Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Negotiating with Big Oil

It's that time of year again, when e-mails fly about gas boycotts to punish the vampires oil companies for jacking up prices again. "Why a gasoline boycott won't work", says CNN Money.com:

"A one-day boycott makes no sense whatsoever," said Tyson Slocum, energy program director at Public Citizen, a national consumer advocacy organization. "You're not reducing consumption, you're just buying on a different day."

Yeah, it's hard to explain that to the maroon that forwards you the e-mail. You can't tug the oil companies by the pump, because they've already made their money before then:

But Fiore said the boycott could be problematic if it took off.

"We hope citizens understand that they are not harming an oil company, but a small businessman," he said.

So, spare the station owners grief, and just concentrate your ire on the oil company execs, and the politicians that enable them. Less sanguine souls than I would probably suggest kneecappings or even ammonium nitrate deliveries.


The Unseen One said...

Gas prices are a lot more complicated than the left would have you believe, but the "greedy oil companies" make a convenient target that resonates with the uninformed.

St. Jimbob of the Apokalypse said...

I love the "Deferred Maintenance" excuse, myself. It's deferred for good reason, so that they can choke up a bit on the supply when demand is going to be higher.

It's not personal, it's just business. Big Oil is in business to make money, regardless of us shmoes in the minivans. Energy is not a public service, and hence has not been regulated very tightly.

Dad29 said...

And even if it WERE tightly regulated (see, e.g., the utilities,) prices would still fluctuate, mostly upward.