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I’m Pumping Gas on May 15th
May 8th, 2007 by Matt HugginsIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
I’ve received countless e-mails, MySpace bulletins, Facebook event invitations, and so forth relating to a “protest” that entails not pumping gas on May 15th. By now, I’m sure you’ve received this message in at least one form too.
The idea is that this will have a detrimental effect on oil companies, forcing them to reduce gas prices. The basis for this assumed outcome is based upon the basic rule of supply and demand. As demand drops, the price will drop as well to the point of equilibrium between the supply and demand curves (assuming no imposed price floor).
I hate to be a realist, but the whole basis of this protest is completely idealistic and in all actuality completely flawed. If I don’t (or anyone doesn’t, for that matter) buy gas on the 15th, I am more than likely going to be filling my tank on one of the days prior to the 15th to ensure that I’m following through on my effort to not pump gas on the date specified for the protest. Assuming others would be doing the same to avoid purchasing gas on the 15th, then this will only cause a surge of income on the days prior to the selected protest date. The surge will balance out with the bottoming out on the 15th, resulting in the oil companies earning the same amount.
The only way to successfully protest the cost of oil is to not utilize the product. The only way this could be done is to not drive for the day the protest is occurring. Similarly, everyone could plan to carpool for the day to reduce overall gas consumption. This would effectively prevent the oil companies from earning the same average level of income, unlike the current proposed plan.
Even still, this thinking has its own flaws. As soon as demand returns to what it was prior to the protest, the point of equilibrium between supply and demand will rise once more, in turn causing the price of gas to rise to what it was before the protest took place.
I appreciate the intentions of the protest. Unfortunately it will serve no purpose in the end other than to inconvenience you as a driver and a consumer.
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May 8th, 2007 at 12:27 am
THANK YOU! I completely agree with you and have been arguing w/ my friends (who have never taken economics :-/) that the whole “dont pump gas” thing is completely ridiculous. Im glad someone agrees with me. It would make much more sense to do a “drive your car less” or “lets start a carpool”. I always ask my friends if they cant afford gas, why are they driving. Why not walk, take a bus, ride a bike, or carpool?
May 8th, 2007 at 12:32 am
Thanks for the feedback! I’ve been getting so many of these messages from friends, it’s been driving me crazy due to how illogical the concept is. It’s nice to know there are others who feel the same way. I’m also curious to hear the views of those who are in support of not pumping gas on the 15th.
May 8th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
While this is the first I hear about the May 15th protest, here in Canada, there have been a few of these attempts as well. I totally agree that this is “completely flawed” and that the only way to make a lasting impression on oil companies is to change our habits — “not utilize the product” — on a long term basis.
Anywho… I just think it’s sad that people are wasting their energy, time, resources and brain cells on scheming ways to outwit these moguls. If you want to make a statement, if you REALLY want to make a difference — STOP DRIVING or buy a hybrid!!
May 9th, 2007 at 12:19 am
Absolutely. If I had the money for it, I would absolutely get a hybrid. Unfortunately I have a standard small SUV, which isn’t serving me so well when it comes to MPG. But since that’s what I purchased, I really can’t complain about the price of gas.
I forget where I saw this, but someone commented about how we’re paying $3 to go 20-30 miles at a comfortable temperature at our own convenience and complaining about it. Meanwhile, some of the same people are buying $5 coffees at the local Starbucks without a second though when cracking open their wallets.
August 4th, 2007 at 6:22 am
If everybody would agree to not drive on saturdays or sundays for a whole month and to carpool to work during that same month it would reduce actual fuel consumption during that time.
Even if not permanent it would send a signal (less money) to the oil industry that it would notice.
Simon