Should we buy gas at BP?

[forrestcupp]

Should we buy gas at BP, or not?

Here are a couple of thoughts I have. No, we should boycott them for their screw up in the Gulf. Yes, we should buy gas from them to support them, or else they'll never get this mess fixed and cleaned up.

What do you think?

[sdowney717]

BP gas stations are they not franchised. which means your also hurting the little guy. I think most people shop on price. Emotions may dictate actions now but the spill will someday stop.
This from the woodenboat forum


Look at the movements to boycott BP. There is a Facebook page with hundreds of thousands of Americans who pledge to not buy BP gasoline.

Who will they hurt?

They'll hurt the mom & pop retailers who own most of the 22,000 BP gas stations in the US.

They'll hurt the Americans who run companies which provide goods and services to these gas stations.

They'll hurt the employees of these gas stations and support companies.

They'll hurt the communities which will suffer tax income reductions as the earnings of these gas stations, support companies and employees decrease.

also BP fuels versus others fuels, who knows what the mix is, it is not traceable at the pump.

[Shining Arcanine]

Should we buy gas at BP, or not?

Here are a couple of thoughts I have. No, we should boycott them for their screw up in the Gulf. Yes, we should buy gas from them to support them, or else they'll never get this mess fixed and cleaned up.

What do you think?


Boycotting oil companies is usually a stupid idea.
I only buy gasoline from Sunoco because they make better gasoline than BP, so in a way I have already been boycotting them for years.

[eriktheblu]

Boycotting them will not fix the leak faster.
Boycotting will not clean it up.
Boycotting will not prevent them from further drilling.

So what's the point of the boycott?

[Shining Arcanine]

Boycotting them will not fix the leak faster.
Boycotting will not clean it up.
Boycotting will not prevent them from further drilling.

So what's the point of the boycott?

The point seems to be to have people to divert time, effort and resources away from things that actually do fix problems, like buying new electrical cars and pushing for nuclear power. If the oil companies were clever, they would be hiring people to go out and encourage boycotts because...


Boycotts are free publicity and any publicity is good publicity.
People think "I need not do hard things like lobbying my politicians for nuclear power and saving my pennies for an electric vehicle because I am boycotting the cause of the problems".

[Giant Speck]

Boycotting BP would be doing more harm than good.

[forrestcupp]

It appears that most of the replies say that we should not boycott BP, but most of the poll votes say that we should not buy gas from BP.

[Shining Arcanine]

That is likely because those who do not give these things serious thought have little to say while those who do give these things serious thought have plenty to say.

[sdowney717]

A response such as boycott now thinking is just an emotional response out of sheer frustration and disgust, not something to build policy around.

I hear BP employs 100,000 Americans full time.
Oh, I just accidentally clicked no because I was thinking "should we boycott BP" see how reliable people are?

[Shining Arcanine]

A response such as boycott now thinking is just an emotional response out of sheer frustration and disgust, not something to build policy around.

I hear BP employs 100,000 Americans full time.

I think that using employment figures to act in a company's interest is an emotionally based policy. A logical response would be ignore employment figures, because employment can change.

A good example of this is GM and Chrysler, which were saved because of their employment figures, but it is fairly obvious that the US would have been better off if those people whose jobs were saved found new jobs elsewhere.

[fatality_uk]

Voted YES as BP hired Transocean US to drill in the Gulf and managed that project and BP would ship the oil into the US domestic market! It was TransOcean equipment and procedures that have failed. Here's what TransOcean US have been doing while BP have taken most of the flack! p.s. http://insurancenewsnet.com/article.aspx?id=195277&type=newswires


Last month, Transocean and several affiliates filed a petition in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to cap their potential liability to $26.8 million. The filing was made under the federal Limitation of Shipowner's Liability Act, which dates to the 19th century -- and which was used by the Titanic's owners to protect them from claims -- and asked a judge to deem Transocean not liable for claims, according to court records (BestWire, May 17, 2010). The U.S. attorneys said Transocean did so "as a way of zeroing out its liability to the Deepwater Horizon's deceased and surviving crewmen, as well as to others harmed by the spill."

So while the big bad brits are out there trying to solve a problem a contractor has created, TransOcean US have been paying lawyers to ensure they don't become liable for the billions of Dollars($) it will take to clean this mess up.

