This idea has been circulating for at least 3 years now.

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

I think if you read my message in it's entirety you would understand that this suggestion is an alternative to Phillip Hollsworth’s idea to not buying gas on a certain day. One that “makes much more since”

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

Please excuse my typos and misspelled words. Im my haste I did not proofread my post.

-Annette

You're right, I missed that different bit. My bad.

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

Another thing you have to realize is that the oil companies are creating jobs for many many americans. My father doesn't directly work for BP, but he owns a general contracting business that builds and remodels gas stations, mostly BP's. While you would think that higher gas prices means he would be making good money right now, but he's not. He has had to lay off more than 1/2 of his workforce in the past 3 months. That is 20-some guys without jobs and families to support.

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.