SIMMONS AUTOMOTIVE

“Dropping Gas Prices” In response to an influx of emails regarding the subject:


Playing Devil’s advocate, if we boycott Exxon/Mobile (which is the same company) or any other gas company until they drop gas prices consumers will begin purchasing Exxon/Mobile gas again as soon as it’s 3-6 cents a gallon cheaper than Chevron or Tesoro or Shell across the street. Then the other stations individually will drop their prices temporarily to even the playing field and all will slowly increase prices across the board again. Consumers (people) are greedy, short-sided and forgetful. Everyone thinks what they do, just this once won’t matter or that the other guy will do it. The same reason most multi-level marketing programs don’t work. Fuel is a commodity and like anything else is driven by supply and demand. No amount of boycotting will have any far-reaching effect.

The problem isn’t the oil companies, it isn’t the Arab nations, it’s our piss-poor planning the last 12 years when we saw it coming. Its our blind faith as a nation that big brother is going to take care of us. If we don’t drill in Alaska and off the Florida coast, we are fools. If we don’t get the government out of CAFE restrictions on fuel manufacturing, the costs of production will continue to rise. California has added to the problem as always, requiring special blend fuel and will not permit cross-contamination with US EPA regulated fuels necessitating separate transport pipelines, trucks, manufacturing plants. Other states to follow. The market can create the vehicles to meet standards without the government playing with fuel formulas, always creating unforeseen side-effects. Drop HC’s, raise CO’s, round and round it goes. No one country in the world controls more than 12% of the crude. Cuba is drilling off our Florida coast, right outside our jurisdiction. Alaska residents welcome the idea of self sufficiency and the inevitable creation of thousands of jobs that would follow.

Alternative fuels are not the answer as methanol is highly corrosive; ethanol (corn) is much too expensive to produce in our country because of the farm subsidies (agricultural welfare) we’ve created. If we purchase corn abroad, we haven’t solved any problems. Petroleum is proven not a “fossil fuel” as more petroleum reserves are untapped than was in use in the last 100 years. That argument will never be heard today as it is the politician’s ticket to scare-tactics and bullying themselves into power. So much for Global warming, Al, as we’re experiencing 100 year lows. Our sovereignty is being eroded daily at an alarming rate! Until we wake up as a nation, we are destined to future impoverishment and foreign rule through commodities leveraging and regulation.

I’ll get down from my soapbox now. Pass it on, delete it, or whatever. I just keep hearing from everyone complaining about the wrong problem and thought I’d share my 2 bits with a friend.