[Shining Arcanine]

Well, if you want to target transocean, the logical thing to do is to target companies with which you do business and from which transocean directly or indirectly receives their revenue. Of course, this whole targeting thing is just a distraction to focus on the real issues involved, such as why such things are needed in the first place.

[Ric_NYC]

Transocean this... Transocean that...

Who hired Transocean?


Guilty by association.

[Giant Speck]

Transocean this... Transocean that...

Who hired Transocean?


Guilty by association.

Of course BP is guilty by association, but they're the only ones claiming responsibility for the spill and the cleanup. Transocean is just as responsible as BP, if not more, but you don't see them out in public taking the blame or helping with the cleanup effort. As guilty as BP is, at least they're doing something.

[Kai69]

I love this,, BP makes a mess in the good old USA people want to boycott, Shell in africa has the worst enviromental disaster record of all time in history and its killing people. USA does nothing . Talk about being blind to the rest of the world.
I think we should stop producing oil look for alternatives and get the oil companies to clean up their mess or even better use the shareholders money to clean up..

[3rdalbum]

Yeah, I'm not going to buy a single litre of gas again this year from BP.

That's because my car runs on petrol, not gas.

[Austin25]

Not sure...
1. I don't have a car, so I can't buy gas anyways
2. The little guys
3. They're an American oil company, so cutting them out will weaken our economy.
It may sound like a good idea, but we are doing more than just punishing them if we boycott; we are also harming ourselves.

[Ric_NYC]

Main Entry: gas
Pronunciation: \ˈgas\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural gas·es also gas·ses
Etymology: New Latin,
Date: 1779
1 : a fluid (as air) that has neither independent shape nor volume but tends to expand indefinitely
2 a : a combustible gas or gaseous mixture for fuel or lighting; especially : natural gas b : a gaseous product of digestion; also : discomfort from this c : a gas or gaseous mixture used to produce anesthesia d : a substance that can be used to produce a poisonous, asphyxiating, or irritant atmosphere
3 : empty talk : bombast
4 : gasoline; also : the accelerator pedal of an automotive vehicle .



Merriam-Webster.

[McRat]

I run diesel. Whoever is pumping it gets my business.

In most the US, fuel is sent by pipeline to distribution centers, then the various companies buy it, and truck it to the retail outlets.

Just because you buy Gas at a BP Retail Outlet, doesn't mean it was pumped out of the ground by BP.

Hence, you might be buying MORE BP fuel by shopping at another brand station.

Two different entities: Retail Outlets and Drilling.

[jcb593]

This is fascinating, can anyone remember people talking about boycotting oil companies when other oil spills etc occurred ? or was it not as important because those "accidents" did not take place on american soil, or near their shores ?

[McRat]

Oh, and just because oil is pumped out of the ground in North America, doesn't mean it gets used in North America. Whoever is high bidder gets the oil. It's a global commodity.

[Ric_NYC]

I love this,, BP makes a mess in the good old USA people want to boycott, Shell in africa has the worst enviromental disaster record of all time in history and its killing people. USA does nothing . Talk about being blind to the rest of the world.
and get the oil companies to clean up their mess or even better use the shareholders money to clean up..


The boycott has to start somewhere.


I think we should stop producing oil look for alternatives

I agree. We should start looking for alternatives. Burning things to produce energy like the cavemen doesn't make sense.

[McRat]

This is fascinating, can anyone remember people talking about boycotting oil companies when other oil spills etc occurred ? or was it not as important because those "accidents" did not take place on american soil, or near their shores ?

Yes, people were REALLY aggitated at Exxon for that drunken idiot who ran a supertanker aground.

To the point of threats, vandalism, and boycotts. They fixed the Exxon Valdez in San Diego. Not sure if I have pictures anymore.

[nubimax]

I voted other my car runs on diesel, I live in Mexico. We have only one place to buy fuel, that is state owned Pemex. When I lived in the U.S. I noticed that all the fuel trucks got their fuel for deliveries from the same tank no matter what fuel station that the delivered to.
M.

[jrothwell97]

Not sure...
1. I don't have a car, so I can't buy gas anyways
2. The little guys
3. They're an American oil company, so cutting them out will weaken our economy.
It may sound like a good idea, but we are doing more than just punishing them if we boycott; we are also harming ourselves.

They're actually a British oil company.

