Monday, May 31, 2010

I know many of you are considering bo...

Many consumers have considered boycotting BP or British Petroleum for its little leak in the gulf. But before you start buying gas at Amoco, you should know it is a part of BP's global holdings.

You also need to cut those quick stops at the ampm, which along with Arco, BP owns.

While you're at it, better not use Castrol motor oil.

BP actually has a nice looking website listing its holdings to make the consumer's choice easier.

Also if you are looking for more reasons to boycott BP, here is a site to check out.

And while you are feeling good about yourself and being a smart consumer, be glad you don't live in Nigeria. Leaks and accidents like this are common there:

"If this Gulf accident had happened in Nigeria, neither the government nor the company would have paid much attention," said the writer Ben Ikari, a member of the Ogoni people. "This kind of spill happens all the time in the delta."
"The oil companies just ignore it. The lawmakers do not care and people must live with pollution daily. The situation is now worse than it was 30 years ago. Nothing is changing. When I see the efforts that are being made in the US I feel a great sense of sadness at the double standards. What they do in the US or in Europe is very different."
"We see frantic efforts being made to stop the spill in the US," said Nnimo Bassey, Nigerian head of Friends of the Earth International. "But in Nigeria, oil companies largely ignore their spills, cover them up and destroy people's livelihood and environments. The Gulf spill can be seen as a metaphor for what is happening daily in the oilfields of Nigeria and other parts of Africa.
"This has gone on for 50 years in Nigeria. People depend completely on the environment for their drinking water and farming and fishing. They are amazed that the president of the US can be making speeches daily, because in Nigeria people there would not hear a whimper," he said.
By some reports, the same amount that was lost from the Exxon Valdez (which BP had a role in) is spilled every year in Nigeria.

Shell's record is so bad in Nigeria it is being sued in The Hague. Fellow oil giant Chevron (which owns Texaco) has their hands in Nigeria as well.














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