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I have been reading all of this hoopla about boycotting BP gas and was wondering everyone elses take on this touchy subject. It had crossed my mind a few weeks ago and I decided like many other folks that we do need to keep patronizing thier gas in an effort to stop our tax dollars from going to this clean up. They need our money more than ever right now.
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I absolutely refuse to purchase gas from BP. They have enough money to clean up the gulf waters/beaches etc. I see them filing bankruptcy to get out of paying for damages, only to come back onto the scene under a different name. The good folks down south will not be left out in the cold, there are many citizens out there cleaning up what they can. Continuing to watch and wait.
BP doesn not own gas stations. All you can do is hurt a local guy who is trying to feed his family. Oil is a fungible commodoty meaning one unit here is worth one unit in Nigeria. If you stop buying more BP and start buying more from Chevron that just means one less unit of Chevron gas is available pushing the one unit of BP gas to the guy in Nigeria.
BP does not have unlimited financial resources. Refusing to buy BP products hurts more than just the BP corp. The people hurt can range from your neighbor who owns a BP station to some old age pensioner in England who depends on BP dividends for part of their income. Not to mention the oil field workers in the Gulf who work on BP projects. A boycott of BP hurts many more people than the BP corp.
Boycotting BP will produce negative effects locally as well.

quote:
The Teachers Retirement System of Alabama has 4.5 million shares of BP. On April 20, the value of those shares was more than $272 million. Thursday, the value of the shares was about $135 million. New Jersey’s retirement plan has 51 million shares of BP stock; California’s has 36 million.
http://decaturdaily.com/detail/62596.html
BP does not own a single gas station in the US. They are all independently owned by your local, small business owners.

I won't boycott BP because it hurts our local, small business owner much worse than it could ever hurt corporate BP.

Here is an article on the subject that I found to be enlightening:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/...7878046.story?page=1

If you Google "Boycotting BP hurts small business owners", you will see numerous articles on this subject.

Do some research before making a knee-jerk reaction.
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ronnie P.:
BP doesn not own gas stations. All you can do is hurt a local guy who is trying to feed his family. Oil is a fungible commodoty meaning one unit here is worth one unit in Nigeria. If you stop buying more BP and start buying more from Chevron that just means one less unit of Chevron gas is available pushing the one unit of BP gas to the guy in Nigeria.[/QUOTe


Yes BP may not own the station but they do the gas you pump into your vehicle. I have had family that owned gas station and they said that you do not make enough from the purchase of gas to stay afloat.They just hope that the person buying gas also comes into the store to buy drinks, candy, cigarettes etc.
I bought gas at a BP on Friday for $2.46 a gallon. This BP lowers the price usually every Friday and was doing it even before the gulf incident. The gulf situation could have happened to any company doing off shore drilling. They have known since the beginning that off shore drilling would be difficult to contain if something went wrong. The government, oil companies and people are all naive if they thought nothing like this wasn't ever going to happen.

What can go wrong, will. - Murphy's Law
Marian if you were informed you would know up until this incident BP was the darling of the left and were working with he Obama administration on alternative energy. If you are worried about who is in bed with the company then I'll also inform you Obama was the biggest recipient of BP money. Yet you idolize him and punish a small business man who had nothing to do with approving this rig or enforcing any regulations.
quote:
Originally posted by MarianLibrarian2:
Why is this even a question? Of course we should boycott, especially when there are so many other options. I suspect this "Think of the small business owner" campaign is propaganda being put out by BP. Support the small business owner of a different station down the road from the BP station who chose not to get in bed with an irresponsible company.


Propaganda my butt...go talk to your local BP gas station owner if that's what you believe.

I suppose you are doing some indepth research to determine which oil company is the most responsible and taking your business there?

Keep in mind, that just because BP's sign isn't on the station doesn't mean that BP is not supplying the fuel.

