A few years later, Shell (in Malaysia, anyway) came up with a new formulation for their petrol ('gas' to you Americans!) and started a really off-putting Vrooom Power campaign. How off-putting? So off-putting (the way they said "Vroom pah-wah" grated on my nerves so much just thinking about it now still raises my blood pressure!) that I stopped using Shell petrol altogether and started going with the local Petronas petrol instead.
Then my life journey brought me to the U.S., and I eased up on the "no Shell" stance... until late 2008 when we ran into a bad product and atrocious customer service for a product that fell under the Shell group of companies. Kosh was so incensed by it all that he called for a household boycott of all things Royal Dutch Shell.
I was amused at how these things happen... it's as if Shell was destined to not be my oil&gas company of choice!
... and then ...
...and then came BP ...
...and then came BP ...
Ever since they rebranded themselves to stand for Beyond Petroleum, I'd always cut them more slack than other O&G companies out there, kinda buying into their image building propaganda of an environmentally responsible company... but then came April 20th 2010 and the Deepwater Horizon blowout which now has the dubious record of being the largest offshore spill and biggest environmental disaster in the U.S.
... and over a month later IT'S STILL NOT FIXED?!!!
In fact, fix after fix fails to stem the flow of oil gushing out of the well, while Mother Nature gets cloaked more and more in a layer of filthy chocking oil.
and now hurricane season is about to begin ...
... while the high winds and choppy water can help accelerate the biodegradation process required to get the oil out of there, what *I* see happening is the oil getting spread into an even wider area than it already is in. This will come to include land as well, remember!
The damage already incurred, and impending, is horrendous!
[clap] [clap] [clap] [clap]
way. to. go. BP.
way. to. go. BP.
Hopefully my action steps will be more effective:
- No more gas purchases from BP.
- Heck, no more visits just to the convenience stores that are part of the BP gas stations either!
You hear that, BP?
I am cutting you out of my life.
It's the least I can do to you for the damage you have wrought upon my Mother.
.... ... but before you ask: Kosh and I are not the typical American family with a gas guzzling vehicle each ... we have a 13 y.o. car with decent gas mileage ... unfortunately since moving to Springfield I find myself using the car more often than when in Chicago when I could use the L to get almost anywhere I needed ... but still ... we are way-below-average gas consumers ... and now that it's summertime we're going to use bikes more and the car less ... I consider myself NOT part of the problem that caused high demand that led to offshore drilling in order to satisfy said demand.
How about you?
image credit: epkes.com
A coworker told me her friend called to cancel her BP credit card. When asked why she was canceling, she told the CSR, "because you're actively killing our planet." That works.
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