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Gas boycott likely not effective


You've likely - as I have - received at least one mass email concerning a one day boycott of gasoline tomorrow, May 19. I've seen this before and have always wondered what made people think this would be effective. Matt Helms (if that is his real name...) of the Detroit Free Press took the time to comment on it.

The only way it might possibly have any impact is if people not only didn't fuel up tomorrow, but left their car at home. Only a sudden reduction in consumption will do anything. After all, if we're using the same amount of fuel over the course of a week, what difference will it make filling the tank up on Tuesday or Thursday instead of Wednesday? None, really, aside from making the pumps more crowded on Tuesday and Thursday...

Locally, we're hovering around $2.00/gallon here in SE Pennsylvania, btw., which is up from the $1.95 I noted last Friday.

Walking, riding a bike or taking public transportation for the day, that could have an impact. If we do some of that, and maybe the more ambitious - according to circumstance and ability - can try to do something inventive like this man did. After all, most electricity in this country comes from burning one fuel or another. The creation of private hydro-electric power plants was done in a widespread way in apocalyptic, wartime Bosnia, as Joe Sacco reported in his excellent Safe Area Gorazde.

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