"Gas Out" Day Doomed to Fail Unless We Park Our Cars and Walk on May 15th.

[ddeclue]

Everybody:

Lately, everybody keeps sending me an email asking me to please observe a "gas-out" day by promising not to buy gas on May 15th, 2007 and claiming that this "gas-out" boycott will scare the oil companies into dramatically lowering their prices.

I disagree.

Such a "gas-out" really can't work unless we car drivers actually don't drive our cars that day.

Why?

Oil companies don't fear this because they already know that they will make up the missing money either in the days before or in the days after the "gas-out" because people will still drive their cars on "gas-out" day and therefore will still use the gasoline on that day that will be later need to be replaced - they will still get paid for your driving on May the 15th, it's just that the money will come earlier or later than the 15th.

Indeed they already sell quite a lot of gas in this very manner.

It's called gas company credit cards.

They give you the gas all throughout the month and then collect their money at the monthly due date later.

So, it's not the act of BUYING the gasoline that matters folks, it's the act of USING the gasoline that matters. If we actually lower aggregate demand for gasoline by changing our lives so that we drive our cars less and buy ones with better fuel efficiency then prices will ultimately fall.

Simply shifting that demand to the day before and the day after the "gas out" and then resuming our existing driving patterns will have no effect on prices.

The only REAL way for this "gas out" to work is for "We the People" to do the following things on "gas out" day:

* Take the bus.
* Car pool.
* Ride your bike or walk.
* Stay home
* Trade your SUV in on a HEV (hybrid electric vehicle).


Respectfully,
Doug De Clue
Orlando, FL

[ck4829]

1. K&R