From an AP story:
Motorists pulled in to Harvey Pollack's gas station, honked and gave him a thumbs-up -- because he wasn't selling any fuel.
The owner of Towne Market Mobil in this suburb north of Milwaukee shut down his pumps for 24 hours, hoping to start a movement aimed at convincing oil companies to lower their prices.
"Somebody out there is making money at these prices, but not me," said Pollack, 57. "So I just thought: What can I do to help the consumer?"
...Pollack and station general manager John Schwartz agreed to experiment with a pump shutdown after an Internet-based push for a one-day gas boycott went largely unheeded last week.
"Somebody's got to be the first to try this," Schwartz said...
Pollack said he has virtually no control over the price he charges for gas. The company usually makes 8 to 12 cents per gallon after suppliers' prices and credit card fees. On Wednesday -- the day before the protest -- that added up to $3.49 for a gallon of unleaded gas.
Schwartz called that "outrageous" and said even he can't fill up his SUV at that price [whoosh! Irony flying over his head...dt].
"If it keeps going like this, my kids will never be able to afford to drive," said Schwartz, who has an 18-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter.
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And there it is. The Truth, spoken in frustration and without realizing the irony of the statement.
You reckon your children will be driving SUVs? Autos of any sort?
Or will they be cursing us for using up the available fossil fuel resources in one brilliant 100 year burst of consumption?
3 comments:
What I find amusing in these rants by citizens and politicians about the cost of gas and the associated amount of money that oil companies make is the ignoring of the elephant in the room.
Sure, Exxon will make 5-10 cents per gallon profit but where this guy lives, the government is making 50 cents per gallon ( 32 state, 18 federal).
If he wants lower gas prices don't harass the oil companies, harass the government.
And yet, for "all that" tax money, motorists are still not paying for all the hidden costs of gasoline.
I'm for a pay-as-you-go system, in which all reasonable costs of a product are figured into the cost one way or the other.
Estimates for the Real Cost of gasoline ranges from $5-15/gallon, or did a few years ago. No doubt it's higher now.
If prices are nowhere near the "real costs", then why is it such an issue to have high gas prices? If we are worried about over-consumption and the "real costs" of oil, then aren't higher gas prices a good thing? Or are they bad because it (seems) like people are making profits?
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