Lawn Service Owner Is Organizing Gas Price Protest

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Earl Humphreys works from sunrise to sunset, seven days a week, but he can’t afford to fix a leaky roof at his lawn-care business, nor can he accept clients who live outside city limits.

"We’re just getting by," he said. "All we’re doing is turning money over."

The reason: high gas prices.

Humphreys said he has been struggling financially for some time, but when prices climbed well beyond $3 per gallon recently, he decided it was time to do something about it.

On May 5, Humphreys and representatives from at least a dozen area businesses are staging a rally to protest suffocating fuel costs, he said.

"We want to spark a movement across the U.S. to send our politicians the message," he said.

Humphreys, owner of Lawn Boyz Home and Garden Center on Bluff City Highway, said Tuesday that gas prices are double what they were this time last year, and he has been hit especially hard because his business relies heavily on gasoline.

"We have to use premium gas in our equipment, which is the costliest gas. We use it in our trucks, mowers, Weedeaters and blowers. We average $120 per day in gas," he said. "And the gas doesn’t only affect us in terms of our vehicles. There are increases in [prices of] straw, grass seed, mulch, weed killer and more, which is because shipping costs have risen."

Humphreys isn’t alone. Over the past months, gas prices have become the main topic of conversation, he said. Fed up, he began calling his competitors in efforts to unite them in protest.

"We’re sending a message to the politicians in Washington that in the next election, if they don’t do what their supposed to do, we’ll replace them," he said.

Humphreys said that while 12 local lawn care and trucking businesses have agreed to participate so far, he is not excluding anyone. He’s inviting everyone who is tired of what they pay at the pump, he said.

Humphreys said he called other lawn care and trucking businesses because he knows they have been forced to absorb the financial loss. They’re not getting paid more than before, but everything they need is more expensive, he said.

"People will only pay you so much to mow their lawn," he said.

Humphrey’s knows exactly what he’d like decision-makers in Washington to do.

First, he said, there should be an independent investigation in Washington conducted by people who aren’t connected to big oil.

Second, he would like Congress to pass a bill giving farmers tax incentives so they can grow more corn for ethanol.

And third, he thinks the United States should deal outside OPEC and negotiate with countries like Russia and Venezuela for cheaper crude oil.

"This is not a red and blue issue – it’s a red, white and blue issue," he said.

The rally is planned from 7 to 9 a.m. May 5 in the parking lot of the former Southside Shopping Center at Bluff City Highway and Lavinder Lane. Call (423) 989-3770 for information.

The early-morning hours were set because "we’re struggling right now and need to work," he said.

Humphrey’s couldn’t say for sure whether his protest will be a success. But, "We’re united. And anytime this country gets united things get done," he said.

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