8/10    Boycott BP gas stations!  BP has shown themselves to be a bad
        company.  They spilled 200k barrels of oil on Alaska earlier this
        year, and now we discover they've allowed the Alaska pipeline to
        corrode to the point where it must be shut down, cutting 8%
        of production nationwide and helping spike gasoline prices.
        Meanwhile their profits are up 22%.
        I think they deserve a boycott.  --PeterM
        \_ Have you ever spent one dollar at an Exxon since the spill?  If so,
           you lack any credibility.  On the scale of evil, it's not clear
           that BP is willfully harming people's lives, while Exxon still is(
           by continuing to spend vast sums on legal fees to fight paying
           what they owe to fishermen).  As pointed out below, BP is at least
           making a show of working on developing alternative forms of
           energy production, while Exxon is busy fuding smokescreen campaigns
           to distort the truth about global climate change.  I think a boycott
           is way to severe for BP's mistakes, but i think Exxon, as a company,
           deserves to die, and its executives deserve to be stripped of their
           wealth and sent to a work camp for the rest of their lives.
        \_ Boycotts are useless unless you inform the 47% of the Americans
           who don't use the internet, drive SUVs, and voted for Bush.
           \_ If the other 53% pay attention we can kill their 22% profit
              increase.  That's billions.  It'll do some good.  Further,
              it'll put other oil companies on notice.
        \_ so we boycott them, they don't sell that oil for  a while, the
           price of oil goes up (due to either to the increased scarcity
           or the fact taht it just goes up over time anyway), they sell the
           oil later date at higher prices.  Increased Profit! I dont see the
           punishment here.
           \_ Better buy it all now, then.  -John
        \_ Is BP still a British company?
           \_ Be proud.  Buy American.  -proud American
        \_ On the other hand, their actions will increase the price of oil,
           spurring demand for and investment in alternative fuels.
           Coincidentally (I hope), BP is one of the larger companies working
           on alternative energy sources (e.g. solar).  Why screw the pooch?
           --dbushong
        \_ The number of consumers who care about issues like this is dwarfed
           by the number of consumers who care more about price and
           convenience.
        \_ U-S-A!!! U-S-A!!! U-S-A!!!  -T.E.A.M. America WOrld Police