Ableton Forum

I'm sure you're all aware of the insane gas prices these days. If you're like me, you're sick of it. You might think there's nothing you can do, but there is. You may have already seen a similar email...

The plan is for everybody to STOP BUYING GAS FROM EXXON/MOBIL FILLING STATIONS. This is the biggest oil company and if we can all make a conscious effort to stop purchasing their fuel all at once, they will be forced to do something about it. Other companies will also be inclined to follow suit.

This should not be a major inconvenience for anybody. Simply just buy your gas at an Amoco, BP, etc. Citgo is probably the best place to go since they are the only major oil company that doesn't buy their oil from the middle east.

This could actually work folks.

The only other thing that needs to happen is for this message to get read. Please repost or email anywhere you can. IT'S THIS, OR PAY THE PRICE.

Come over here to England, and pay seven bucks+ a gallon.

Then whine.

The USA has 5% of the world's population, and uses 25% of the world's resources. Sorry, but no pity here.

I'm American, by the way, although sometimes ashamed to admit it.

It seems pretty obvious this topic wasn't intended for you, but I appreciate your concern. Gas prices aren't a major issue for countries like the UK who's entire span would fit inside the state I live in.

and Americans produce 25% of the world's waste as well. We even send our radioactive waste to other countries to deal with...

As much as we would like to boycott big oil companies with record profits, for everything we buy, a percentage of that goes to them, products have to move somehow. Its like being a vegan to make the world better ( no offense to vegans at all, just an example) If you eat a lot of soy products, chances are, some of those soy beans are coming from farmland that used to be rainforest in South America. No matter what, as long as you make any purchase, you are a contributer to something you don't agree with. You wair clothes right? There's another horror story if you traced back how those threads got around your back.

why not boycott buying huge gas-guzzling suvs that increase the demand for oil in the first place?

"Because while those profits might seem outrageous - ExxonMobil earned over $36 billion last year - Big Oil makes its money by pumping oil out of the ground, not refining and selling it as gasoline. Of Exxon's mammoth haul, only a tiny fraction came from making and selling gas in the U.S."

http://money.cnn.com/2006/04/12/magazin ... /index.htm

don't believe everything your hippie college friends tell you

it's a sticky issue. i've generally been in favor of much higher gas prices, which would better reflect the true cost of usage

glu wrote:As much as we would like to boycott big oil companies with record profits, for everything we buy, a percentage of that goes to them, products have to move somehow. Its like being a vegan to make the world better ( no offense to vegans at all, just an example) If you eat a lot of soy products, chances are, some of those soy beans are coming from farmland that used to be rainforest in South America. No matter what, as long as you make any purchase, you are a contributer to something you don't agree with. You wair clothes right? There's another horror story if you traced back how those threads got around your back.

None of that's any reason not to try to minimise your impact on the world with the choices you make. A lot of little differences can have a big impact...

So if you have a social conscience, you do your best, but accept that there's no perfect solution. But that's no excuse for saying "I won't bother to do anything, then".

To take your vegan example, if the vegans who eat the soya stopped eating soya and started eating beef, then even more rainforests would need to be bulldozed - as cattle require much more land for a kg or protein than soya does.

I can't say I'm completely opposed to higher prices for gas, if they encourage people to use less and seek out alternatives. Sometimes you could walk, cycle, bus, train, car-pool, etc. (Similarly for electricity prices, etc.)

That's not always an option, I know. Sometimes you have to drive. But even then you could probably switch to a more ecological (and economical) vehicle (as snowtires suggests) which would be better for you and for the planet.

By the way, I'm a vegan who didn't take offence.

dubstyle5000 wrote:It seems pretty obvious this topic wasn't intended for you, but I appreciate your concern. Gas prices aren't a major issue for countries like the UK who's entire span would fit inside the state I live in.

hmmmm...yes, you've obviously never been to the UK


are there 60 million people living in that state, 1 6th of them in a 2000 year old city that wasnt built with cars in mind? You can use a whole tank of petrol just travelling 15 yards on the M25

Transport is the bain of life in the UK, public transport is an astonishing insult of a joke and The prices of petrol are take the piss multiplied by you cant be serious to the power of bullshit

And dont for a second think public transport isnt affected by petrol prices

besides, there's far more noble things to take a stand on

this is exactly why the Baboon man managed to wage his war on the Mid East - People would rather boycott a couple of garages so they dont have to pay as much for their own petrol than do any bloody thing at all to prevent it and a hundred thousand human rights travesties - and the prices wouldnt be as high without the situation in Iraq either

not enough Americans could actually be arsed to go and vote in the "keep GWB from getting another term" election that was a begging plea from the rest of the world to get rid of him - that was too much effort, so maybe a bit more effort at election time and you wouldnt be whinging about it now

I agree with what all of you are saying. Don't get me wrong. I'm without question the most environmentally conscious person I know.

The fact of the matter is that I have to go to work. I can't just up and move to the UK where conservation is more wide spread and appreciated. If there's something I can do to spend less money on gas, I'm going to do it. It's not about driving more, it's about spending less.

Oh, and what has Citgo not buying their oil from the Middle East got to do with it? Sounds somewhat xenophobic to me. Do I smell a hidden agenda?

Wow, so much animosity from the Brits...

You guys always seem to pigeon hole every American like we're all the same.

robbmasters wrote:Oh, and what has Citgo not buying their oil from the Middle East got to do with it? Sounds somewhat xenophobic to me. Do I smell a hidden agenda?

You're right. I'm the president of Citgo.

dubstyle5000 wrote:Wow, so much animosity from the Brits...

You guys always seem to pigeon hole every American like we're all the same.

Actually, Hambone said, he's American!

I'm a Brit. But no animosity or pigeon-holing from me.

And no, dubstyle5000, I wasn't suggesting that you were the president of Citgo. Just wondered what you had against all Middle Eastern oil companies? And wondered if the email that you mentioned was started by someone acting on behalf of a competitor to EXXON/MOBIL? Started to sound increasingly suspect...

An interesting theory to be sure.

BTW, I didn't intend for this to be a UK vs. US thread either. Americans could learn a lot from the way they do things in other countries, especially England.

I think I just wanted to raise some awarness that these companies are going to continue to try and get every penny from us they can and perhaps we shouldn't just stand around and take it in the ass.