Boycotting BP May Hurt Small Business Owners
The oil spill in the Gulf has not just been the largest environmental disaster ever, now eclipsing the impact of the Ixtoc I spill, but it's also destroying small business in the Gulf region and beyond.
We're all aware of the impact in the Gulf region (and if you aren't then shame on you, because you should be) but what about the impact beyond the gulf region? What about all the small business owners who run gas stations with BP's logo on them all across the nation?
These roughly 11,000 stations, a fraction of which are owned and operated by BP are getting compensated for their declining sales by BP in the form of cash, most likely a suitcase full of it. But that doesn't mean they aren't facing community backlash and misplaced rage. They are experiencing protests and angry non-customers in addition to the loss of business.
To protest BP at this point is nothing short of hypocritical. Unless you've never filled up at a BP station, walk or bike to work or have never owned any vehicle or device using fossil fuels. Yes, this is going to go down in history as the worst environmental disaster ever, but it's not just the fault of BP that this deep water drill was in existence. It may be their fault it blew up without a backup plan, but the drill existed for a reason.
You see, America, it was us that voted for the representatives in Senate and Congress that voted to allow deep water drilling. It's those representatives that have their coffers filled by big oil lobbyists. We live in a democratic society; this is one of the many prices of that democracy. Until we change our system of government to disallow the clear tampering of votes by the lobbyist system, you can expect more of the same.
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