San Diego has some of the highest gas prices in the nation. Some residents have had enough.
Aug. 19, 2005 - Standing beside his 2002 Nissan Pathfinder at a San Diego gas station, Tom Shess, 60, shakes his head in disgust as he fills the SUV’s 20-gallon tank with medium grade gasoline at $2.79 per gallon. Then he chuckles at the irony that he’s forced to listen to a news report on a mini-television set at the pump telling him gas prices will soon fall. “This gas station should spend less on TV sets and pass the savings to the consumer,” says Shess. “I realize now that the only way we’re going to get prices rolled back is to hit the big oil companies where it hurts.”
Shess thinks it's time big oil felt some pain for a change. “Let them feel the spanking on their wallet and see how they like it,” he says. “Back in the ‘50s, I remember how labor unions would strike only one major automaker at a time. Why don't we boycott big oil companies one brand at a time? How about in September we boycott Chevron, then Mobil in October, then Exxon in December? One household consumer at a time can bring down the prices.”
Shess isn’t alone with his anger. The whole country is griping about paying more at the pump, but in San Diego, where regular unleaded is the most expensive in the nation, according to the Lundberg survey of 7,000 gas stations, emotions are running especially high. Most San Diegans interviewed for this story voiced frustration about the gas prices--even if they admit they’ve no idea why they are so high--and many are changing their lifestyle and/or driving habits as a result.
For Phyllis Graham, the tipping point came just last week. Graham, who does a lot of driving throughout San Diego County, got so fed up with gas prices that she went out and bought a Toyota Prius. “I just decided it was time to purchase a hybrid,” she says. “Obviously, it will take a lot of savings at the pump to make up the $21,000 sticker price. But I’m angry that as a population we are so easily manipulated, so easily taken advantage of.”
Another possible sign that San Diegans are fed up is the substantial increase lately in ridership on the San Diego Trolley. Last month, for the first time ever, the 48-mile light rail system exceeded 3 million riders. Rising gas prices are listed as one of the contributing factors for this, says Tom Doogan, a trolley spokesman.
”I think we’ll continue to see a sort of bell curve reaction to the high gas prices here,” Doogan tells NEWSWEEK. “The reaction isn’t always immediate, but at the end of the month when people have less money than the month before, and they realize it’s because of more money spent for gas, more people look for alternatives like the trolley.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9013736/site/newsweek/
CK3: I know that people have good reason to be mad as hell for filling their tanks while emptying their wallets. I doubt that a boycott would work since so many people are brand loyal and would not participate in a boycott of their preferred brand. The lady that bought a Hybrid did not get ahead of the gas prices because she has a huge expense of paying for the car plus insurance over a period of years.
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