This same type of email has been circulating ever since the Gulf War.
(I'm going to use the terms oil and gas interchangeably)
Oil/gas is a comsumeable. Sooner or later, we will have to consume gas. Just because we strike for a single day...that is not going to do anything significant. You can believe this false email all you want, but in the end...you will still consume the same amount of gas UNLESS you do something significant, like drive an electric car forever.
Think of it this way. You use cooking oil when you cook right? What happens if you don't cook w/ it? It sits. But sooner or later, you'll end up using the stuff.
Okay. So you decide to purchase oil a day or two ahead of the strike. Guess what? It will not matter. Because spread over time, you will still consume the same amount of oil. The only difference is you went a day ahead, thereby the gas companies have a slight increase in consumption for a single day in their accounting books. But the next day, there is a slight decrease in consumption. By the third day, things are...generally speaking...back to normal consumption levels.
So unless everyone agrees to drive a Toyota Prius or Honda Insight for a significant period of time...you are not going to really affect the gas companies as much as this email leads you to believe.
Read the first paragraph. So if everyone stops being gas for a day, the oil companies will have problems stockpiling their oil? This would be true IF everyone was to participate. But have you seen the people outside of supermarkets taking polls? How many people walk right past them versus how many actually sign up? You'll be hard pressed to get even 10% of the population to agree w/ this supposed gas strike.
Second paragraph. So it will result in a net loss of $4.6 billion dollars. Not if consumption levels return to normal the following day. I agree there will be a loss, but not at the amount this email implies.
Let me skip directly to the "remember one thing" part. I agree that the price for gas will always go up. But that is a result of inflation. Prices will NEVER go down. The airlines are raising prices because they will bills they can't pay. And if they can't pay it, they will file for bankrptcy. Also, they will let people go. Letting people go, means more unemployment. More unemployment means less consumer spending.
I can go on....
But basically, don't believe this email. It doesn't do much when you look at the whole picture. |