Gas Companies · Eco-Chick

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Some Oil Companies are More Eco Friendly: Who's Fuelling Your Summer Drives?

Thanks to Flickr user Emutree for this great image!

When I first started driving 15 years ago, I had it out for Exxon. I had seen the oil-covered birds from the Valdez oil spill in Alaska and had cried for the sad-eyed seals who were hosed down by volunteers. For years — at least a decade — I refused to buy gas at Exxon and would ask my friends to indulge my boycott, especially when Exxon dragged it’s feet cleaning up. I was voting with my dollars, dammit.

And then I went to college and figured out that ALL the oil companies were evil, what with lobbying against CAFE standards (if we had stuck by CAFE, we wouldn’t need foreign oil today), not to mention the really crappy coffee at their associated convenience stores. And then Exxon merged with Mobil. So I gave up my boycott eventually, stopped at an Exxon if it was convenient, and boycotted lots (and lots) of other things.

And then came those interminable, spam emails about how we should all get together and not buy gas and that would really show those oil companies who’s boss! (These are all false and this scheme will never work). But there seemed to be no point. The oil companies had us addicted and it didn’t matter who we bought our crack-gas from!

Well, it turns out it does. While I’m 100% behind the idea of getting rid of personal cars altogether, like those happy biking Germans, or of running ALL cars on non-fossil fuel alternatives by 2030 (as Sweden built into their recent energy and climate bill), the thing is, these initiatives will take time. (In the meantime, you can at least bike to work!). And I’m impatient. I want to do something now (I can’t bike to work, I work at home!

Well, I’m going back to voting with my dollars. Turns out there’s a significant difference in how environmentally-friendly (or not) the oil companies are, and why shouldn’t that info impact my decision about where to spend my money (on gas and snacks, and, yes, maybe even some bad coffee) this summer? The research team at Greenopia spent weeks digging into sustainability reports, oil spill data and alternative energy initiatives, ranking the top 10 oil companies for their Earth-friendlier initiatives.

I’m back to shunning Exxon & Mobil, as they are still up to their climate-screwing ways. And they’re sixth on Greenopia’s list; I would prefer to buy from one of the top three oil companies, who are at least LESS evil.

1. British Petroleum (BP) ranked number one for sustainability among oil companies. Why? It has one of the most transparent and complete sustainability reports, but most importantly, it’s taking its slogan, “Beyond Petroleum” seriously. “BP supports and is pursuing development of solar, wind, hydrogen, and biofuel technologies. BP has pledged spending of $8 billion dollars towards renewable over the next few years, making it one of the biggest renewable donors in the world. BP is also progressive in its stance on climate change and publicly admits its merits and is acting to improve its own internal performance," writes Greenopia research director Doug Mazeffa in his report on BP. Though BP isn’t as bullish as it once was on alternative energy, they’re doing better than the rest.

cars, Exxon, gas companies, oil

Did You See the Snowman Last Night at the Debates?

1 Comment

by Starre Vartan · 07/24/07

I thought the Dems debates last night were the best I’ve ever seen (I watched them streaming on Cnn.com since I don’t have cable). That the questions came from real people via YouTube was THE BEST IDEA EVER! (and the videos submitted by us crazy citizens were funny, sad, poignant, and most importantly, touched on really tough issues!)

So first off, CONGRATS to all those questioners that I share the great USA with…YOU made me proud to be an American (the politicians, well, they were being politicians, you know?. Of course the highlight was the snowman/global warming question! Check it out!

(Answers taken from the NYTimes transcript of the debates.)

COOPER: It’s a funny video. It’s a serious question. Congressman Kucinich?

KUCINICH: Well, we have to understand the connection between global warring and global warming. Because when we start talking about wars for oil, we’re essentially keeping the same approach to energy.

(APPLAUSE)

So I’m saying we need to move away from reliance on oil and coal and toward reliance on wind and solar.

KUCINICH: Anderson, that’s the basis of my WGA, Works Green Administration, where we take an entirely new approach to organize the entire country around sustainability, around conservation. We don’t have to have our snowmen melting, and the planet shouldn’t be melting either.

COOPER: Are the people on this stage, are your fellow candidates, are they green enough?

KUCINICH: No. And I think that the reason is that if you support, for example, in Iraq, if you say that Iraq should privatize its oil for the U.S. oil companies, then what you’re doing is you’re continuing a commitment to use more oil. If you believe that all options should be put on the table with respect to Iran, that’s about oil.

So we need to move away from reliance on oil…

COOPER: Time.

KUCINICH: … and that’s really connected to our defense policy, and I’m the one who gets the connection.

COOPER: All right.

(APPLAUSE)

WHY didn’t other candidates answer such an important question???? Too hard???