Also, many gas station owners have signed a 10, 20, 30 or even 40 year contract with their fuel supplier. I guess they should have forseen what would happen in 10, 20, 30 or 40 years before 'getting in bed' with BP. Roll Eyes
quote:
Originally posted by MarianLibrarian2:
Why is this even a question? Of course we should boycott, especially when there are so many other options. I suspect this "Think of the small business owner" campaign is propaganda being put out by BP. Support the small business owner of a different station down the road from the BP station who chose not to get in bed with an irresponsible company.


Did you think ofBp as being irresponsible 65 days ago before this had happend?
I didn't have a strong opinion about BP one way or the other. I certainly didn't buy that "BP is a green company" crap that Ronnie mentions. However, if I were going to invest my livelihood in a company by buying their gas, I would have investigated it thoroughly. All of this is beside the point, anyway. If you want to support small business owners of BP stations, that's fine with me. Buy your cigarettes and Mountain Dew there. But I can't imagine why anyone would buy gas at BP when there are so many other options.
quote:
I didn't have a strong opinion about BP one way or the other. I certainly didn't buy that "BP is a green company" crap that Ronnie mentions. However, if I were going to invest my livelihood in a company by buying their gas, I would have investigated it thoroughly. All of this is beside the point, anyway. If you want to support small business owners of BP stations, that's fine with me. Buy your cigarettes and Mountain Dew there. But I can't imagine why anyone would buy gas at BP when there are so many other options.


Because BP again doesn't own the gas stations. They are owned by people who live in your neighborhood who have LESS to do with this than Obama. BP lobbied on behalf of Obama's energy plan and Obama was the biggest recipient of their campaign donations so "buy" it or not.

I would argue with Obama's people covered up or they didn't ask too many questions about the 5k barrel a day estimate we heard for weeks. Now it looks like it could be as high as 100k barrels per day.
BP is a world wide corporation. They made six billion dollars the first three months of this year. Trust me, they didn't make it from people in the U.S. filling up their gas tanks. They're not going bankrupt.

I believe several years ago BP sold all their company owned gas stations. They're owned by locals with I'd bet 10-20 year contracts to buy BP products.

It's apparent from some comments that some don't know how the oil distribution system works. Suppose everyone in the U.S. decided to boycott BP and buy their gas from say Shell. The people at BP aren't going to just sit on that extra oil that they're not selling at BP stations. Meanwhile the people at Shell are going to need extra gas to supply their new ex-BP customers. Where do you think it's going to come from? BP.

Boycotting BP will do little more than make you feel better, while it may hurt your next door neighbor. My advice...keep buying your gas wherever you bought it before, BP will sell their oil whether or not you buy BP gas. The laws of supply and demand dictate it.
quote:
Originally posted by MarianLibrarian2:
quote:
quote:
Originally posted by MarianLibrarian2:
I don't shop at Wal-Mart or buy Nike.


Smug much?


Nope, I just resent the implication that I'm a hypocrite. I hate that I have to use fossil fuels and would immediately switch to an alternative if it were available. As much as possible I try to be a responsible consumer. It's as simple as that.


I love the perpetual and endless argument of indivivdual sacrifice vs collective sacrifice. You're a hypocrite if you don't go far enough, and you're a jerk for hurting those you deprive by going "too far".

How about this. Change is going to hurt. Call me callous, but it's absolutly not my problem if the gas station owner goes out of business. It was his/her risk to invest in that business. That's the way the free market works. Isn't it big business that lobbys for a more regulation friendly free market? So enjoy the freedom to take your business (and vote) anywhere you want for whatever reason.

If you can stomach your guilt of rewarding bad behavior, then I can stomach mine of choosing to take my business elsewhere, and the impact that comes with that. BTW, I'm currently wearing NIKE's and they're quite comfy.
quote:
Originally posted by MarianLibrarian2:
quote:
quote:
Originally posted by MarianLibrarian2:
I don't shop at Wal-Mart or buy Nike.


Smug much?


Nope, I just resent the implication that I'm a hypocrite. I hate that I have to use fossil fuels and would immediately switch to an alternative if it were available. As much as possible I try to be a responsible consumer. It's as simple as that.