Anyway, it depends entirely on who you blame for the leak. There are multiple potential culprits at various points across the chain:

Transocean, for their very poor safety record
BP, for not supervising well enough
The consumer, for demanding oil at extremely low prices, leading to the incentive to cut corners
The EPA, for allowing the drilling in the first place
The EPA, for not spotting safety breaches sooner.

[Kai69]

Sorry BP now owned by USA
My bad part British and AMACO sorry

[jrothwell97]

Sorry BP now owned by USA

um... no.

It's publicly-owned, no question there (it is "plc") but it's also based in Westminster. And let's not forget it's called British Petroleum.

[Kai69]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP

BP is no longer called British Petrolium its now called Beyond Petrolium name changed in 2000 by Amoco

[Giant Speck]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP

BP is no longer called British Petrolium its now called Beyond Petrolium name changed in 2000 by Amoco

From the very article you referenced:

"In 2001 the company formally renamed itself as BP plc and adopted the tagline "Beyond Petroleum," which remains in use today. It states that BP was never meant to be an abbreviation of its tagline."

[jrothwell97]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP

BP is no longer called British Petrolium its now called Beyond Petrolium name changed in 2000 by Amoco

Wrong again. "Beyond Petroleum" is a slogan it used. The company is now called just "BP", but initially it stood for "British Petroleum."

The Wikipedia article actually says (emphasis added):


BP plc[2] is a British global energy company which is the third largest energy company and the fourth largest company in the world. As a multinational oil company ("oil major") BP is the UK's largest corporation, with its headquarters in St James's, City of Westminster, London.[3][4][5] BP America's headquarters is in the One Westlake Park in the Energy Corridor area of Houston, Texas.[6] The company is among the largest private sector energy corporations in the world, and one of the six "supermajors" (vertically integrated private sector oil exploration, natural gas, and petroleum product marketing companies).[7] The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Of course, I'm not saying at all that the oil spill is the fault of the British, or the Americans alone: it's quite obviously the result of multiple systemic failures in all companies and agencies involved.

[Kai69]

Of course, I'm not saying at all that the oil spill is the fault of the British, or the Americans alone: it's quite obviously the result of multiple systemic failures in all companies and agencies involved.

This is the main problem The company makes huge profits,shareholders like profits so company cuts corners to favor shareholders, Company makes mistakes and blames the little guy but protects shareholders money.
My resolution would be to use the shareholders money to fix this!!!
As they say share prices can go down as well as up :P

[Shining Arcanine]

Yeah, I'm not going to buy a single litre of gas again this year from BP.

That's because my car runs on petrol, not gas.

Petrol is a slang term. The proper word is either gasoline or petroleum.

[Giant Speck]

Petrol is a slang term. The proper word is either gasoline or petroleum.

Actually, the proper term to use instead of "petrol" is "petroleum spirit", as it is the source of that abbreviation.

[yossell]

From Times Online: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7144703.ece

`As of December 2009, 40 per cent of shares were owned in Britain compared to 39 per cent in the US. In the boardroom the situation is the same: six British directors and six Americans. And while the CEO may be British, the chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg, is a Swede.'

I'm not sure these days it makes much sense to talk of the nationality of a company and some of the flag waving rhetoric going on (not here, I hasted to add) is a little alarming. I'm very sure that such talk is a deflection of the real issue: how the public can make sure that these massive companies are held to account for their actions.

[KiwiNZ]

Its interesting that there was a previous blow out like very much like this off the Mexico Coast at the Bay of Campeche which was 10 times the size of the Exxon Valdez ,it received barely a mention in the World press and took nearly 8 months to stop.

Noone outside Mexico gave a toss.

I guess it's all down to where it occurs as to how indignent we will get.

[yabbadabbadont]

Its interesting that there was a previous blow out like very much like this off the Mexico Coast at the Bay of Campeche which was 10 times the size of the Exxon Valdez ,it received barely a mention in the World press and took nearly 8 months to stop.

Noone outside Mexico gave a toss.

I guess it's all down to where it occurs as to how indignent we will get.

Well, the news media at the time were just a little preoccupied with the revolution in Iran and the taking of the hostages from the US embassy there.

;)

[Artemis3]

Go hybrid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_electric_vehicle)? Accelerate/decelerate slowly (Hypermiling (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermiling))?

Would you afford something like the 20k$ Honda Insight (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Insight) and go above 40mpg? :)
http://world.honda.com/INSIGHT/image/gallery_ph08.jpg (http://world.honda.com/INSIGHT/gallery/index.html)

[KiwiNZ]

Go hybrid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_electric_vehicle)? Accelerate/decelerate slowly (Hypermiling (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermiling))?

