BreakTheChain.org

Fueled Up

Date Added: Aug. 27, 2005
Last Updated: Aug. 27, 2005

One thing I've learned from years of analyzing e-mail chain letters is that people are strongly divided on a number of political issues. But one thing that almost every American agrees upon is that gas prices are rising and that increase is having an effect on our economy and our pockets. What we don't agree upon, however, is how to go about fixing this problem. This so-called petition has good intentions, but misses the mark.

E-mail chain letters proposing accessible ways the common consumer can make a stand about high gas prices are certainly not new. Since 1999, armchair activists have repeatedly tried to exploit the near-infinite reach and relative ease of the Internet to achieve their goals.

The proposed plans to get the attention of government and industry have ranged from refusing to buy gas from a given company, to skipping the pumps on a given day. The chain letter above uses an old standby - the e-mail petition - to motivate President George W. Bush to lower prices. Problem is, he can't.

Gasoline prices in the United States are influenced by a number of factors, not the least of which is the price of crude oil coming from suppliers in the Middle East, South America and domestic sources. While the President may have a few courses of action at his disposal that would provide temporary relief from the rise (reducing taxes on fuel, providing incentives for alternate fuel source development, promoting expansion of U.S. refining capacity and opening the nation's emergency fuel reserves), he has little (if any) control over the price of crude oil, thus little power to promote long-term change.

Undaunted by this fact, many believe that, even if the President has little power in this matter, this "petition" serves to show him that we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore. But, let's look at this petition rather critically, through the Seven Tests of Armchair Activism:

1. Expiration - FAILED - This one is not dated and provides no deadline for submitting signatures. "Revolving door" petitions like this one have little political influence and, in fact, become a nuisance pretty quickly. This one has been around at least for a year and keeps going strong.
2. Focus - FAILED - As mentioned above, the target of this petition has no real power to effect the change desired, thus its focus is completely wrong. It doesn't even contain an action statement to tell the President specifically what we, the undersigned, want done. It's more of a rant, done up in petition style.
3. Integrity - FAILED - E-mail petitions that ask you to send "signed" copies directly to the party to be influenced have no integrity and serve only as "e-mail bombs" to unnecessarily clog the recipient's inbox.
4. Privacy - FAILED - No e-mail is private. Anything you send via e-mail is available for prying eyes to see. When you add your name and e-mail address (by forwarding it) to one of these chains, you have absolutely no control over where that information goes, who gets it and what they do with it. Get a lot of junk e-mail and don't know why? Well, if you've signed e-mail petitions in the past, that could be part of it.
5. Reliability - FAILED - Even though the e-mail address given in the petition is an actual public comment mailbox at the white house, we cannot rely on presidential staffers to compile signatures, eliminate duplicates and present a finished list to the president. I guarantee that the low-level aides and interns at the White House charged with checking the president's public e-mail account pay little attention to the copies of this they receive, aside from maybe putting a tick mark on the day's topic sheet for each one received.
6. Sponsorship - FAILED - The author of this petition does not identify himself or herself or provide any means to find our more or become involved more directly with the campaign. There is nobody collecting signatures on this petition and ensuring they reach the target party.
7. Validity - FAILED - For all the reasons stated above (and a few others), this so-called petition has no validity.

While we all feel the sting of high gas prices, it seems many people want the solution to come from the outside. In reality, each of us has numerous methods at our disposal for reducing our own out-of-pocket costs for fuel - many of which, if done for a prolonged period of time, could eventually help control global gas prices by reducing demand:

• Drive more economical cars. The U.S. leads the world in gas consumption. Not coincidentally, we also lead the world in ownership of large trucks and SUVs. It is a fact that most minivans and large sedans get 15-20 percent better gas mileage than sport utility vehicles, so do you really need a Hummer to get the kids to school?
• Take care of our vehicles. Regular maintenance can keep your car running as efficiently as possible. Even something like low tire pressure can reduce fuel economy by 10 percent or more.
• Drive more responsibly. Starting and stopping your car frequently uses significantly more gas than leaving it running for a long time. Instead of making short, individual trips to different stores, plan to make all your stops in one trip.
• Drive slower. Reducing your speed on the freeway (when it is safe to do so) can significantly increase fuel economy. Research has shown that your vehicle is 10 percent more economical at 55 miles per hour than at 65 - 17 percent more than at 70 mph.

But, these things require long-term change and dilligence on an individual level. Forwarding an e-mail petition like the above is easy, free and provides instant gratification with little effort. It also produces little, if any, results. In the words of legendary college football coach Woody Hayes: "Nothing easy is worth a damn." Break this chain.

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