Could I show you something with pedals???
Typical of the left, when a dairy farmer and milk maid are required; they call for a butcher.

BP should be allowed to sell fuel to pay back those hurting from the spill. Also, to continue paying into pension funds in the US and the UK. If the Alabama teacher's pension fund fails, guess who will be making up the difference.

The tale about killing the goose who laid the golden egg was caused by the left.
quote:
Originally posted by Ronnie P.:
BP doesn not own gas stations. All you can do is hurt a local guy who is trying to feed his family. Oil is a fungible commodoty meaning one unit here is worth one unit in Nigeria. If you stop buying more BP and start buying more from Chevron that just means one less unit of Chevron gas is available pushing the one unit of BP gas to the guy in Nigeria.


Before everybody gets feeling sorry for these BP station owners just remember that these folks have for years been all too happy to jack gas prices up at the drop of a hat. 9/11 - raise prices; hurricane- raise prices; holidays - raise prices, etc. These people don't care about us small people. The get the phone call every day and rig their prices in collusion with the other brands. And they will continue to do so. And don't be confused with the lower prices this Memorial Day. The Dollar is stronger, that's all. So let's single out the BP stations. And when Shell or Exxon/Mobil gives us an opportunity, then boycott them too. Squeeze their huevos until they crack. Boycott BP.

God, that felt good. Smiler
To Boycott BP in order to avenge the Gulf Coast and the Oil leak would be akin to Firing all the Pilots if one Air Plane crashes, or Boycott all the airlines.

The Stockholders are mostly good people, retirement plans, Americans and Europeans that invested for their retirement plans.

Station owners raised prices, sure, but they weren't most likely the first and wont be the last for they all did that, even non-brand.

To boycott BP is like Boycotting Arizona Iced Tea when folks were mad at Arizona even though the tea has no connection to the state itself and is made in another part of the country.

To Boycott just hurts people that aren't involved and helps only to spread the pain to people that don't deserve it.

Anyway their stock has dropped so much I'm sure they are feeling the pain and have seen quite a bit of trouble so far.
"To Boycott BP in order to avenge the Gulf Coast and the Oil leak would be akin to Firing all the Pilots if one Air Plane crashes, or Boycott all the airlines."

That may be the most disconnected and illogical analogy I think I've ever seen. The correct anology would be to boycott an airline because of a plane crash that was cause by their irresponsible behavior.

Would this even be a dispute if weren't an oil company? If Coke made the same mistakes that BP did, and created an enviormental catastrophe would we be having this debate? Would we worry about their shareholders? I doubt it. And how many people were talking about boycotting all goods from China because of lead? That was a good right-wing boycott.

For those who are trying to win this argument with "guilt" tactics, please sell your tears elsewhere.
quote:
Originally posted by LettucePrey:
"To Boycott BP in order to avenge the Gulf Coast and the Oil leak would be akin to Firing all the Pilots if one Air Plane crashes, or Boycott all the airlines."

That may be the most disconnected and illogical analogy I think I've ever seen. The correct anology would be to boycott an airline because of a plane crash that was cause by their irresponsible behavior.

Would this even be a dispute if weren't an oil company? If Coke made the same mistakes that BP did, and created an enviormental catastrophe would we be having this debate? Would we worry about their shareholders? I doubt it. And how many people were talking about boycotting all goods from China because of lead? That was a good right-wing boycott.

For those who are trying to win this argument with "guilt" tactics, please sell your tears elsewhere.


I could be wrong but I think gbrk was just trying to explain who this really hurts. BP will not feel much of an effect from a boycott as there are several different brand stations that sell gas that was bought from BP, BP at times would even be selling oil to refineries that end up being shipped to all of the other brands. The people who the boycott will hurt are the little old retired lady down the street that owns BP stock and the small business owners that who operate BP stores. In other words the top execs at BP won't feel any consequences from a boycott so the boycott makes no sense.
quote:
Originally posted by BFred07:
quote:
Originally posted by LettucePrey:
"To Boycott BP in order to avenge the Gulf Coast and the Oil leak would be akin to Firing all the Pilots if one Air Plane crashes, or Boycott all the airlines."