Would you afford something like the 20k$ Honda Insight (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Insight) and go above 40mpg? :)
http://world.honda.com/INSIGHT/image/gallery_ph08.jpg (http://world.honda.com/INSIGHT/gallery/index.html)

do a little research about the batteries. It will put you of these things. They need replacing after about 3 years and there goes all your fuel savings if in fact you have achieved any.
And Hybrids over their life cycle are more toxic to planet.

[fatality_uk]

This is the future of motoring!
http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/

[Frak]

In the current market, the intertwinings make it impossible to boycott suppliers. To do so would bring down massive connections, causing utter chaos in the market. Besides that, you'd need to forfeit just about everything that has a subtle hint to do with oil, as it could have been provided by BP. There's no way to be sure.

[lisati]

Yeah, I'm not going to buy a single litre of gas again this year from BP.

That's because my car runs on petrol, not gas.

:lolflag:

My main means of transport runs on food.....


Wait: it actually walks!

[coolbrook]

Petrol is a slang term. The proper word is either gasoline or petroleum.
Yes, but there is a distinction between petrol and natural 'gas.'

[lisati]

Yes, but there is a distinction between petrol and natural 'gas.'

+1. When I was living in Palmerston North (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmerston_North) many years ago, one of the local bus companies converted many of their buses so they could run on gas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gas) instead of diesel.

[Shining Arcanine]

+1. When I was living in Palmerston North (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmerston_North) many years ago, one of the local bus companies converted many of their buses so they could run on gas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gas) instead of diesel.

That seems like a foolish decision. Diesel has a higher energy density and can be produced from algae or synthesized from coal.

[KiwiNZ]

That seems like a foolish decision. Diesel has a higher energy density and can be produced from algae or synthesized from coal.

It wasnt at the time . The Natural Gas was cheap local fuel , the diesel was expensive imported.

[Kai69]

MY diesel gets 68mpg and Hybrids are not the future whatever happend to GMs EV1? Why was it killed off
My bicycle runs on natural gas

[KiwiNZ]

MY diesel gets 68mpg and Hybrids are not the future whatever happend to GMs EV1? Why was it killed off

It was a "Beta' version , inefficient and rubbish.

[Kai69]

It was a "Beta' version , inefficient and rubbish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArrhGmTkXxw

But Fast :P

[McRat]

I did some work on the EV1 for GM.

It was the first production car to use aerospace aluminum casting technology that I know of. It was pretty expensive at the time. Today those kinds of parts can be found in many cars, the Corvette is one of them.

The problem with the EV1 was it was too expensive, hence no market. GM never sold the EV1's, they only leased them, and only after you qualified as a user. Not every could get one.

It remains the first truly usable electric car, but it was ahead of it's time. They destroyed all but a few (museums).


If the autos would switch to diesel with no other changes, global oil consumption would fall about 20% (this assumes the diesel engines are modern, and the rest of the cars are as they currently are).

But at least in the USA, the government restrictions on diesels will keep them off the table as a solution. Europe is about 50% diesel. Unlike Ethanol which is a very "lossy" solution, biodiesel is very efficient. Biodiesel + moving away from gasoline, could cut consumption 50% in 20 years.

My hobby is racing and tuning diesels. I drove a 1000HP diesel pickup truck to 197mph last year at Bonneville Salt Flats.

[KiwiNZ]

I did some work on the EV1 for GM.

It was the first production car to use aerospace aluminum casting technology that I know of. It was pretty expensive at the time. Today those kinds of parts can be found in many cars, the Corvette is one of them.

The problem with the EV1 was it was too expensive, hence no market. GM never sold the EV1's, they only leased them, and only after you qualified as a user. Not every could get one.

It remains the first truly usable electric car, but it was ahead of it's time. They destroyed all but a few (museums).


If the autos would switch to diesel with no other changes, global oil consumption would fall about 20% (this assumes the diesel engines are modern, and the rest of the cars are as they currently are).

But at least in the USA, the government restrictions on diesels will keep them off the table as a solution. Europe is about 50% diesel. Unlike Ethanol which is a very "lossy" solution, biodiesel is very efficient. Biodiesel + moving away from gasoline, could cut consumption 50% in 20 years.

