2007-05-14 03:22:24 · 11 answers · asked by cones2210 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
It would be nice but there is no way to stop enough people from driving their vehicles for a given time.
There needs to be better public transportation alternatives...what we have is not even a band-aid.
2007-05-14 03:32:22 · answer #1 · answered by wwpetcemetery 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Only a permanent fuel boycott would have that effect. The one day boycott being talked about won't have any effect at all. Think about it, only if you drive less would you have any effect on the "demand" side of supply and demand. What difference does it make what day you buy gas on if you still use the same amount?
Of course, if you permanently gave up using gasoline, then it wouldn't matter what it cost anyway...at least not directly. You also have to consider that almost everything you buy has to be transported. Thus, the cost of fuel is a part of the cost of all the products you buy.
2007-05-14 04:49:21 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you don't change your driving habits, not pumping gas on a particular day will have no effect on gas prices. The only way to make an impact on big oil companies would to boycott using ANY fuel for a week or two. Otherwise, you will still be consuming the same amount of fuel.
2007-05-14 03:46:42 · answer #3 · answered by Tim C 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This isn't an Astronomy or Space question, but I'll answer anyway.
All a boycott would do is allow foreign counties to buy more gas. The price is going up because world demand is going up. And the main reason is new wealth in China. Millions of Chinese who used to ride bicycles now drive cars. All those jobs being lost in America and gained in China, and all the products made in China and sold in America are making the Chinese richer and they are buying up all the oil, steel, and other basic materials they can get their hands on. This is having a dramatic effect on the world price for these commodities. That is, it is making the price go up. India isn't doing so bad either, but they lag behind China I think.
2007-05-14 04:31:06 · answer #4 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Fuel Boycott is a wonderful little "feel-good" ploy that will, in the end, do absolutely nothing to change the price of gasoline.
In order for a fuel boycott to work, **everyone** would have to participate, it would have to involve **every**gas company, and it would have to last for longer than one day.
Gasoline is a "fungible" commodity -- so if I boycott say, Exxon, but buy gas from Chevron, I create a temporary surplus for Exxon -- which might result in a penny or two drop in the price -- but I create a shortage for Chevron, which means they might increase their price by a penny or two. Net result: the average price of gas hasn't changed.
If I boycott all gas stations for one day, so what? If I buy that same tank of gas tomorrow, the gas company won't know the difference -- their accounting cycle is much longer than that, and they won't even notice that on Tuesday they sold no fuel, but on Wednesday they sold twice as much. Net result -- no change in the price of fuel.
And it has to include EVERYBODY. If fifty people refuse to purchase gasoline, but five thousand people buy gas tomorrow, do you think the gas company will notice? Not a chance. If people who own Chevy's refuse to buy gas, but Ford and Chrysler drivers purchase fuel, will the gas companies notice or care? Nah.
For any boycott to work, it has to be an extended, all-inclusive action. And you might find that, after a month or two of nobody purchasing fuel, that prices will drop temporarily -- but as soon as the action is over, and everybody goes right back to buying gas, the prices will go right back to where they were before.
Just some food for thought.
BTW -- I'm old enough to remember when you could buy gas for $0.29 per gallon. But then again, my annual salary was 1/10th of what it is today, too. One of the major factors in the current price of gas is inflation; the second greatest component of the current price of fuel is TAXES -- federal, state, and local. And I'm amazed at how Americans grouse about the price of gas, when Europeans are paying far more than we are -- the current price of regular unleaded gasoline in Germany is 1.32 Euros per liter, or about $6.77 per gallon. So kwitcherbitchin!
2007-05-14 03:57:29 · answer #5 · answered by Dave_Stark 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Fuel tax in the US is proportionately pretty low, so the cost of fuel is mostly down to the cost of crude oil, which is determined by the amount available versus the demand. Global demand for fuel would not be significantly reduced by a U.S. boycott. Anyway, if you think you're suffering, in the UK the tax burden is so extortionate that prices are on the way towards £1 per litre. (£1 = ~ $2, 1L = ~ 0.2 gallons).
2007-05-14 04:14:41 · answer #6 · answered by Ian I 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, 1.50 would be nice to pump gas. I think tommorow May 15 has been declared on some of the student websites as Don't Pump Gas Day. Hopefully this boycott will cause companies to lower their prices on gas.
2007-05-14 03:36:28 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
NO I don't think so ,now China and India are coming on line so demand will be high. We need to open up whatever we need to find and produce more oil. I think that the Arabs will use oil as a weapon against us and we need to be prepared.
2007-05-14 03:42:15 · answer #8 · answered by JOHNNIE B 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't think it will do anything, but yeah $1.50 would be nice.
2007-05-14 03:30:06 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think not for the answer to the first part of your question, and definitely for the second answer to your question.
2007-05-14 03:26:24 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