Date: Mon, 04 Apr 2005 09:45:05 -0500 Subject: Re: boycott big oil! From: Kate Hale <halecl@uwec.edu> Message-ID: <BE76BD21.3870%halecl@uwec.edu>
A couple of things--(1) according to some of my alternate-energy friends,
itıs good (less bad?) to support British Petroleum because of their support
of alt. energies, wind power, stuff like that. Thereıs a BP down at the en
d
of Barstow where it intersects Madison . . . (2) When we talk about what
gasoline ³costs,² we should also consider how ³costs² is defined. There ar
e
costs other than the barrel of oil itselfto the environment, e.g., in all
sorts of ways. When Exxon says they canıt pay more to clean up the Valdez
spill because theyıve already paid ³too much,² then thereıs a cost that
isnıt being paid. When oil exploration or drilling does damage to habitat,
thatıs a cost weıre not paying. When the federal government does not
address long-term impacts of pollution from gas-powered vehicles, then ther
e
are other costssay, to human healththat are not being addressed. Not jus
t
metaphorical costs, but actual financial costs.
Were we to pay what we ³should² for gasoline, weıd none of us be driving
gas-powered vehicles. If I could afford a hybrid, Iıd have one now . . .
David Orr of Oberlin College has a great book, Earth in Mind: On Education,
Environment, and the Human Prospect in which he explores the various ways
that we work within our disciplines and remain oblivious to our environment
.
Sorry to go on for so long; Iıve been thinking about this stuff a lot . . .
.
Sigh. Back to work.
Kate
On 4/4/05 9:23 AM, "Wesenberg, Nancy Christine" <WESENBNC@uwec.edu> wrote:
> IN addition, while I hate spending big money at the pump as much as
> anyone else, and am not in favor of making either Mobil or Exxon richer,
> I am rather in favor of anything that might encourage people to dump
> their giant SUVs and trucks and drive less. So...
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: sfpj-request@listserve.uwec.edu
> [mailto:sfpj-request@listserve.uwec.edu] On Behalf Of Lyons, Arthur John
> Sent: Monday, April 04, 2005 9:05 AM
> To: Giamati, Claudia M.; sfpj@listserve.uwec.edu
> Subject: RE: boycott big oil!
>
> About gas prices: I have been under the impression for many years,
> beginning with conversations with several Brits, that US citizens paid
> artificially low gas prices compared to the rest of the world. If this
> is true, then paying higher gas prices, while it hurts our wallets,
> might be more fair relative to others in the world. I don't know whether
> this perspective has any factual basis. Does anyone on the list know
> more?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: sfpj-request@listserve.uwec.edu
> [mailto:sfpj-request@listserve.uwec.edu] On Behalf Of Giamati, Claudia
> M.
> Sent: Monday, April 04, 2005 8:09 AM
> To: sfpj@listserve.uwec.edu
> Subject: FW: boycott big oil!
>
>
>
>
> Sfpj ers,
> This isn't our usual fare, I thought it may be appropriate for us to try
> this little boycott, if you're up for it... I guess I see GW as the
> flag-bearer for big oil addiction and anything that is counter to his
> stance is mostly ok with me. Forgive if it's jamming your inbox!
>
>
>
> Family and Friends -- This seemed to be just too good an experiment
> not to share.
> It just came to me in an e-mail from another friend. It would be
> interesting to know whether a grass-roots effort on the Internet like
> this would work.
> Enjoy
> ! -- Layman
>
> I hear we are going to hit close to $3.00 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
> $1.97 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), EXXO N 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 whimp 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.
> That's all. (If you don't understand how we can reach 300 million and
> all you have to do is send this to 10 people.... Well, let's face it,
> you just aren't a mathematician. But I am ... so trust me on this one.)
>
> 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 I
> 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
>
>
> Professor of Law and Senior Research Scientist, University of Michigan,
> 734-340-3739, laymanal@umich.edu http://thinkers.law.umich.edu Up to a
> little challenge that may benefit youngsters and adults in your family?
> See: http://thinkers.law.umich.edu:8080/msq/login.jsp
>
>
>
>
>
>
>