My hobby is racing and tuning diesels. I drove a 1000HP diesel pickup truck to 197mph last year at Bonneville Salt Flats.

Diesel is way cleaner but gets a but rep due to badly looked after Japanese SUVS. My Land Cruiser emits zero smoke. I can turn it on in my garage and it does to stink out the place at all.
I believe it is cleaner than my Audi A6

[Kai69]

Hi Mcrat I work as a mecanic and find EVs very interesting as you say the EV1 was very expensive but surely when more orders were taken the costs would have come down and if more manufactures got on the bandwagon, But then again I suppose the oil companies wernt too happy
1000bhp blimey could you convert my VW its only got 90bhp lol :P

[johnnyhop]

I'm torn the yeah and nay arguments both have merit. If BP goes out of business the franchises will suffer, the taxpayers will foot the bill for the cleanup and the execs who have it made won't suffer unless they actually get prosecuted. And the latter isn't likely in the US for those who have plenty of money to buy plenty of justice. We know BP and other oil companies paid lobbyists to water down the safety and emergency shutdown precautions. What BP is doing now and is expected to have finished in August is required before the well starts pumping in Canada. And they make plenty of money despite that minor burden of a safety precaution.

[McRat]

Hi Mcrat I work as a mecanic and find EVs very interesting as you say the EV1 was very expensive but surely when more orders were taken the costs would have come down and if more manufactures got on the bandwagon, But then again I suppose the oil companies wernt too happy
1000bhp blimey could you convert my VW its only got 90bhp lol :P

You can turn up most turbo diesels about 50% safely. I turned mine up about 400%, and it exploded at >202mph with me driving. With the parachute out, engine off, it coasted to an average speed of 197mph. :)

So you could turn your VW up to 150HP and enjoy it, or turn it up to 400HP and scare the crap out of yourself! :)

[Kai69]

You can turn up most turbo diesels about 50% safely. I turned mine up about 400%, and it exploded at >202mph with me driving. With the parachute out, engine off, it coasted to an average speed of 197mph. :)

So you could turn your VW up to 150HP and enjoy it, or turn it up to 400HP and scare the crap out of yourself! :)


Nah it scares the crap out of the missus when the turbo kicks in as it is, and the engine has got 180000 miles on the clock :P so just run in then...

[McRat]

HIJACK ALERT!!!!


Nah it scares the crap out of the missus when the turbo kicks in as it is, and the engine has got 180000 miles on the clock :P so just run in then...

My truck is the little one, "Casper". A 2005 GMC 2500HD Sierra Turbodiesel. It made 916 rwhp on a dyno right before Bonneville, perhaps 1200HP at the crankshaft. It holds two land speed records at Bonneville and is currently the fastest production diesel truck. It has the original Duramax turbo diesel engine that has been heavily modified and uses the original Allison Automatic transmission.

It gets 25 mpg highway and weighs 7120 lbs (~3500 kg?)in full race trim. It runs off normal #2 diesel.

The truck in front belongs to one of the pit crew, Johnny. It's a 13,000lb Kodiak medium duty truck, also with the Duramax V8 turbo diesel and Allison transmission.

[sdowney717]

Last month, Transocean and several affiliates filed a petition in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to cap their potential liability to $26.8 million. The filing was made under the federal Limitation of Shipowner's Liability Act, which dates to the 19th century -- and which was used by the Titanic's owners to protect them from claims -- and asked a judge to deem Transocean not liable for claims, according to court records (BestWire, May 17, 2010). The U.S. attorneys said Transocean did so "as a way of zeroing out its liability to the Deepwater Horizon's deceased and surviving crewmen, as well as to others harmed by the spill."

yes, at least BP has accepted responsibility and is putting a lot of effort into this. They did not exactly bring this about on their own, they were contractually obligated as owners to accept the responsibility for the actions of those they hired to do the work.

[McRat]

People who believe this is an issue involving national entities are sniffing glue.

These are >hundred million dollar projects involving thousands of people from all over the world. And they are not stupid. But people are fallible, and always will be.

It will just put more weight into efforts at reducing oil-consumption, and making drilling for oil safer.

Hate to say it, but some good may come out of this.

[gletob]

BP gas stations are they not franchised. which means your also hurting the little guy. I think most people shop on price. Emotions may dictate actions now but the spill will someday stop.
This from the woodenboat forum


Look at the movements to boycott BP. There is a Facebook page with hundreds of thousands of Americans who pledge to not buy BP gasoline.

