Immigrant activists to boycott gas stations

Protesting their struggle to get drivers' licenses for illegal immigrants, activists plan a Monday-only boycott of gas stations:

Pro-immigrant groups urged motorists to avoid buying gas every Monday through next year or until lawmakers allowed illegal immigrants to apply for licenses.

"Our campaign isn't a day protest," said Nativo Lopez, president of the Mexican American Political Association and Hermandad Mexicana, after announcing the "Dark Mondays" boycott at a gas station in downtown Los Angeles. "It's a prolonged campaign of pressure to obtain licenses for immigrants regardless of their status."

Several outside observers questioned the effectiveness of the proposed boycott.

"Obviously people can arrange not to buy gas on Monday but arrange to buy gas on all other days," said Stephen Levy, senior economist at the Palo Alto-based Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy. "This is equivalent to a bumper sticker drive

."
Bummer. At $2.29 a gallon, Californians could have used a reduction in demand--and theoretically prices--as a result.