Boycott BP?!?!?!

As many of you know by now, there was an explosion on the Gulf of Mexico involving a BP Drilling Rig. Eleven people have died, more are injured or missing, and water and surrounding areas will have damage for years to come. An estimated 56,000 to 84,000 barrels of oil is flooding the ocean on a daily basis due to a broken pipe with a direct feed to the oil source. This simply is the largest oil spill in U.S History and a huge ecological nightmare. This is affecting all the states in the surrounding area and it is even hitting the West Coast of Florida. It is ruining wildlife, killing fish, and is and will cause human health hazards. As if that region has not been hard enough with all the natural disasters, we have this to add which is also impacting the local economies compiled with all the hazards listed above.

This spill has been going on for 7 weeks now and it is not letting up anytime soon. I do commend the conservators and scientist genuinely trying to help stop the leak and helping locals along with the wildlife. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for BP and portions of our government. They downplayed the matter and in the beginning BP stated that only 1,000 barrels a day was being emptied to the water. Not only did they downplay it but when certain agencies wanted to record it to properly estimate the true amount it was spilling they responded by saying "no". They feel that it makes no difference and that it will deter from clean up efforts. Under that law as written in 1990, BP must pay $1,000 for every barrel it spills, and $3,000 per barrel if it is found to have been grossly negligent. BP can do the math just as well as Mr. Markey can — 25,000 barrels a day times 40 days (and climbing) times $3,000 equals at least $3 billion.

What really trips me out and gets me is that they were operating this remote oil rig without a remote off switch that would be used for such an event. Because of their shortcuts and negligence, we the people of these United States are left with the damage while they enjoy their Billions of Dollars. This makes me mad so I am to the point where I have to agree that we must boycott this company completely.

The issue with a boycott is that BP only owns 100 of 900 gas stations and the rest are independently owned by regular people. Because of their mistake I do not want to make these independent owners suffer but something must be done. Below I have included all companies that are owned by BP so you the reader can make an intelligent decision...

BP

ampm

Aral

ARCO

BP Travel Centre

BP Connect

BP Express

BP Shop

Castrol Oil

Air BP and BP Shipping