Who will they hurt?


They'll hurt the mom & pop retailers who own most of the 22,000 BP gas stations in the US.
Are they the only Mom & Pop in town? Nope.

They'll hurt the Americans who run companies which provide goods and services to these gas stations.[/COLOR]
People will still have to find these "Goods & Services Somewhere"


They'll hurt the employees of these gas stations and support companies.[/COLOR]
Sorry.

They'll hurt the communities which will suffer tax income reductions as the earnings of these gas stations, support companies and employees decrease. I'm pretty sure people still have to buy gas somewhere, so if anything this is the statement with the most fail.



also BP fuels versus others fuels, who knows what the mix is, it is not traceable at the pump.

See quoted.

[Frak]

People who believe this is an issue involving national entities are sniffing glue.

Those who believe National Entities have nothing to do with it are ingesting said glue.

[Artemis3]

Natural gas is nice if you live in a country with plenty of it. It is a shame natural gas was burned, (only sometimes pumped back into the ground), for a century of oil extraction.

A problem with natural gas is that its the source of too many things; including polymers, hydrogen, fertilizers, etc, which means demand is only getting higher, and supplies are only getting shorter (just like oil).

So unless you are real nice and use your own legs, hybrids and electric are the way to go. 3-5 year battery replacements should be expected, but is it really worse than burning more fossil fuels?

Well, the other thing would be to promote mass transportation, but that is a problem in places with car oriented, low density, urbanism (Suburbia). Perhaps with some sort of electric tram/trolleybus network, i don't know...

[alexan]

What's the peculiar problem with BP?
1. They had an incident
2. they are enough incompetent to be unable find quick solution to prevent a great disaster to many people
3. they are stinky.

Well, I think that the only real logic problem is the 2. But my question is: who the hell is enough competent "to find quick solution to prevent a great disaster to many people"?
Other than the big talks, I didn't see anyone talk about the real solution: I am not talking about the (stupid) "suggest your idea" thing... I am talking about all other companies who drill this planet the same way BP does!


How many active oil platform there's around? No idea how fix the problem such kind of problems?

Possible I am the only one who think that's foolish?

[coolbrook]

BP owns Castrol. I wonder if it has anything to do with the huge markdown on high mileage engine oil this week.

[Groucho Marxist]

I might purchase gas there so as to underscore the clearly labeled "no political discussions" rule for the off-topic board.

[wilee-nilee]

Always love polls based on dichotomies, and missing just some basic information as the first response mentions, the franchise factor, mitigates being able to even boycott BP.

[consindo]

I don't have a car (or anything that uses gas) :)

[Kai69]

In the UK the only thing that will happen is fuel price will go up £1.50 a litre anyone!!
And as allways (here goes) just before the price goes up
PANIC BUY NOW !!!!

Every time
My workshop is also part petrol station
maybe its about time I got out of the car trade and started repairing bicycles at least my chances of getting cancer would drop....

[handy]

All of the oil giants are as bad as each other. Spills are a part of the parcel that is the oil age we live in. Nigeria is in far worse shape than the Gulf, but it gets little publicity because the leaders of the developed world (run by corporate heads via the revolving door & other highly financed lobbies) considers the inhabitants there to be of little consequence.

There is no substitute for oil, so when we do eventually run out of that once plentiful energy source, the population we can support will crash to about 2.5 billion (all we will be able to feed) as predicted by those who study this kind of thing.

Those that survive will have no choice but to live a far more green lifestyle that is not based on the thoughtless, wasteful consumption of finite resources, which is of course the norm for so much of the world these days.

When we run out of oil, the biosphere will at last get the opportunity to start to recover from the awful mess we have made here.

[JDShu]

People would not boycott BP for a long enough time to have an effect. Eventually, the lower prices will make them cave. The only way I see disasters like this stop happening is when oil all but runs out so that prices become really high. People will have growing incentive to develop green technology (as they already are), and the high energy prices force us to be less wasteful. Self interest unfortunately, is the only thing that we have managed to harness in our political economies.

[PhoenixMaster00]

um... no.

It's publicly-owned, no question there (it is "plc") but it's also based in Westminster. And let's not forget it's called British Petroleum.

Its not called British Pretoluem anymore... Hasnt been for 10 years since its merger

[madjr]

Oil companies should die period.

