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Founder of the effort, Jasmyne Cannick participates in a 'Kiss My Gass' campaign against the high price of gasoline outside a Mobil gas station in Los Angeles on Friday, June 13, 2008. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
As a regular gallon of gas briefly plateaued at $4.60 over the weekend in Los Angeles (nationally, $4.08), people took to the streets to protest big oil. "If we're not mobil, we won't buy Mobil," their Kiss My Gass' slogan reads in their "imMobil" protest month, which asks participants not to buy gas from Exxon, Esso and Mobil from today through July 14.
Protests are planned for every major city in the United States and will target a different oil company every month. The grassroots website acts as a portal to organize local efforts for anyone to setup their own campaign. Organizer Jasmyne Cannick told KNBC's News Raw that she came up with the catchy phrase when muttering a closely related statement to herself when driving and immediately went home and registered the domain. Gotta love the fact that this originated in Los Angeles.
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These people are idiots.
This is the same thing as not buying gas on a particular day in protest of high gas prices. So Exxon's profits may dip for one month. That just means all the other's are going to increase. And then the next month, Shell's profits might dip, and Exxon makes back their loss.
Ride a bike, walk, use public transport, telecommute, carpool, what have you -- becoming less dependant on your car (meaning less need for gas) is the key here.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/nogas.asp
Claim: Participating in a boycott of gasoline on certain days will help lower gasoline prices.
Status: FALSE
http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/gasout.asp
Claim: Participating in a boycott of selected oil companies will lower gas prices.
Status: FALSE
I've always hated those gasouts that tormoz points to and like those links say, they don't work. However, unstated in the post, these protesters know that this will not lower prices. But it's the first gas out I've seen in recent that actually has gotten national attention. Kudos to that.
The only reason they're getting attention is because gas prices are the hot topic this year.
News coverage or not, it's still a hollow gesture.
If I owned a vehicle, I would boycott EXXON/Mobile for different reasons.
This week the $2.5 billion punituve damage settlement for the wreck of the Valdez, and subsequent fouling of the Price William Sound ecosystem goes to the US Supreme Court.
This settlement has been tied up in the courts for more than 25 years. Proving that if you have the money and resources that you can even screw justice over. I read that 20% of the individuals who were to benefit from the punitive damage settlement have died of old age waiting for it. In bank interest they've already recouped the entire loss by not paying it.
The settlement has already been lowered to $2.5B, from it's original $5B.
It should be interesting to see how the currently right leaning USSC will rule on this.
Boycotting Exxon, Mobil or any other brand name does absolutely *nothing* to the company's profits.
Exxon makes its money DRILLING and REFINING will just sell it's crude/gasoline to someone else. All these boycotters are doing is potentially putting franchise owners out of business (who make the smallest amount of money off the sale of gasoline.) Way to stick it to the man. /sarcasm
PS - haven't you heard? ExxonMobil is getting out of the retail gas business because it ISN'T PROFITABLE.
http://consumerist.com/tag/exxon/?i=5016317&t=exxon-to-exit-retail-gas-station-business
"Boycotting Exxon, Mobil or any other brand name does absolutely *nothing* to the company's profits."
I don't buy that. It may not put them out of business. It may hurt the retailer more.
But I'm sure it would hurt them some.
Then there's the whole corporate image thingie. Oil companies like BP and Chevron are spending big bucks to "green wash" their images. Why would they do all that if it doesn't matter?
Tell me their image is not going to be hurt by a boycott.
And this will do what? A better use of their time would be to petition for workable public transit - more surface trains, streetcars instead of buses to hook up with the already established metro routes...that would get them somewhere (literally).
The age of the personal car and cheap gas are over. These people need to wake up. Pay the man or learn fro a change - and use alternative transport - like the rest of the world.
"And this will do what?"
Maybe inspire them to get rid of their cars. If you're going to boycott, do it all the way.