Are you boycotting BP?

Are you boycotting buy BP fuel?

  • Yes, BP deserves to be punished

    Votes: 24 47.1%

  • No, was bad luck to have it happen to BP

    Votes: 27 52.9%
  • Total voters
    51
Escaep

Escaep

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Pretty simple question: Are you boycotting buying fuel from BP stations due to the oil spill?

And did you know most BP stations are independently owned and operated?

Tension is mounting between BP and the neighborhood retailers that sell its gasoline. As more Americans shun BP gasoline as a form of protest over the Gulf oil spill, station owners are insisting BP do more to help them convince motorists that such boycotts mostly hurt independently owned businesses, not the British oil giant.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100627/ap_on_bi_ge/us_oil_spill_bp_at_the_pump

They want customers to know that protesting BP with boycotts hurts their gas stations, which are almost all independently owned businesses that share a brand and a contract to buy fuel with BP.
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http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20107100308
 
Brands:
BP
Amoco
Arco
am/pm
Aral
Castrol
Wild Bean Cafe

I am boycotting. I couldn't care less if it hurts small business owners. BP ****ed up, so people/businesses who rely on BP are gonna take the pain along with them. They should get mad at BP for causing a massive environmental catastrophe, not at me for boycotting them in response. Tough shit. I'd rather punish BP and small business owners who are contractually bound to them than not punish BP at all.
 
I just buy gas wherever it's the cheapest. That's how it's always been for me.
 
Never bought it, don't think they have gas stations here
 
I've never really gone to BP before and I'm still not going to them, but I'm not making a conscience effort not to because of the oil spill.
 
I would actively avoid it, but there are very few BPs around my area anyway. I'm aware that this has a far more profound impact on the local businesses, but I also don't see why that is so relevant.
 
Erestheux said:
I'm aware that this has a far more profound impact on the local businesses, but I also don't see why that is so relevant.
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Because most people boycotting BP think they are hurting BP when in fact they're hurting the local business owner more.
 
Nope. Then again I havent seen many BP stations around here. And as people have said it hurts the local businesses, BP can just sell to other stations.
 
I don't have a car, so I'm boycotting ALL gas stations!
 
After the BP explosions a few years ago, I decided I would fuel at BP stations. I figured, instead of a boycott, I would support them to help pay for safety equipment. Foolish, I know, right? A safety mishap could happen to anyone, really. Then, they had some spill in Alaska pipeline, and I was like. D: Now with this? 3 accidents in as little as 7 years? And one as big as this? I will never go to BP again, I don't give a **** if I have to push my car into a different gas station.
 
I think it's stupid how their safety protocol wasn't prepared for this.
I don't own a car or live anywhere near a BP.
 
Escaep said:
Because most people boycotting BP think they are hurting BP when in fact they're hurting the local business owner more.
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I think it is important to realize that they are hurting local businesses more (much more, if they have a local boycott going). But at the same time, such is the world of business.
 
Yea sure w/e, I've only seen once like ever, nowhere locally.
 
I don't think Bahrain has any BP stations, most are owned by the national oil company Bapco.

I see them everywhere in the UK unsurprisingly, but I rely completely on public transportation there so it isn't an issue.
 
I don't have a car. Nobody in my family really bought gas from BP anyway. Sadly, even though BP is egregiously bad, no other oil companies are particularly good either. Exxon stalled for 20 years on paying for the Exxon Valdez spill, while making interest on the money and actively funding advertisements saying that climate change is good for the planet. Chevron makes huge messes in South America where they can conveniently hide it.
 
I voted no, because I haven't made any conscious effort to avoid BP nor do I intend to. Still annoyed by the little addendum added on to the answers, as "it was bad luck" does not reflect my opinion. I hate overly wordy polls that just serve to muck about with meaningful results ... should just be yes/no and leave the explanations for the comments.
 
No. As much as I hate BP, boycotting does nothing but hurt your area; your little BP station on the corner is most likely privately owned.

I also like how the OP adds "was bad luck to have it happen to BP" in the "no" answer, even though that has absolutely nothing to do with why I would not boycott them :|
 
I don't buy gas from them, but will occasionally stop into the store to buy or water or the like. Honestly though, I don't really care if it hurts small businesses. They should start buying gas from a different distributor.
 
ZT said:
No. As much as I hate BP, boycotting does nothing but hurt your area; your little BP station on the corner is most likely privately owned.

I also like how the OP adds "was bad luck to have it happen to BP" in the "no" answer, even though that has absolutely nothing to do with why I would not boycott them :|
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I've heard many people say "I'm not boycotting them since it could've happened to anyone" which is why I added it
 
ZT said:
No. As much as I hate BP, boycotting does nothing but hurt your area; your little BP station on the corner is most likely privately owned.

I also like how the OP adds "was bad luck to have it happen to BP" in the "no" answer, even though that has absolutely nothing to do with why I would not boycott them :|
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That's exactly what I was thinking. It's not bad luck why I'm not boycotting. It's that it won't do shit. I know it will damage all sorts of small business, and that's what we need these days.

