One sure way to hurt the fucking oil companies

[cliffordu]

is to stop driving your god damned car.

[Blue-Jay]

1. My horse is in the shop.

[flvegan]

2. Or stop eating meat.

Most folks need to drive to work. Going veg tomorrow and maintaining it? No problem.

Ha ha! :hide:

[Cha]

7. I'm also Vegan but I do use the ol

electricity.

[Chulanowa]

13. Going vegetarian only works if you're growing all your own food

Otherwise your food money is still going into the coffers of oil companies.

Seriously, you guys have your hearts in the right place, but there is no bandaid fix for this. It's not called "the oil culture" for nothing; Everything, and I damn well mean everything in your life right now is tied to easy oil. Even if you walk everywhere, what are the soles of your shoes made of? What powers the machines used to make them, and the machines needed to print the money you use to buy them? What are the roads you use for easy travel even as a pedestrian made of, what powers the machiens that lay them down? What provided the energy to build the place where you work?

You really can't go "Nerp, nerp, stop using oil, nerp!" because it doesn't work like that. You want to hurt the oil companies? Then hurt the oil companies. While going "Hah, I walk everywhere, you oil-addicted sheep, neener neener!" may provide for a nice rush of whatever endorphins power "smug self-validation" it doesn't really do anything to any of the oil companies. it's the corporations themselves that are the problem. Deal with them, because there is currently no real way to deal with their product at this point.

[Scuba]

24. +1

[alfredo]

29. If you can't grow your own, eat local and seasonal.

[Ignis]

38. But increasing the ratio of veggies to meat in your diet is an environmental win.

http://www.cspinet.org/EatingGreen/

Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

[Hannah Bell]

37. like grains & vegetables aren't grown with oil?

[flvegan]

3. Stupid dupe.

[cliffordu]

20. when was I duped???

:rofl:

[Warpy]

4. Or eating anything grown in the US

or wearing synthetic fibre clothes or typing on a plastic computer keyboard or taking certain drugs to stay alive and trust me, the list goes on. Just about everything we use and do is oil based.

Personally, I don't want to hurt the oil companies. I want them to continue doing what they do but I want them to treat the planet a lot better than they have been. Now that will probably hurt them, but only because assholes don't like being told what to do.

It would be nice, however, to shake up the management at BP enough to kill that particular cost cutting corporate culture.

[TheMadMonk]

16. All those things are the reason why we should stop stupidly turning oil...

...into CO2 and water simply to move our ever enlarging arses from point A to Point B.

[Chulanowa]

5. Or using electricity

Unfortunately in a cost analysis. for most people not using a car costs them more than it costs the oil companies. it'd be awesome if everyone lived within walking / biking / horse distance of their jobs, but they don't.

Stop blaming the victim, and start blaming the culprit; Seize their assets, nationalize energy production, and use the profits gaind thereof to invest in petro-free energy technology.

[Desertrose]

12. Bingo!

"Stop blaming the victim, and start blaming the culprit; Seize their assets, nationalize energy production, and use the profits gaind thereof to invest in petro-free energy technology."

[Cha]

6. I showed them..I stopped driving

and owning a car 4 years ago.

I know everyone can't do it..but, I'm glad I was able to.

[Lucian]

8. Or, at least stop driving your goddamn car short distances.

Bike, walk, take the light rail, or take a bus if your workplace is <5 miles away. That definitely helps a lot.

[Donnachaidh]

17. get rid of the extra cars

We've been a one car family for years. Trips are consolidated to one day on the weekends for shopping etc. I'm so sick of seeing driveways filled with multiple cars -- for what? To make a trip to Walmart to buy more Chinese plastic crap?

[Chulanowa]

19. My neighbors have six cars

I've always been bewildered by this fact. They're a retired couple, no live-in children, nothing like that, but they have two sedans, two minivans, a pickup and a penis With Wheels (it's a pickup too, but swear to god that thing wouldn't be out of place cruising international waters).

They only ever drive the one sedan.

It's baffling.

[Donnachaidh]

28. now, my DH would love to find a vintage Mercury Cougar convertible

I could get behind him finding one, to fix up and take out occasionally to cruise in. That's always been his dream. But *6* vehicles? None of them collectible quality? Yikes.

[Kalun D]

9. Pick Your Brand Carefully

Citgo comes to mind

places like Costco use BP, there are certainly lesser evils

we need to push our reps to break up the oil companies, just like Ma Bell back in the 80's they are too big

[Kievan Rus]

10. Way ahead of ya, partner

I only use public transit to get around and do not currently own a car. The system in Pittsburgh is probably the best in the country for a city of its size, and only the systems in the major cities (New York City, Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, Chicago and Frisco) are more extensive.

[jgraz]

11. Or having children

[HughMoran]

14. Good idea, though I would die within a period of time

Perhaps I should move back to the city first?

[tinrobot]

15. I fill up with electrons

Bought a used electric car and use that for most of my driving. I got the car for pretty cheap and it's been wonderful.

My utility is reasonably green, so the power generation at least gives less to the oil companies. Solar panels for the house are coming up on the list soon... One step at a time.

[KT2000]

18. How about mowing lawns

If everyone quit mowing their lawns - the oil savings this time of year would be great.
The tall grass and unruly yards would be a good reminder for us all.
Unfortuantely I and many others are not in a position to move where there is public transportation.

[Chulanowa]

21. How about -growing- lawns?

Most gigantic waste of land and water resources ever. lawn grass (including such things as golf courses and highway medians) is America's #1 agricultural crop; we just don't eat it.

