"No Gasoline" Campaign Urges Consumers to Reject Gasoline

Seattle, WA, September 30, 2015 (Newswire.com) - A new "No Gasoline" campaign urges consumers to stop purchasing gasoline.  The campaign, organized by Seattle-based non-profit Coltura, launches on October 4 at 2 p.m. near the foot of the Space Needle, at the Seattle Center on the corner of Broad and Denny.  The launch event focuses on the severe health and environmental effects of gasoline, and brings together a broad coalition interested in an end to the gasoline era.  It features a work of audience participatory performance art.

The "No Gasoline" campaign informs consumers that they emit 20 pounds (9 kg.) of CO2 with every gallon (3.8 l.) they use, as well as a stew of toxic and carcinogenic chemicals such as Benzene and Toluene, and asks consumers to phase out their purchases of gasoline.   

For most consumers, gasoline use is no longer a necessity but rather a lifestyle choice. As consumers come to realize they emit dangerous toxic compounds and 20 lbs. of CO2 with every gallon of gasoline they use, they will increasingly seek alternatives to gasoline. Improved electric cars and plug-in hybrids, mass transit, and other technologies now offer consumers the ability to purge all or most of the gasoline from their lives with no loss in their lifestyle

Matthew Metz, Executive Director

Because of the increasing range and quality of electric vehicles and other transit options, gasoline use is increasingly a lifestyle choice vulnerable to a shift in attitudes about the aesthetics and social acceptability of its use.   Spurring consumers to purge gasoline from their lives on the basis that it is inconsistent with their self-image as “clean living” people could lead to substantial reductions of gasoline use and CO2 emissions as consumers choose to phase out their purchases of gasoline.  

The "no gasoline" campaign draws strength from Pope Francis' recent exhortation in Laudato Si to the effect that “Purchasing is always a moral – and not simply economic – act. Today, the issue of environmental degradation challenges us to examine our lifestyle.” 

The challenges to shifting away from gasoline are as much cultural as technological.  While tremendous work has been done by Tesla and others to advance the technology of gasoline alternatives, the cultural aspect of weaning society from its dependence on gasoline is still in its infancy.

The "No Gasoline" campaign represents a new front in the effort to reduce fossil fuel use.  Unlike carbon pricing, divestment, and infrastructure-blocking campaigns, "No Gasoline" is a direct appeal to consumers to do their part in reducing their contribution to pollution and climate change.