I drive past a BP station everyday and have never given it much thought until (obviously) recently. I don’t recall ever getting gas at a BP, mainly because RaceTrac and 7-Eleven are on the routes I take in my everyday routine. When I drive past BP now, however, I get a sick feeling in my stomach that lasts until I get home, and the same thoughts run through my head: I may be a hypocrite, but I have to drive (especially in central FL). I refuse to stop at BP, however. As I was thinking this the other day I was surprised to see how many people were still getting gas at BP. I would think that with this oil disaster people would be shunning BP gas stations like the plague. I was disheartened to see this isn’t the case.
I know my personal ban on BP won’t change a single thing but it gives me some sense of action. I can’t say I’m driving less, because I really don’t drive that much to begin with. Mass transit, which is all but nonexistent in the area I live in, is also not an option. I guess I’ll have to take my small victories and in the meantime, pray that God, or Buddha, or Allah or someone is looking over the Gulf and will intervene to protect what is left to protect. BP certainly can’t be counted on to do it.
Tags: BP, BP oil spill, British Petroleum, gas, Gulf, Gulf of Mexico, oil, oil spill, oil spill Gulf of Mexico
Guilty of also driving and decided to not get gas from BP. Comfort myself with at least spreading one thing about it this week on Plurk.
.-= LindaN´s last blog ..Fishing with mom =-.
Yep, social media will hopefully have some kind of positive impact.
I’m with you on this one — also boycotting BP. While I feel badly for the operator of the station which I’m refusing to patronize, it’s something I feel needs to be done. Makes me wish I could do more, somehow…
.-= citizen janey´s last blog ..Being Bodacious: Chapter 7 =-.
That is one thing I hadn’t considered, the franchise operator. IronyMaiden on Plurk brought up this excellent point also.
We are boycotting them too.
I figured I wasn’t the only one. 😉
while we aren’t actually boycotting BP (mostly cause in Texas the BP gas stations are franchises and it would hurt the independent owners and their employees), i did help decide what car I would buy. this year, for the first time in my life, we bought a new car. we opted for a vw jetta sportwagen tdi- its a diesel engine and it gets 50+ mpg. gas stations in general will be seeing a lot less of me from now on.
i have been writing and calling my congress reps and complaining loudly .
“Two refineries owned by oil giant BP account for 97 percent of all flagrant violations found in the refining industry by government safety inspectors over the past three years”
http://tinyurl.com/3424wcb
.-= shindigdada´s last blog ..Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-05-30 =-.
Yay for your new car! Those stats you posted are very scary. I’m so overwhelmed by what’s going on. They’re now seeing tar balls on the west coast here. 🙁
i watch the news horrified and heart-broken. the oil soaked pelicans drew tears. i read that some experts the oil spill to affect beaches up the eastern coastline
i didn’t realized it had hit the western florida coast yet. that’s shocking and saddening.
(thanks for yay! we’re celebrating our new car too – we took the money we would have had to use to repair my 10 yr old SUV’s dead transmission/power steering and got something new and reliable and efficient- best purchase ever)
.-= shindigdada´s last blog ..Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-05-30 =-.
the meaning of irony- form my friend lesli in miami
http://tinyurl.com/255atop
.-= shindigdada´s last blog ..Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-05-30 =-.
That is AWESOME!