Gas prices - stop complaining and act!

Recently, outcry over gas prices has reached new heights and I've seen some people calling for "gas-out" days.  Ever wonder why those days don't work?  It's not because people don't participate... participation is low because people in general find these days to be ineffective.  Make no mistake, they are ineffective for one simple reason... we are all still consuming gas.

Let me elaborate... say you intend to participate in a "gas-out" day.  The day before, you realize that your tank is low, not so low that you have to buy now, but knowing that the gas-out is tomorrow, you fill up.  The alternative is, you don't fill up, you sqeak through the gas-out day, and the next morning, the gas station is the first place you stop on the way to work.  The problem is that you still consume the same amount of gas, you just altered the day you buy it.  While it may have an impact on local stations, it has little to no impact on the oil company because they have already been paid.

If you want to send the gas and oil companies a message, then you can only do it one way.... stop buying gas!  Complaining is the most ineffectual thing you can do, altering the day you buy gas is the second most ineffectual thing you can do.  If you can ride your bike to work, do that.  If you can carpool, do so.  The gas companies see no change in our purchasing trends, so they do nothing about it. See the last few paragraphs of the following article:

http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/16/news/economy/oil_bythebarrel/index.htm
Note the following two paragraphs

Besides, judging by current demand levels, the driving public doesn't seem bothered enough to cut back much or even park their vehicles altogether. And it's that demand, after all, that goes a long way in determining which way prices will go.

"Once we got through a threshold high like last year and broke that $3-a-gallon barrier, the public gets accustomed to it and they go back to buying as normal," Hamilton said. "If it goes to $3.50 will they slow down? We don't know." 

If you want to impact the gas and oil companies, it's going to take more than idle threats and altering the day you buy gas... it will take some personal sacrifice.

Here's and idea, the holiday weekends are some of the biggest times for the gas companies... they stockpile gas around those holidays because they know people travel.  Every Friday here in Detroit the roads are clogged with people in trucks hauling boats headed out of town for various destinations, the holidays are that twice over.  So here's a simple way to make the gas companies understand that you are not happy with gas prices... don't go anywhere.  Don't use gas, the supply overruns demand, and smug statements like those above are no longer the case.

If you are not prepared to do this, STOP COMPLAINING!  I am sick and tired of hearing about how awful the gas prices are from someone in a Hummer headed out on a trip up north hauling a 25 foot boat.  Cheap gas is not a right afforded to you as a citizen of this country... we are a free market economy and because of this free market, we have a way to directly impact the price without government intervention.  Do you really believe that politicians will come up with a solution that will do any good?  Stop depending on Washington to fight your battles when you can make an impact yourself.

So here's a real plan... most of you have probably already planned out the fourth, so the next major holiday weekend is Labor day... Sept 3 this year.   This year, celebrate Labor day at home and plan to do it now, no matter what gas prices are at the time.  Don't spend the long weekend at the lake or camping or visiting family or whatever you normally do.  Stay home and don't consume gas... alternatively, if you choose to continue as you always have because this is too much of a sacrifice, admit that you are part of the problem and not a part of the solution, purchase a bucket to cry in, and forward this on to someone who cares enough to do something.  It's not a gas out as in "don't buy gas", it's a gas-out as in don't use it.

lightsaber:

Excellent is the word to describe your thoughtful and articulate post, thank you! is my response. Nothing, but nothing (that is, NOTHING) works better in a free capitalistic society than the marketplace's law of supply and demand.

Supply-side economics, capitalism's law of supply and demand, research and development, and a stranglehold on the throat of Governmentalism - hallmarks of a true libertarian and lover of individual rights, liberties, freedoms, and personal responsibility/accountability.

I stand with you and may GOD see fit to assist us in pushing back the ugly horde of governmentalists.

