9 comments

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  Andrew

  1 year ago

  A good way to combat these high prices is to try and show Big Oil that each American can make difference. If everyone decides together to boycott one company, Exxon Mobil, the entire industry will listen.
  
  I’m part of a campaign to boycott Exxon Mobil, the current leader in profits during this energy crisis. It is hosted on The Point, a new social action website. Check it out here www.thepoint.com/campaigns/send-a-message-to-th...
  
  Hopefully, we can all do something about this terrible injustice
  reply
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  webomatica

  1 year ago

  Definitely, lowering consuption is part of the solution. Not sure if I'd go
  as far as a boycott of a particular company, but it also wouldn't be hard to
  avoid buying gas at the most egregiously expensive companies.
  reply
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  papa

  1 year ago

  I find boycotts like this rather silly. They tend to disregard the root of the problem to begin with. Sure pricing manipulation may be part of the problem, but the problem is multifaceted. As Jason states above, part of the problem is our related to suburban sprawl, part of it is related to global consumptions patterns, part of it is related to finite resources. The list goes on. On top of that, this country is so oil addicted, I think you'd be hard pressed to drum up 20mm people.
  
  The thing of it is that our lifestyle is a prime factor in the energy crisis. We need to take responsibility for this "terrible injustice" (I really don't see it as such). Until we get that one through our thick skulls, we'll keep repeating this cycle until the oil is depleted. Hey Feds, how about showing some spine and raising those CAFE standards again?
  
  Fortunately, there are some companies (not Detroit of course, though they're trying to change their tune...finally) who are working to remedy this. Alternative fuels, electric cars, bicycling, car sharing, mass transit, etc. These should be supported. Of course we're too busy spending billions on bombs and wars to take care of our infrastructure and take REAL measures to reduce oil dependency.
  
  And what happens after the 20 million people are finished with their boycott? Oh let me guess, they'll start right back up consuming at which point the any temporary blip to the demand side of the equation are erased. Great long term solution.
  
  By the way Jase, here's a fun little web app that helps you measure the walkability of your neighborhood. It's a good way to see who will be getting by fine in future oil crises and who will be hurting:
  http://walkscore.com/
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  webomatica

  1 year ago

  Cool site, our place got a 74 out of 100. That's on their "Very Walkable -
  possible to get by without a car" scale. The highest is "Walker's Paradise"
  which I'm sure papa's place is.
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  papa

  1 year ago

  Yeah, the current place scores a 98/100 :-)
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  Robert Barr

  1 year ago

  I am almost embarrassed to admit, but I work from home so my car (my Wife's is a different story!) didn't see the gas station at all in June. Can't say I am hating that!
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  webomatica

  1 year ago

  That's an awesome place to be! I hope more companies allow telecommuting to
  reduce their employee's gas bills.
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  DaveD

  1 year ago

  The question is how I've changed my habits due to rising gasoline prices? I in a very small minority in that I can honestly say - not at all.
  
  I live in a small county (250,000), in a suburb of a small city (130,000) in northwest PA. So first off - I live 2 miles, 1 traffic light and three stop signs from work in a small- to middle-sized company (2800 globally). Another words while I live 4 minutes away from work drive time, I liv in the suburbs. Yet everything I also need to live *is* within minutes. And yeah, by "minutes" I mean tha a 20 minute drive is "long" for me.
  
  My Didge Neon runs through a full tank (12 gallons) every 3-4 weeks. Please, not bragging, just saying I realize how small of a minority I'm in.
  
  I'm thinking about moving further away... there's this one place with 250 acres that is about 10 miles away from everything. Back in 2003-2005 I used to regularly drive 100 miles (200 miles roundtrip) into Cleveland for baseball games at like 70 per season. Back then I could treat a ballgame as though it would be $25 - $10 for gas, $15 for two beers (I always tip). By 2005 I was noticing two things - an easy 20 cent difference of gasoline prices on my way to/from games and how I needed to mentally increase my budget from $10 per game (@1.20 gallon) to $15 per ($1.90 gallon).
  
  I simply cannot imagine what prices today would mean. And yeah - that sort of thing... routines that involve groceries and commuting to work... how those would impact my budget if the commute was 12 miles one way instead of two. Let's just say that this move is on hold this year. No sense in it.
  
  But the other thing asked was about online buying. Here I just don't see where I'm in the minority. Let's take three things - a DVD or book, groceries, and a new computer.
  
  I purchase DVDs and books via whatever is convenient. Always have. If I have time to wait a calendar week to get it then it'll always be Amazon and if not it'll be my local grocery store or iTunes. I see gasoline prices changing nothing there. The dependent factor is how much of an impulse purchase is it - not gasoline, drive time, or shipping costs.
  
  Groceries? Answer is obvious - I'm driving to where I always do. Sure, for the last 10 years it's been that Giant Eagle about 4 minutes away, but even when I lived in Cleveland it was drive to the nearest grocery store. I could see gasoline prices changing my habits in terms of WHAT/HOW my routines are - but that ain't the same as purchasing groceries online.
  
  Which brings us to computers. Or any "big ticket" item (over $200, $500, whatever). There's a Best Buy and Circuit City within 5 minutes of me. An Apple Store? Nearest is in the Cleveland suburbs about 120 miles away. Funny thing on these things - I'll only pay those high shipping prices if (a) there's nothing available in town or (b) I desire to wait for ground shipping which is - and HAS been for years - free. You do the math... how is this affected by the fact that gasoline has doubled in price over the last 2 years? It hasn't.
  
  And I don't think that one changes for those who live within 25, 125, or 325 miles from such stores. Shipping prices reflect gasoline prices. And when shopping online you either pay nothing and wait, or pay something more than it would cost to drive to wherever because you don't want ot waste the drive time (not the drive cost). Online shopping is about the convenience - be it drive time, weather, whatever. Nobody shops online because gasoline prices doubled in 2 years.
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  webomatica

  1 year ago

  Your biggest advantage is living only a few mintues' drive for work, that's
  awesome, and definitely in the minority which you must enjoy.
  
  Good point about shopping online being more about convenience than gas
  prices. Shopping online - the biggest savings is the current trend free
  shipping. I do wonder if this will last? - if gas prices remain high, will
  Amazon and those folks decide someone has to pay to truck all this stuff
  around, and pass the cost over to the consumer?
  
  Then... there is iTunes. Instead of paying gas to ship a DVD from coast to
  coast, just download the movie and no UPS truck has to spend the amount of
  gas to deliver your package.
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