Part of the problem is lack of refineries. Tree hugging naturalist liberals are to blame for that. They claim a refinery negatively impacts nature. Well so did the hurricane that broke the levy they stopped from being fixed 15 years ago that flooded New Orleans and killed hundreds!!!
I like the idea of protesting ONE major fuel retailer consistently and nationwide. They WILL drop their prices but I recommend not revisiting their store until it's well below $2. per gallon. I think having a 9 BILLION dollar profit margin should be suffeicient for any orginization. It can't be Exxon/Mobil as they supply the military and aviation users so retail sales won't really impact them as we need it to. It's gonna have to be Citgo or Shell.
I am a traveling Technician. I HAVE to drive. Fuel now costs me $90 every other day to fill my truck. I Can't imagine what an independant Trucker is going through...
My .02
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OK, I came here for a different reason, but I have to comment on this.
Yes, the lack of additional refineries is an issue. But this is a very deep and very mature problem that started 20+ years ago. First off let's clear something up...
You can blame the "tree hugging liberals" if you like, but personally your argument (not you, but your argument) has holes in it.
Let's start with the fact that: "They claim a refinery negatively impacts nature. Well so did the hurricane that broke the levy they stopped from being fixed 15 years ago that flooded New Orleans and killed hundreds!!!"
- You are absolutely correct! The hurricane DID kill hundreds. However, in one case (refinery) you have willful intent to take from the earth something that knowingly polutes the air, and destroys the land around it. In the other case (hurricane) you have a situation where people died because of an occurance in nature...coupled with exceedingly poor planning, a depressed economy in New Orleans that propegates poverty, and general neglect from multiple groups (design and planning) that decided building a city in a fishbowl was a good idea...
Part two of your argument says: "I like the idea of protesting ONE major fuel retailer consistently and nationwide. They WILL drop their prices but I recommend not revisiting their store until it's well below $2. per gallon."
- Sounds like a great idea. Let's boycott a specific provider and force competition to regulate price for us. There is only one problem. The holdings of the oil companies are diversified between other companies in the oil and gas industries. Essentially, they do what we should...diversify their investment portfolios so that someone boycotting them is not going to affect their profits as badly as you think. Not to mention the fact that they sublease their refineries to others, and sell oil to people who are not consumers... The argument is fine, but the nature of oil and gas is oligopolic, and they are diversified between each other... so doing this won't work the way you think it will.
Your final argument: "I am a traveling Technician. I HAVE to drive. Fuel now costs me $90 every other day to fill my truck. I Can't imagine what an independant Trucker is going through..."
Get a fuel efficient car, get a diesel and make your own BIO. You may think I am talking out of my ass on this, but my friend and I pay .58 cents a gallon for our fuel on our diesels. AND I get 42 miles a gallon on it. You may HAVE to drive, but you don't HAVE to drive the way that you do. There are alternatives if you are willing to look for them...