Also, there are people like " THIS IS WHY WE SHOULDN'T BE DRILLING". That is the most annoying argument ever. So, you are willing to do without cars, plastic, etc because of an ACCIDENT? Damn, I love humanity.

*/troll*
 
dfc05 said:
I don't have a car. Nobody in my family really bought gas from BP anyway. Sadly, even though BP is egregiously bad, no other oil companies are particularly good either. Exxon stalled for 20 years on paying for the Exxon Valdez spill, while making interest on the money and actively funding advertisements saying that climate change is good for the planet. Chevron makes huge messes in South America where they can conveniently hide it.
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I've been getting gas almost exclusively from Sunoco and Shell since I started driving. I used to go to Mobil and Amco as well, but I haven't seen one of those in years. I also rarely see Sunoco anymore, so just Shell.

This has nothing to do with politcs, however. Well, except avoiding Exxon - they charged more for cheaper octane fuel, before they closed down all of their gas stations.
 
Never really bought from BP much, so not boycotting as much as I am Shell.
 
I've never bought anything they make. Not of out a conscious decision not to, but simply because I've always used other stuff by simple chance (also they don't have gas stations around here). The only exception might be when I get my oil changed at a shop, where they might use Castrol brand oil (which is owned by BP).

So its irrelevant in my case really, but I suppose if I were to come across two stations while in need of gas, and one were BP, then I'd go for the other.
 
We don't have any BP stations around here... I usually just go to Chevron, where they have their Techron shit that doesn't have any ethanol in it. Gasoline with ethanol in it sucks ass. Burns up quick, costing me tons more money.

Also, the poll options suck. Why isn't there at least one more option to cover the fact that you're not boycotting BP... but not because you think BP was simply unlucky.
 
I'm so glad I'm young(ish). Electric cars will probably be far more commonplace by the time I start driving.

EDIT: In response to the original question; no we aren't, we buy petrol where it is cheap.
 
No, what precisely would be the point? Sure, they may have handled the spill poorly, but not because of malicious intent. The idea behind a boycott is to change the policy of a company, voting with your wallet and such, which policy of BP do you hope to change, their "lets cause an oil spill costing us billions of dollars as often as we can" policy?

Seems like a bunch of after-the-fact hypocrisy, it might have helped to boycott oil companies doing offshore drilling before the spill, or just oil in general. Now, it's just juvenile and generally unhelpful.

"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity" - Hanlon's Razor
 
No.

If it's cheaper, I will buy it. I have a Tesco Express near me which is usually the cheapest place though.

What's the point in boycotting BP? Even if the petrol station was owned by BP and you weren't harming local business you're still taking money away from the people who have to pay for the cleanup (BP). If BP goes bankrupt people won't be very happy.
 
PvtRyan said:
No, what precisely would be the point? Sure, they may have handled the spill poorly, but not because of malicious intent. The idea behind a boycott is to change the policy of a company, voting with your wallet and such, which policy of BP do you hope to change, their "lets cause an oil spill costing us billions of dollars as often as we can" policy?

Seems like a bunch of after-the-fact hypocrisy, it might have helped to boycott oil companies doing offshore drilling before the spill, or just oil in general. Now, it's just juvenile and generally unhelpful.

"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity" - Hanlon's Razor
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I think people want a lot of changes of policy in BP. What policies could they change?
The "cutting corners on construction and safety" policy, which led to a preventable accident.
The "absolutely no workable contingency plan" policy, which is why this is still an issue.
The "hire a bunch of spill workers to look good for the President the day of his visit" policy, which is just ****ing awful.

Are you just calling people juvenile hypocrites because you don't agree?

I am boycotting because I am angry at a tyrannical company that did nothing to prevent a horrible disaster and is somehow managing to do as little as they possibly can to fix it. Is it really so bad to want to actively avoid doing business with them because of this?
 
Erestheux said:
I think people want a lot of changes of policy in BP. What policies could they change?
The "cutting corners on construction and safety" policy, which led to a preventable accident.
The "absolutely no workable contingency plan" policy, which is why this is still an issue.
The "hire a bunch of spill workers to look good for the President the day of his visit" policy, which is just ****ing awful.

Are you just calling people juvenile hypocrites because you don't agree?

I am boycotting because I am angry at a tyrannical company that did nothing to prevent a horrible disaster and is somehow managing to do as little as they possibly can to fix it. Is it really so bad to want to actively avoid doing business with them because of this?
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Well, if by now BP still doesn't get that it's good for business to invest a few million in safety to prevent billions in losses, then your refusal to spend a few measly dollars with them will do diddly squat. Boycotting them to force them to improve their safety is silly as they stand nothing to gain by not improving their safety. It's in their interest as well to make sure this can't happen again, because, get this: they don't like this situation either, even just from a financial standpoint.

I'm calling the boycotters juvenile hypocrites because:

- Juvenile: the boycott is based on nothing but "you hurt me so I will hurt you now". That's juvenile.
- Hypocrisy: didn't you all benefit from the offshore drilling? It's too late to boycott now, should have done that earlier.
 
