Here is a repost... but first I want to say that I have ended up already doing this :-) I have an Exxon speed pass but when the prices at the Exxon right near me got so high I I thought that it was not worth the convenience! I actually buy my gas from a local independent station, Bowens in Annapolis. Not only do I like supporting a local business (branched off from Bowens farm supply) the prices are at least 12 cents cheaper! the only down size is you have to pay cash with them. There is a station in Columbia/Clarkesville area that is the same way and I know it is a t least a bit cheaper. Its Freestate off of rt 108.

Anyway when I cant get over there or dont have the cash. I buy from another small local chain that does take credit/debit cards (also in Annapolis called Lowerys off forest drive) they are usually about 6 cents cheaper.

I just though I would share and I do think that this repost is a very good idea.

-Annette

here it is:

We are going to hit close to $4.00 a gallon by the summer. Want gasoline
prices to come down? We need to take some intelligent, united action.

Phillip Hollsworth, offered this good idea:
This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain day"
campaign that was going around last April or May!

The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't
continue to "hurt" ourselves by refusing to buy gas. It was more of an
inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them. BUT, whoever thought of
this idea, has come up with a plan that can really work.

Please read it and join with us!

By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $1.50 is
super cheap. Me too! It is currently $2.75 for regular unleaded in my town.

Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to
think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at $1.50-$1.75, we need to
take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the
marketplace.... not sellers.

With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need
to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down
is if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas!

And we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves.

How? Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas. But
we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price
war.

Here's the idea:

For the rest of this year, DON"T purchase ANY gasoline from the two
biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL. If they are not
selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they
reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit.

But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon
and Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do!! Now, don't wimp out
on me at this point... keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to
reach millions of people!!

I am sending this note to about thirty people. If each of you send it
to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300)... and those 300 send it to at least
ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000) ... and so on, by the time the message reaches
the sixth generation of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION
consumers!

If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends
each, then 30 million people will have been contacted! If it goes one level
further, you guessed it..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!! Again, all you
have to do is send this to 10 people and DON"T purchase ANY gasoline from
EXXON and MOBIL. That's all.

How long would all that take? If each of us sends this email out to
ten more people within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days!!! I'll bet you didn't
think you and I had that much potential, did you! Acting together we can
make a difference.

If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on.

PLEASE HOLD OUT UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $1.30 RANGE AND
KEEP THEM DOWN. THIS CAN REALLY WORK

The only ones it would negatively affect is the small "independent" gas stations, the ones who don't have the margin to make no profit for day and still stay in the black.

Those small local stations don't drill for their own crude, you know. They have to buy from the same big oil companies as the chain stations. The big difference being that the average mom and pop station owner has a much slimmer line between expense and income than the chain owners.

If you are really serious about doing something, get behind legislation that supports less reliance on driving personal vehicles. Get together a group of people in your area who can agitate for better public transport systems, city layouts that support walking and biking, and perks for carpools.

In Europe, gas is somthing like the equivalent of 4-7 US dollars per gallon. Their solution? Cities and individuals rely less on gas. Good public transport and lots of walking and biking.

We cannot reduce the cost of gas -- the dollar price the consumer pays in the US is already artifically low because of government subsidies of the big oil companies, and certainly doesn't reflect the real cost of the stuff in environmental effects and nonsustainability. What we can do is reduce our reliance on gas, as individuals and as a society.

Kristin

Perhaps I should have made my point clear that, In my opinion, one should only buy gas from their local chains and small mom and pop stores rather then the big companies like Exxon.

Yes, it is a bit lofty to think that the price of gas will go down to $1.50 a gallon . And yes I know I cannot do anything about the cost gas companies pay for their oil. However it IS in the power of the consumer to influence the cost WE pay for gas. If it became a popular and wildly practiced trend for Americans to purchase their gas from small chains then the big guys would be forced to lower their prices in a desperate attempt to gain back business. And at the very least we would be putting money back into local economies. Something most Americans do not think about and is a very real problem in our country.

As a resident of Maryland who currently lives in Annapoils but has spent most of her life in the Baltimore metro area I am very aware of the mass transit system. And forgive me if there my husband doesn’t walk the 50 miles it takes for him to get to work In the DC metro area. And no there is no direct line of public transit from Annapolis to DC or is their a proposal for one (it was denied about 10 years ago) For him to take the bus to the train to another bus would be 4 hours out of his life a day. And yes he is on a carpool list waiting for others going his particular route matching his schedule.

While public transportation is great for some it is not a practical option for everyone. Especially those in the Baltimore/ DC metro area. I will not take my 5 year old daughter and 2 year old son to the bus stop in Annapolis. I have been held up a gun point.

I find it insulting that you would write a post such as yours without even reading mine.

Perhaps it is my fault for simply reposting another’s bulletin. But I found the information worthwhile and something comparable to my beliefs. Despite the fast that it was not written in the most concise way I figured the members of this forum would also appreciate it.

Perhaps it is something that would make complete sense to the people here. Something that they just haven’t thought about before?

Who wouldn’t want to support small businesses? Who doesn’t want cheaper gas? Who wouldn’t want more money going back into their community? Money that they need to spend anyway. Gas is a necessary commodity. We can do what we can to reduce our reliance on it but the need will not go away.

I know many people (especially those here) would rather buy goods from mom and pop stores. May people don’t because we cant afford it when the big box stores sell things so much cheaper. How often it is that something we need and want is actually cheaper from a small chain!?

I know this post may be a little long to read but perhaps you will do more then just skim it through ?

Respectfully,

Annette

-Annette

Still, the mom & pop places have to buy their gas from the big guys. Seems to me that if the big guys aren't making money from the larger chains, they'll hike the prices on the mom & pop chains. Mom & pop places often don't have the financial cushion to withstand price hikes like that.

It's a bit like saying "don't buy your lemonade from Wal*Mart! Buy your lemonade from the stand down the street that buys their stock at Wal*Mart!"

And my point was that while maybe we could control the price we pay for gas (although I'm far from convinced this particular plan would work), we simply can't lower the real cost of it. People in the US already are paying artificially LOW prices for our gas, and do you know who makes up the difference when it's time to pay the piper? We do! Our tax dollars are used to subsidize these gigantic multibillion dollar oil companies!

And that's without counting the mind-boggling environmental costs of a society that expects a fossil fuel to be as common and cheap as water.

There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. The US has been buying gas under the "free lunch" principle for a long time, and soon it's going to catch up with us. Agitate for less reliance, both on the large and small level, on petroleum fuels.

Kristin

Several of the posters above are right. In my area, nearly 90% of all fuel comes from one company in West Virginia.

Just remember, every action has a reaction. Sometimes it's good (lower gas prices) sometimes it's bad.