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That is a good idea, but I already don't go anywhere. Where I see it taking a bigger chunk out of my pocketbook is with EVERYTHING else too. Dang, being politically correct here due to McCain, aw! what the hell, Damn, since when does an onion cost 4 bits? They do now. The problem with this too is that prices NEVER seem to come back down. They all hinge on gas-diesel prices, or so we're told. I really cannot blame the farmer too much either, because is he the one seeing the profits? I don't think so. We have to eat or we could let the stuff rot on the shelves. What really concerns me more than anything is my daughter. She's only 12 right now, just what can she expect in the next couple of decades? When I was 12 my parents would drop me off Sat. morning at the matinee with $1.. We'd get in for .25 cent have a soda, a candy bar; by the way they're still the same candy bars as today but I think they were bigger then, and a box of popcorn and those three were another .15 cents. With the .60 cents I had left after the matinee over we'd go to the snack bar across the street have a burger, fries and a milk shake for .40 cents. It was off to the pool for the remainder of the day and that .20 cents would by a hot dog, a candy bar, and a soda, or 4 candy bars, however you wanted to mix it. Just what can you get for that $1. today? Not very damn much. My friends, that wasn't that too long ago either. That same scenario today would cost well over $20. and that's being conservative and going to fast foods and the municipal pool. Ha! try getting your kids to do that when all of their friends are going to the $20. water slide. I even suggested to my daughter to stop at the convenience store to load up on goodies, and that embarrassed her.

Gerald,

How many hours did your daddy work to earn that dollar?  How many do you work to earn 20?

I would recommend we all work to reduce our consumption of petroleum products.  Not because we can create an oversupply, but because we can save money as individuals by doing so.  The price of gasoline has been relatively cheap for many years and as a result we have developed lifestyles and an economy that takes advantage of the low price.  If gasoline had been more expensive over the years, the economy would have evolved differently, just as it has in other locales where gas prices are high.  The problem is not with rising prices, although nobody like 'em.  We can always adapt to gradual change.  The problem is when you get a sudden large change in price, whether due to supply, demand, government intervention, or whatever.  These shocks usually come after natural disasters, like earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes.  They can also come as a result of war or world events occurring far from home.

The price of petroleum products is elastic, just like virtually every commodity.  It may take time for the entire economy to correct to a shock, and there may be no need if the shock is only temporary.  But at the margin, change occurs pretty quickly.  The extent of how petroleum impacts our economy is almost impossible to imagine, from shipping and leisure travel to daily work commute and from vehicle manufacturing traveling salesmen to the military.  So what looks like inelasticity is really analogous to trying to turn an aircraft carrier on a dime while moving at full speed.

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Gerald,

  I hear ya on the farmers, but to me the movies seem a bit different.  You can get around going to the movies.  The only way you can get around buying gas is not using it when you don't absolutely have to get somewhere.  I have to drive 45 minutes for work, so I bought the most fuel efficient American car I could find... I can't refuse to work because the gas prices are high and it's too far for me to ride my bike.  So the only thing I can do is stay home when it is not absolutely necessary for me to go somewhere.  Holiday weekends in the summer are huge travel days and, especially here in Michigan, we blow a lot of gas sitting in traffic because of road construction.  By not using gas at a time when the gas companies have stocked up, we can create surplus amounts of gas and directly impact the price.

FeedFwd said:

How many hours did your daddy work to earn that dollar?  How many do you work to earn 20?

 

 

According to: http://www.westegg.com/inflation

 Using 1950-2006(not suggesting you are that old Gerald)

$1 in 1950 is $8.17 today.

So,

$0.25 =  $2.04

$0.15 = $1.23
with a remaining:

$0.60 = $4.90

 $8.17 is a fairly accurate price for a movie alone on the matinee, but not when you include the extras.

However, gas in 1950 was $0.27 per gallon, which is 2.21 today.  Not $3 alledgedly on the way up to $5.

 

Again I ask,

How long did your daddy work for you to have a day of leisure?

How long did he work in order to be able to pay for the gas to drive say 400 miles.  Gas may have been less expensive in real terms, but cars were less fuel efficient.  They created more pollution, too, but fewer people could afford to drive back then, so there were fewer cars on the road.

How long to buy a suit or a nice dress then vs now in real terms?

How long to buy an acre of farmland? or a 3 BR, 2 Bath, 2 car garage house in a nice suburban neighborhood?

How long to pay for a baseball game?  OK, maybe that doesn't make my point.  :(

How long to buy a telephone, and what features did it have?

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lightsaber, Where do you live where gas is $2.21 right now? The Nat'l. avg. is now over $3.00, and where I am in S. Texas it's $3.09 up $1.10 since January. I also thought there were anti-trust laws against complicity of pricing? If that is true then why when the prices go up or down, EVERY gas station and every different company selling gas are within .01 cent or .02 from each other with the majority being identical? Even when Jimmy was President and we had to wait in line for 35 minutes just to get gas you could still find someone that was .10 or .15 cents different by driving an extra block or so. You MAY? be able to do this now if you're willing to drive an extra 50 miles, then the effort to get there costs more than just paying what it is locally. I don't want to hear the bottled water argument either. People that pay a $1. for 16oz. of cold bottled water or more, must have a lot of expendable cash. I graduated from High School in 1965, and there was a gas war going on that summer and gas was .30 per gallon, Kentucky Fries Chicken box was $1.00, McDonald's burger was .20, comic book was .10. soda was .10 candy bars were .05, loaf of bread .25, gal. milk .50, 6 pckg. beer $1.00, minimum wage $1.75.

Gerald,

Gasoline is a commodity.  The market for it can be more or less liquid.  The more liquid the market, the more uniform the pricing.  Today, there are many gas stations and information is easily obtained on gas prices.  I remember during the aftermath of Katrina, there were websites that posted the prices of gasoline at virtually every station in the country and they were updated daily if not more frequently.  You should expect prices to be nearly identical, everywhere.  Besides, the gas stations generally make most of their profit on in store sales, not the gasoline.  They need to get you into their stores, which means they need to be as low or lower than the other guy on the corner and offer you something as an incentive, like discount car washes, reward programs, pay at the pump, etc.  I live in Austin, and it is $3.09 here, as well.

I also remember the pain and agony when a package of baseball cards went from a nickel to a dime.  They put those stupid baseball coins in to make you feel better about it.

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Let's see, the refineries can not keep up production to meet demand and yet we have not built a new refinery for nearly 30 years. Oil companies have no desire to even try to build a new refinery because of government regulations and oppressive taxation. There is a wealth of oil reserves in the Gulf and Mexico has started drilling parts of it that are in their territory but we can't drill in the Gulf, or ANWAR where there are also huge deposits. So, we can't keep up with demand and we are dependent on Gulf states for the bulk of our supply. Over half of the cost of a gallon of gas is taxes alone and Congress wants to raise taxes on gas even more. We complain and then we hear but gas is over $6 in Europe and other places in the world so we shouldn't complain, right? So if oil companies are having record profits and the government coffers are overflowing with tax dollars, why is it again that we are having to pay so much for a gallon of gas?

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Actually, I don't believe taxes are near half the price of gas.  Govt regulations do contributre to the high price in other ways, though.

Gasoline is a blended product.  It is blended from various naphtha streams produced in refineries.  These streams all have different octane, vapor pressure, sulfur content, oxygenate content and other properties that are regulated.  Without additional refining capacity and without a market for the heavier cuts from crude oil, crude is highly processed to produce gasoline blendstocks that can meet customer demand and government specifications.  Each of these upgraders cost money and present their own problems, but they are profitable if they can upgrade low value streams to more vauable gasoline.  It gets very complicated when refiners must produce "boutique" gasolines for non-attainment regions or to meet politcal requirements.  Add to that the impact of transitioning from winter to summer and vice versa where certain key properties (mainly vapor pressure) must be adjusted.  If the vapor pressure is too low in the winter, you won't be able to start your car.  If it is too high in the summer, you will evaporate off excess hydrocarbons.  Then just for fun, throw in the additional marketing drive for refiners to appear to be green.

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Granted, none of us like dealing with higher prices for fuel for our automobiles and trucks but it's a reality and deal with it we must. But to take a road (no pun intended) even similar to what Her Thighness/Hillary Clinton wants which, according to her own words, is to take the oil companies' profits and redistribute them as governmentalists see fit is a wayward path/road we must resist traveling. Otherwise, we'll all be witnesses to our being screwed, twice.

We can all contribute to bringing down the price of gas by simply using less until the marketplace forces the prices down. In the meantime it's incumbent upon us to push the liberal hordes back and insist that our so-called elected representatives force the unelected beauracrats to start dismantling all the absurd regulations preventing "big oil" from bringing in more domestic fossil fuels and expanding their capacities to refine it. Government needs to get out of the way and We, the People, need to be adamant that it does indeed get out and stay out of the way of the marketplace, especially with respect to fuel. And, eliminating the federal gasoline tax should also be one of our demands.

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 Well, I signed up here today and will probably be blasted for posting so quickly after registering, but I have been reading the posts on this site for a while and wanted to put a thought out there re: gas-outs.

 While many of us may think that the US is the largest consumer of Crude Oil and that gas-out days may actually affect the market, that is not necessarily the case.

Have any of you even considered China's impact on the cost of fuel? The United States is no longer the  largest consumer in the world, China is. China, through it's consumption of western goods and OUR demand for cheaply made consumer products has increased the prices of raw materials so much that is has made it difficult for mfg's in the USA to purchase materials, such as steel and copper.  And, what we do purchase, we are paying almost 4 times as much as we did 5 years ago.  

The Chinese have the largest growing middle class in the world, all of them buying cars, and they need fuel to drive these cars.  So, if you don't buy WHOEVER's gas, China will.  

As I write this, China, specifically Mai Kai, China's reform Minister, is in bed with Hugo Chavez on a joint venture for extra-heavy and heavy crude oil E & P projects.  This little sleepover is in the range of $ 6 BN.

I like KWT's analysis. It's way past due that we start doing something here at home to get our American companies the desire to secure and produce more right here at home. Where I believe the government should have some control is that American's come first and at the fairest price possible without infringing on the oil companies rights to make a profit, then any surplus goes abroad. Make it so the small guys can compete too. It's better than having the government own all the oil which I'm sure Hillary would have an orgasm over.

Do you realize how terribly difficult that is, borntobeagle? Boycott Chinese made goods, that is. I always check the labels and have done so for years. And I always try to buy American made. That is when I can find it. It is getting rarer and rarer to find these days.

As for gas boycotts my husband and I seldom go anywhere. We are fortunate to be able to work from home so we don't even have to commute to work. But when we do have to travel it is often for very long distances since we live in a remote rural community in Montana. The nearest shopping mall is over 3 hours away, so trips there are few and far between. Usually only twice a year. Even a trip to a major medical facility is about a one hour drive one way. But gasoline and diesel fuel is not the only petroleum based products that this nation has grown dependent upon. It is a major one, yes, but certainly not the only one. Another big step towards weaning ourselves off the oil habit would be to eliminate the use of as many plastics as possible. Of course that would probably put another large number of Americans on unemployment and/or welfare.

Check out this link --> the long fingers of petroleum

My husband actually mentioned today that he is seriously considering buying horses again for mostly local transportation. Even that is not really sensible because horses have to be fed grain and hay during the winter, and that involves either commuting to buy and haul said feed or the use of farm equipment to grow it ourselves. Now we could use our old antique horse drawn plow and let them help grow their own food, but that would truly take time, dedication, planning and cooperative weather.

Now my husband and I do know how to live off the land if it comes right down to a complete and total oil crash. We could go totally off-grid and survive. Plan B, so to speak. But for now we keep working and I keep coming to my plastic-encased computer for news, information and to earn an income.

 

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I have considered how difficult it would be to wipe Chinese manufactured goods off the market.  Impossible?? Maybe.  Effective?? Definitely.

I don't believe many people have given any consideration to the large scale situation we find ourselves in.  A single act of reducing our consumption of fuel that will not warrant a drop in fuel prices.

Consider a 10 percent decrease in US purchases of Chinese goods ALONG WITH a 10 percent decrease in fuel consumption.  Can the average person do this effectively?  Yes. 

Each American can decide on one particular item they can go without purchasing this year that is manufactured in China.  It doesn't have to be the same item across the board.

For me, I decided my cell-phone can live longer than the 1 year contract I have with my cellular carrier company.  No new cell-phone this year.  Like-wise, my children have decided that a new Barbie every month or so, is not necessary to their survival.    No new car this year, either.  We'll be going on year 5 with our well-chosen 4 cyl.  And wardrobes?? Only purchases will be to fit growing sizes and made in "anywhere other than" China is the rule for the summer.  A few small delays in purchases can add up to 10 percent quickly.

You are right. It is hard to find goods made in America.  We have given or regulated most of our manufacturing away.  But we can still have some control over the market without putting Americans out of work.  Just a 10 percent decrease in BOTH FUEL CONSUMPTION and GOODS MANUFACTURED IN CHINA could have a dramatic impact. 

 

 

    the E-85 blend fuel cuts into the gas used and, a few people have had some success with using it in their older fuel injection systems where it wasn't listed as being an option.

     My '99 Ranger is listed as a flex fuel so  it runs well with either but, being a long time gear head,  I plan to make up some system to cut into the other fifteen percent.   Should  be possible to almost do away with the gas consumption I believe.

      There are some vehicles out there running on LPG and I wonder how that would compare now.

      Back East in the fifties I recall 17.9 for gas-- tough to have a long memory.
 

I say we take 12 to 20 million or more illegal vehicles off the road and see what does to our gas prices...