Don't pump gas on May 15th? O'RLY?!?
Tuesday, May 01, 2007Has anyone else received a "gas out" email, perhaps from one of their less analytical friends? The email flies in the face of logic on several levels. I'll let you read the entire email here:
Subject: FW: Don't Buy Gas on May 15, 2007Here are some of the obvious fallacies with the "don't pump gas on May 15th" email forward:
Let's give it a try.
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.
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 companys 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 cant see why you wouldnt) resend this to all your contact list. With it saying, ''Don't pump gas on May 15th"*
- The myth that this will lower gas prices - Unless the boycotters do not drive their cars on May 15th, their overall gas consumption will remain exactly the same. Boycotters will simply pump more gas either immediately before or after May 15th.
- The dollar savings calculations are just plain wrong - The email claims that if 73 million people chose not to fill up on gas on the 15th, it would save approximately $2.3 billion dollars. This is approximately $31.50 per person. The average daily consumption of gasoline per American is approximately 1 gallon. [ref] Unless the price of gasoline skyrockets up to $31.50 per gallon by the 15th, then this calculation is way off.
- No "gas out" occurred in April 1997 - To the best of my knowledge and ability to search the Internet, no "gas out" ever occurred in April 1997. In fact the only sudden change in gas prices during 1997 was an increase and was due to a tax increase for road improvements. [ref]
posted by Drew @ 10:37 PM
7 Comments:
$2,292,000,000.00 is not almost $3 billion...it's almost $700 million away from $3 billion...simple math.
Good catch -- there's no way you could round $2,292,000,000.00 to $3 billion.
Not to mention that some of that money actually goes to taxes, the gas station, etc, and not all to the Oil Company.
Using less gas though, still a great idea. In fact, using less of it EVERY day would actually make a difference.
And Chevron's an oil company with a pretty good environmental record if you're interested in that (see Jared Diamond's book Collapse for how awesome they are).
I don't understand why more people aren't outraged about the price of gas...is it proportional to the cost of crude oil? Why not have a day that we don't buy any gas? Even if we make up for it on the day before or the day after it still shows the power of the people. I am personally disgusted with an industry that can sit back and post obnoxiously huge profits at the expense of our national economy! Get mad people...get mad and do something about it!
I definitely agree with you, and I tried to find this "gas out" that occurred in 1997. As far as I remember, gas prices were very affordable 10 years ago. It was like $1.25. So wtf are they talking about?
But I do have something to say.
This experiment might work if it were done on a prolonged basis, perhaps 3 days, perhaps with a citywide collaboration make the city transit systems free for those days (seattle, san fran) But it's practically impossible anywhere in Southern California.
I don't know where you live, but using a national average for the amount of fuel of 1 gallon per day doesn't make any sense where I come from. You can't go anywhere without a car in SoCal. L.A. is like a hundred square miles of pavement. Gasoline in southern california is $3.50 - 3.80 a gallon, a large portion of our population drive easily 50-70 miles a day.
That's also why L.A. is the smoggiest city in America. San Diego is getting worse too. Nasty air in the summer time. Blood red sunsets.
My opinion? Let the free market work things. We need to get rid of oil company subsidies. It might put a little strain on our economy for a short period, but it will push our society to innovate. Put tax dollars back into the hands of the people and we will be forced to be more efficient until we "modernize" or "futurize" infrastructure. We are wasting all this money in Iraq we could be building efficient train systems, better highways and pouring billions of dollars into innovative technology for individual transportation.
Successfully beating the "oil problem" is a nationwide project that will require government assistance. I hope the next President takes this issue seriously.
Patrick
These obnoxiously huge profits at the expense of our national economy that are published are conveniently posted as these large numbers and not by the percent of profit. their expenses to develop and produce these oil products are just as staggering as the profit numbers. Most Oil company profits are generally the same percent as the majority of business in The US which is around 10 to 20 %. Before complaining about these numbers do some research and get the truth. Obnoxious profits are more like what Bill Gates makes, and no one complains about his monopoly.
I don't understand why more people aren't outraged about the price of gas..
Why do people feel entitled to gas at a certain price? When gas was cheap, everyone bought an SUV. SUVs obviously have worse gas mileage than compact cars. This, among other things, raised demand for gasoline, which raised the price... Simple economics. We are not entitled to gas at a certain price... You can't drive everyday, then bitch about the price of gas. Dummy.
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