[KT2000]

22. Lawns are a pet peeve

If a Martian came to earth and observed how we manage lawns they would laugh themselves silly.
People pour precious clean water on lawns, so it will grow. Then they mow it.
People spread fertilizer on lawns so it will grow. Then they mow it.
People spread 2,4-D, malathion casaron and other poisons on their lawn so weeds won't grow and insects won't live there. People get sick from breathing the stuff and animals get sick when they lick their feet and fur.

Lawns are one of the stupidest things humans have come up with. Where I live they are actually considering favoring lawn waterers over the true agriculture needs as our water is running out!

[jgraz]

23. Another way to hurt the oil companies?

Elect someone who's actually capable of standing up to them.

[taterguy]

25. Stop making sense

[Kalyke]

26. I have worked from home the past two days.

However, I will need to go into the office and, in order to do so, I have to drive.

I work in the county and live in the city. The city offers bus service. The county does not. In other words, I could take a bus to the city limits and, then what? Walk another 10-15 miles to work? That doesn't even include the slow service. The city can't run buses on a regular basis because few ride them and the city doesn't want to waste taxpayer dollars running when there are no takers.

Some people have to drive because of the abject failure of our state, federal and local governments to provide meaningful public transportation.

[Broke In Jersey]

27. naaaa...lets do the opposite

lets all get hummers (the truck) and use up all the oil in the world and then we can finally move on and not worry about it any more. :)))

[pipi_k]

30. One thing I'd like to see from the oil companies...

is an honest to god statement on exactly how many people would need to stop driving their cars before it would actually HURT them.

We never will, of course, so directives like this are pretty much meaningless, IMO.


People can rant and rave all they want to about how not driving our cars will HURT the oil companies, but until we know for sure, isn't it pretty much bullshit?

Because we would ALL have to give up driving. And, as many people have pointed out, that is impossible. Some people have jobs that prevent them from giving up driving. One example is visiting nurses or people who work as Home Health Care Aides.

Then there are those of us who live in rural areas who must drive to get to shopping, doctors, etc.


Let's not even consider how many people would have to also give up heating their homes with oil in the winter so we can "hurt" the oil companies. Yeah...tell that to the 80 year old man down the street who would die of hypothermia. "Sorry, Gramps...no heat for you...we're trying to HURT the oil companies."


sigh...

:banghead:

[taterguy]

31. Any decline in sales would hurt the oil companies

Less sales = less profits = lower bonuses that are tied to profits. Yadda yadda yadda.

So the question we should be asking ourselves is: Do we have to drive so much?

Yes, cars are occasionally the best method to get from Point A to Point B.

That doesn't mean they should be the default option.

If you're buying a week's worth of groceries for a family then a car is useful. But if you're just buying for yourself, or just picking up a few things, is a car really required? Not in most situations. Most residences have a grocery store nearby. And yes, there are days when it's too hot or too cold or too rainy. But most people just use a car regardless of whether or not they really need to; because it's easier and they just don't think about the consequences. Maybe it's time to start doing that.

If everyone only used cars when they really needed to would it bankrupt the oil companies? No.

But it would make the bastards sweat a little so it would be worthwhile.

[pipi_k]

33. If sales drop, they would probably raise the price

to cover the loss.

there would still be more than enough people out there using gas and oil to buy it because they HAD to.

they could probably raise the price significantly and still get be able to sell gas and oil.


They're not going to sweat. They're not afraid. They know that a large proportion of Americans depend on oil and gas. And if they can't sell to American customers, there are always foreign customers more than willing to buy gas and oil.


Boycotts...feel-good exercises at best.

[taterguy]

34. I'm not contemplating a boycott of all gas, just not buying it when you don't have to

But that seems impossible because there will always be a large portion of the public willing to rationalize anything, except making an effort to change self-destructive behavior.

[pipi_k]

35. Well I'm sure people don't buy gas unless they have to...

especially considering the price of the stuff.

As for people "changing self-destructive behavior", not totally sure what you mean by that.

Like so many people have said, there are some people out there who just cannot cut down on gas usage, never mind give it up altogether.

Like I pointed out somewhere else, someone whose job requires him/her to drive many miles a day just can't cut back. Visiting nurse and Home Health Care Aide are two examples that come to mind most readily.

I have to wonder what is "self destructive" about that...?

[taterguy]

36. Seriously, are you sure people don't buy gas when they don't have to?

Do you really think that all trips in this country made by car are trips that couldn't be made by other means?

Do you really think that no one drives to the burger joint less a mile away instead of biking?

Hell, I do that if I don't want my fries getting cold.

And the price of the stuff? If I drive to work instead of biking it costs me about a quarter. BFD.

Lots of people live within biking distance of work but choose to drive. Because they don't give a damn about a quarter.

Yes, there are some people that can't cut down on gas usage, but there are millions who could if they wanted to enough.

As for self-destructive, studies that I'm too lazy to look up show that there's an inverse relationship between physical condition and automobile usage; simply because people who get regular exercise are healthier. When you spend your life in a cage, your muscles atrophy, or something like that.

[Fumesucker]

40. My daughter's family is a good example..

Two giant SUV's, a Tahoe and an Expedition, both of which get about 11 to 12 mpg if you aren't very sharp on the driving style to economize, which neither of the drivers are. The Acura which gets pretty decent mileage is down with a broken AC compressor and it doesn't appear it's going to be fixed any time soon, I quit asking about it a few weeks back.

Me? I have a motorcycle I use for most of my commuting and errand running, 50 to 60 mpg depending on conditions. Since I don't have a regular job I'm not on the road that much anyway.

[jp11]

32. Logical Error Detected.

Not all cars run on petroleum products.

[boston bean]

39. just get one of these: