Internet stirs up displeasure about rising gas prices
Millions of people will not be pumping gas on May 15.
The Internet has blazed a trail nationwide in a protest against rising gas prices.
Gas is now over $3 a gallon in most places.
In response internet users everywhere have organized a simple protest: Don’t pump gas.
The protest has gained momentum through chain e-mails and online communities such as facebook and MySpace.
Hundreds of online groups and events have been created, urging people not to buy gas on May 15.
Supporters of the agitation claim that there are over 73 million people in America who use the Internet and if all those people refused to buy gas at once, it would take almost $3 billion out of the oil companies’ pockets in just one day.
It has been claimed that in April 1997 a similar protest was conducted nationwide to show distaste for gas prices and they dropped 30 cents a gallon overnight.
Protestors claim that waiting for the government to step in and control prices is futile. Airlines and trucking companies are supposedly forced to raise their prices due to rise in gas prices, and as a result the consumer ends up paying more for almost everything that is shipped- food, clothing, building materials, medical supplies and so on.
However, David Emery, a writer in Urban Legends and Folklore, said the claims made in the protest are wrong and the whole protest is futile.
There was apparently no agitation in 1997.
However, there was a similar protest in 1999, which was totally ineffective, as gas prices did not go down.
Emery claims such a boycott wouldn’t hurt the oil companies one bit, as every single American who doesn’t buy gas on Tuesday is still going to have to fill up their tank on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, making up for Tuesday’s losses.
Sales for the whole week would be normal, or very close to it.
A meaningful boycott would entail participants actually consuming less fuel, and doing so in a sustained, disciplined fashion over a defined period of time, not just choosing to wait a day or two before filling up as usual, Emery said.