They have cost millions their lives (specially in wars and exploiting poor countries) and made irreparable damage to the planet in just 100 years.

the sooner they all die off, the better. Another monopoly that has done more harm than good and development of real alternative energy sources have been totally blocked thanks to them for decades (yes we're decades behind because of them).

what happened was just ANOTHER wake up call.

The proprietary software/no-standards monopoly is nothing compared to this one.

anyone on their side, because of jobs or whatever is just plain nuts, all these 'jobs' would be restored into real alternative energy jobs

if i could go back in time i would had even sacrifice myself to stop this madness.

it's a shame....

i cant wait till 2050, when petroleum will be depleted and it's history, a bad memory of the past.

[dragos240]

I didn't know they had gas stations.

[23dornot23d]

Oil companies should die period.

They have cost millions their lives (specially in wars and exploiting poor countries) and made irreparable damage to the planet in just 100 years.

the sooner they all die, the better. Another monopoly that has done more harm than good and development of real alternative energy sources have been totally blocked thanks to them for decades (yes we're decades behind because of them).

what happened was just ANOTHER wake up call.

The proprietary software/no-standards monopoly is CRAP compared to this one.

anyone on their side, because of jobs or whatever is just plain nuts, all these 'jobs' would be restored into real alternative energy jobs

if i could go back in time i would had even sacrifice myself to stop this madness.

it's a shame....

i cant wait till 2050, when petroleum will be depleted and it's history, a bad memory of the past.

+1 ....... Search anywhere to see where the wars are and you will find the link to OIL

its already stated OIL will run out in around 50 years time possibly less if we continue to

pump it into the SEA .... there seems to be this thought that OIL will go on forever

If people are worried about jobs ....... in 50 years time if a change has not been

made to better forms of Energy ...... PEOPLE will be worrying more about FOOD ......

and how to transport it to their areas ....... PEAK OIL ..... when does it happen ?

As The OIL disappeared the Music played on ..... :guitar::guitar::guitar:

[demosthenese]

BP have at least promised to pay for the entire clean up costs and compensate those affected by the spill.

Contrast this with the behaviour of Transocean, and that most evil of entities Halliburton - whose incompetence actually caused the blowout. This is not the first time Halliburton's poor concrete caps have collapsed - see the spill off East Timor last October.

But Halliburton has friends in D.C. and so will come out 'blameless'.

[steveneddy]

This is starting to border on a political discussion isn't it?

[handy]

...

PEOPLE will be worrying more about FOOD ......

Apparently you have no idea about the current level of human starvation. Unless of course you don't consider people living in the 3rd world people:

16,000 children die from hunger related causes/day.

1.02 billion people are hungry.

http://www.bread.org/hunger/global/

[23dornot23d]

Apparently you have no idea about the current level of human starvation. Unless of course you don't consider people living in the 3rd world people:

16,000 children die from hunger related causes/day.

1.02 billion people are hungry.

http://www.bread.org/hunger/global/


How can you make this assumption ,,,,

from the words I wrote is beyond belief ......

What I am saying is that this situation is not going to get any better ........ if we run out of OIL ......

All countries will have the same problems ...... unless they start thinking now of creating other links

For food to get to the main delivery points that we already have set up around the World .......

Aircraft will not fly ....... Lorries will not run .......

Electricity will only get things like Trams working ..... and as regards shipping it will be New Forms of Sail Boats .....

Unless the OIL people start helping to push for alternatives .......

We probably have 50 years roughly to sort things out ........ if we stay on the same track ....

The alternatives are not going to be there to use ....... does that make it any clearer .....

Here is a link to my Site ..... the one thing I do want is the chance for a better life for all people .....

The Future and how we can plan it out in VR .... (http://sites.google.com/site/blenderlearn/)

At least we could have a Plan ....

[steveneddy]

BP have at least promised to pay for the entire clean up costs and compensate those affected by the spill.

Contrast this with the behaviour of Transocean, and that most evil of entities Halliburton - whose incompetence actually caused the blowout. This is not the first time Halliburton's poor concrete caps have collapsed - see the spill off East Timor last October.

But Halliburton has friends in D.C. and so will come out 'blameless'.

More repeated drivel of the liberal press. Why don't you come up with something original about this issue instead of repeating the political left?

[Frak]

More repeated drivel of the liberal press. Why don't you come up with something original about this issue instead of repeating the political left?
I don't see anything he said as remotely political or "left".

[Sef]

Locked. Political thread.