OAK BROOK, Ill. -- High gas prices have sparked reactions from more than just politicians.
"Operation Lead," a group headed by former DeKalb County, Ga., NAACP president John Evans, is staging a protest over high gasoline prices, reported WXIA-TV.
Evans wants Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue to lower the price of gasoline in the state to 99 cents, said the report.
And echoing the ubiquitous emails that circulate online whenever the topic heats up, Evans also called on motorists to boycott some big oil companies [image-nocss] that he said have the highest prices with the highest profits. "That boycott will be against Texaco, Shell and BP. Those two have been chosen initially. We will be adding to that list as we go along letting people know what they need to do," Evans said at the 20-minute rally in DeKalb.
Operation Lead is calling on drivers to fill up their gasoline tanks only on Friday and to avoid stations completely on Saturday and Sunday, the report said. Evans also asked motorists to avoid buying convenience items such as sodas and snacks.
"We feel that a good selective boycott on some of these oil companies may provide the tone that will get some action. The fat cats are getting fatter and we know that they are not concerned about the average working person or people in general. They're just concerned about profit making," said Evans.
Perdue's office commented on Operation Lead's proposal, saying, "We live in a free market society and proposals like that come from people who would rather grab headlines than solve problems."
Meanwhile, spurred by rising gasoline prices, elected officials in Bee County, Texas, are urging motorists to boycott fuel pumps in hopes of sparking a state trend, said the Associated Press.
Hey, the American people are tired, Judge Jimmy Martinez said. What we did is we simply took action instead of complaining. We're offering our residents a beacon of hope.
Officials planned to ask other counties to join the boycott set to begin Monday and said they hope it will attract the attention of oil companies.
Local retailers in the town about 95 miles southeast of San Antonio condemned the effort as misguided, as did the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) and the American Petroleum Institute (API).
I understand politicians wanting to show action on behalf of their constituents, NACS spokesperson John Eichberger told the San Antonio Express-News. But, boycotts are the least effective and most destructive outlet for consumers in regards to the markets.
The Bee County resolution is targeted specifically at ExxonMobil retailers. It calls for a boycott until retailers agree to drop the price to $1.30 a gallon.
County officials said they chose ExxonMobil because it is the largest oil company in the United States. They hope competitors will be motivated to enter into a price war, driving the cost of fuel down.
API spokesperson Jane Van Ryan said major oil companies own fewer than 10%, or about 16,000, of the nation's convenience stores. She said the price of fuel is determined long before it reaches the station, with crude oil prices having the greatest impact.
Leticia Munoz, whose family owns three Bee County convenience stores that sell ExxonMobil fuel, called the boycott ridiculous.
I don't know what they are trying to accomplish, she said. It's not going to make a difference on the cost of fuel, but it is a direct impact on us.... There's nothing we can do about [gas prices].
Munoz said dropping the price of gas at the family's stores from $2.79, as it was Tuesday, to $1.30 would leave them bankrupt.
Martinez said the county does not want to hurt local businesses, but to protect the masses. We've been conditioned to think that we can't do anything. We're beyond that now. Somebody needs to bring it up at the grassroots level, to light the fire here so it can move on.
And a Christian group, Pray Live, said it has grown tired of escalating gasoline prices and is set to stage a national prayer rally to lower the numbers at the pumps.
According to a UPI report, various Christian clergy from around the country will convene around a Washington, D.C., gas station today at noon to pray. For those who can't attend, it has set up a live Internet site and toll-free prayer line.
In a release, the Pray Live group said many people are overlooking the power of prayer when it comes to resolving this energy crisis. Apart from sending a message to God, the rally had a message for humanity, said Wenda Royster, the group's founder. It is our hope that seeing and hearing some of the nation's most powerful preachers gathered around a gas station and the United States capital as a backdrop, will remind everyone who is really in charge of our worldGod, Royster said.
The website is www.praylive.com. The toll-free phone number is 888-PRAYLIVE.Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.