Can we do another "hit the oil companies where it hurts" days??

[PotatoBoy]

I remember a while back, there was an e-mail (chain letter unfortunately) advising people to not buy gas on a specific day, to make an impact. I was wondering if we could do that again very soon. Does that kind of thing really hurt them? I guess the real question is, do enough people follow the advice and NOT buy gas on that day? I have a better idea, how about not buy gas for three days in a row? If we fuel up the day before it starts, most of us should be able to get by for three days without refueling.

How can we organize this?

[BlueEyedSon]

1. Get serious, you'll just buy it the next day.

Unfortunately, in the US, it's like living without air.

On edit:

I re-read your post. So you fill up before, eh? How does that bring the oil companies LESS money overall? They do their books on a quarterly basis, so a 3 to 4 day fluctuation is meaningless.

Wanna really spank them? Walk. Bike. Carpool. Vow not to drive one day per week, habitually. Get a motocycle or a hybrid and lower you consuption PERMANENTLY.

[Obviousman]

2. ever hear of kerr-mcgee?

one day on tv i saw a commercial for "the deep underwater pioneers at kerr-mcgee" and how they are true american heroes. well, seeing how as they weren't selling a product, just talking about how great their company was i googled them. apparently kerr mcgee poisoned the water supply of two towns so that now everyone is born with a birth defect. i wish we could take down these oil companies, they make me sick

[AG78]

5. But

they secure AMERICA'S(deep voice emphasis) energy for AMERICAN'S(deep voice emphasis).

[BlueEyedSon]

7. They killed Karen Silkwood when she was going to turn whistleblower.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/reaction/interact/silkwood.html

There's even a movie with Meryl Streep
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086312/

[MallRat]

3. No, this doesn't hurt them. CUTTING CONSUMPTION WILL.

The notion that simply not buying gasoline on a particular day will hurt Big Oil is ridiculous. You'll just have twice as many people lining up for gas the very next day.

If you want to stick it to the oil companies, YOU HAVE TO USE LESS OIL.

Instead of boycotting gas stations for a day, BOYCOTT YOUR CAR for a day.

Frankly, even the impact of that is probably questionnable.

-MR

[wiggs]

4. Not oil, but other companies. And for longer, with millions

I really hope someone organizes a national, targeted, extensive boycott of companies that gets real attention.

I bet millions and millions of people would be willing to, say, not watch NBC for two months. Not go to WalMart for two months. I fear a more diffused, undefined, soft boycott would not be effective. Sinclair worked because it was focused.

The WH and RNC need every one of us to be good consumers in this society. 55 million of us being bad consumers would get SERIOUS attention.

Witholding our money from corporations is now one of the few powers we have left. It is an untapped power. We don't have any branch of government. We don't have the media. We don't have the election process either, frighteningly enough. This is it, I believe. And it may be the most powerful tool out there if our side learns to use it well.

It is akin to taking the ball from the game and going home. No game.

How to organize? Since at least half the country (as opposed to half the voters) is angry now, let's do it soon. Since we want half the country (and maybe 75% of the rest of the world) to participate, we need serious organization on a national level. Moveon. ACT. Center for American Progress. These are the guys to can take in money and do something with it.

LET'S GO!!

[Oberon]

6. Hurt the oil companies

If you really want to hurt the oil companies you have to organize people to NOT buy gas at all. Even if you convince people to not buy for one day, everyone just buys more the day before or the day after.

Better to convince people to reduce gas use. I've mostly stopped driving my car to work. I live in Michigan so it is hard to do this all the time but I do it when weather permits. Encourage people to do things like this where they can. Not buying gas at all WILL hurt the oil companies.