is a rousing success?...YOU!
I just got this email from my sister-in-law:
NEW GAS WAR - a new 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 the end of this 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 about 60 people. If each of us sends it
>>to just ten more (30 x 10 = 300) ... and those 300 send it to at
>>least ten more (300 x 10 = 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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