There aren't a lot of BP stations around here, but I do not buy their gas. I have gone into a BP fueled 7Eleven for a slurpee though... I admit. These businesses will survive. There are other fuel providers out there. If BP vanishes off the face of the earth, other companies can easily pick up the slack... hopefully more responsible companies.
 
Since virtually every other oil company takes these same types of risks and is just as unprepared as BP for dealing with this kind of spill I don't see how boycotting BP is going to do any good, it would be almost as effective as writing MMS an email.

BP just happened to be the company that this happened to, could have just as well happened to Shell, Exxon, and most other companies that drill in the gulf. Sure, an argument can be made that BP was worse in some areas but overall the entire system is screwed up.

What I find funny about this is nobody is holding the idiot politicians accountable for this. Sara "Drill baby drill" Palin is bringing in more money than ever. Obama lost absolutely no political capital for coming out for offshore drilling less than a month before this spill. And the momentarium on offshore oil drilling is extremely unpopular because god forbid we loose a few jobs and gasoline goes up a quater a gallon.
 
No Limit said:
BP just happened to be the company that this happened to, could have just as well happened to Shell, Exxon, and most other companies that drill in the gulf. Sure, an argument can be made that BP was worse in some areas but overall the entire system is screwed up.
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Regardless to who it would have happened to or who was the root of foundation, the problem resides within the hands of the people who were at fault. It was BP's responsibility to recognise all the potential problems before they even started rigging. They're the first to take the blow and they have to face the consequences
 
Naph said:
Regardless to who it would have happened to or who was the root of foundation, the problem resides within the hands of the people who were at fault. It was BP's responsibility to recognise all the potential problems before they even started rigging. They're the first to take the blow and they have to face the consequences
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Sure, they broke it so they pay for it. But what does boycotting accomplish, other than petty vindication?
 
Naph said:
Regardless to who it would have happened to or who was the root of foundation, the problem resides within the hands of the people who were at fault. It was BP's responsibility to recognise all the potential problems before they even started rigging. They're the first to take the blow and they have to face the consequences
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But that's being dismissive of the entire problem. Yes, it happened to BP and BP needs to be held accountable for this. But it could have happened to anyone of these oil companies because they all had virtually the same policies in place. So to boycott BP while ignoring the rest of the problem is missing the point entirely. It's a little too late for a boycott of BP, they will probably be one of the safest oil companies in the world if they actually survive this disaster. Other companies will probably have the same shitty policies if stronger regulation isn't forced on them.

And on the subject of regulation notice how no major reform is being done in the oil drilling industry. Just as when the banks collapsed no major reform was done then. The reform is saved for much later when people forget about the disaster that happened. The bank reform bill at this point couldn't possibly be any weeker. Same will happen with oil drilling regulations when they decide to take those up 2 years from now long after the well has been capped.
 
PvtRyan said:
Sure, they broke it so they pay for it. But what does boycotting accomplish, other than petty vindication?
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That's all it takes.

If anything, it accomplishes nothing. With no solution to the problem for some time can break the company regardless of customers or not.

No Limit said:
But that's being dismissive of the entire problem. Yes, it happened to BP and BP needs to be held accountable for this. But it could have happened to anyone of these oil companies because they all had virtually the same policies in place. So to boycott BP while ignoring the rest of the problem is missing the point entirely. It's a little too late for a boycott of BP, they will probably be one of the safest oil companies in the world if they actually survive this disaster. Other companies will probably have the same shitty policies if stronger regulation isn't forced on them.
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I doubt all companies outsource their inspections.
 
Well the gas stations wouldn't be under BP if money wasn't going to the company so even if it damages the smaller companies more, a mass-boycott would still hit BP. They don't deserve any more money, especially for the amount that they've wasted so i've very little sympathy, however, don't they need that money to try and fix their latest ****up?
 
Naph said:
I doubt all companies outsource their inspections.
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Considering all the companies had virtually the same bullshit copy and paste response plan for dealing with a spill in the gulf I don't know what leads you to that assumption. That response plan consisted of protecting Walruses in the Louisiana coast and the plan looked virtually the same for each company.

Darkshines said:
Well the gas stations wouldn't be under BP if money wasn't going to the company so even if it damages the smaller companies more, a mass-boycott would still hit BP. They don't deserve any more money, especially for the amount that they've wasted so i've very little sympathy, however, don't they need that money to try and fix their latest ****up?
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They have plenty of money to deal with this spill, billions sitting in their bank accounts from the huge profits they piled up in the last few years. The problem is they also can buy politicians so by law they aren't responsible for more than $75 million dollars in damages, an amount that they already exceeded by a huge amount. And guess what? The senate can't even get this $75 million dollar cap repealed even after this disaster.
 
I just don't see how a boycott is workable. Surely whenever you're buying anything containing substances made from petrochemicals (ie. almost every consumer good that exists), you're still paying money which is eventually filtering its way back to a company which may or may not be BP?
 
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