That may be the most disconnected and illogical analogy I think I've ever seen. The correct anology would be to boycott an airline because of a plane crash that was cause by their irresponsible behavior.

Would this even be a dispute if weren't an oil company? If Coke made the same mistakes that BP did, and created an enviormental catastrophe would we be having this debate? Would we worry about their shareholders? I doubt it. And how many people were talking about boycotting all goods from China because of lead? That was a good right-wing boycott.

For those who are trying to win this argument with "guilt" tactics, please sell your tears elsewhere.


I could be wrong but I think gbrk was just trying to explain who this really hurts. BP will not feel much of an effect from a boycott as there are several different brand stations that sell gas that was bought from BP, BP at times would even be selling oil to refineries that end up being shipped to all of the other brands. The people who the boycott will hurt are the little old retired lady down the street that owns BP stock and the small business owners that who operate BP stores. In other words the top execs at BP won't feel any consequences from a boycott so the boycott makes no sense.


Please stop with the "little old lady" nonsense.

BP registered the rig with the Marshall Islands so they could self regulate. The Marshall Islands has a such a small government that they can't actually oversee the safety regulations of the rig.

Find me an oil company that doesn't exploit a tax loophole, or doesn't already feast on our tax subsidies and I might shed a tear.
Funny, Fred, I think Lettuce and gbrk are actually on the same side -- just wording it differently. Maybe I'm reading it wrong. They are both saying not to boycott BP. And Lettuce is right -- do people truly boycott Wal-mart for their environmental travesties a few years ago? Something with dumping materials etc......No. People still shop there. It's just easy to blame bp and yell boycott and gbrk made a good point, the shareholders that will lose money will be hurt.

I didn't stop at bp's before so it really doesn't affect me. Others are right too, you never really know who is providing the fuel to the store unless you ask specifically sometimes. It's a lot to think about.

However, I agree with Cage -- our politicians are not helping matters and while having round table butt-chewings and hearings are all fine and good -- make BP get it right -- then take them to the bank. Don't make the situation worse by worrying more about looking good ... the buck stops with Obama but he's barely done drive-bys.
quote:
Originally posted by Eastside:
Funny, Fred, I think Lettuce and gbrk are actually on the same side -- just wording it differently. Maybe I'm reading it wrong. They are both saying not to boycott BP. And Lettuce is right -- do people truly boycott Wal-mart for their environmental travesties a few years ago? Something with dumping materials etc......No. People still shop there. It's just easy to blame bp and yell boycott and gbrk made a good point, the shareholders that will lose money will be hurt.

I didn't stop at bp's before so it really doesn't affect me. Others are right too, you never really know who is providing the fuel to the store unless you ask specifically sometimes. It's a lot to think about.

However, I agree with Cage -- our politicians are not helping matters and while having round table butt-chewings and hearings are all fine and good -- make BP get it right -- then take them to the bank. Don't make the situation worse by worrying more about looking good ... the buck stops with Obama but he's barely done drive-bys.


Nope, were not on the same side. I'm not saying not to boycott BP. I'm saying if there is such thing as a worthy boycott, this would be it.

Let me see, a major corporation manipulates the law to self regulate safety protocols, which when translated means "no safety regulation". This leads to possibly the worst environmental catastrophe in human history, and also greatly impacting American industry that have nothing to do with oil.

So yes, boycott. Buy your gas elsewhere. If you've got the dough, buy an electric car. Vote for people who encourage 'real' energy research and change.

But if you're so concerened and guilty about Jimmy's local BP franchise going out of business and you're worried about the BP stockholders, give'em all your money.

Of course that means you are hurting the other gas franchise across the street that get's their gas from an only slightly more responsible oil company. If only this were a socialist country and we didn't have this choice.

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