BP: Short for "Bad Pollution"
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07.25.07
When John wrote about the Great Lakes being drained for Oklahoma cotton, Las Vegas lawns and the Alberta oil sands, we commented that the oil sands had little to do with the Great Lakes. We were wrong; BP is planning to expand its huge 107 year old oil refinery in Indiana to refine the thick and gooey oil from the tar sands, creating an employment boom of 80 jobs, and dumping 54 percent more ammonia and 35 percent more sludge into Lake Michigan each day than it currently does as one of the biggest polluters on Lake Michigan.
They plan to create a "mixing zone" where they dilute the waste with water under the old "dilution is the solution to pollution" mantra, even though that is banned under Indiana law. The state justifies the exemption by saying that the project will create more jobs and "increase the diversity and security of oil supplies to the Midwestern United States." A rarely invoked state law trumps anti-pollution rules if a company offers "important social or economic benefits."
Grist quotes a Republican congressman: "In my book, BP, which tries to market itself as an environmentally friendly company, now stands for 'Bad Pollution.'" ::Chicago Tribune
I always thought BP was one of the better companies due to their investment in AE like solar.
So since I still need to buy gas, who should I be buying it from?
Bad Pollution? I was under the impression that pollution, by its very nature and definition, is all 'bad'? Skip the tautology. Perhaps a better acronym for BP would be 'Big Polluter'.
Eugene:
You face the age old question: if all gas companies are evil, how do we choose? Assuming biking and walking aren't options, and assuming you're not going to become a distiller of ethanol or that you're not going to begin whipping up batches of biodiesel made from used veggie oil in your garage, from whom should you buy gasoline?
This country has approximately 140 refineries. All of your gas, no matter whether it comes from a big-name station or mom and pop's quick mart comes from one of these @140 refineries. That's a terribly small number for a nation of 300 million people. Because all the gas comes from the same small number of refiners, my answer is whatever station is cheapest, assuming you're buying 87 octane gas. The companies would argue their proprietary additives in their premium gasolines make a difference-- but all gas coming from those 140 refineries that are 87 octane gas meet the same specifications, whether it's a big name or a no name retail outlet. In many places, all the gas in a given location is going to have come from the same refinery anyway.
Eugene:
You face the age old question: if all gas companies are evil, how do we choose? Assuming biking and walking aren't options, and assuming you're not going to become a distiller of ethanol or that you're not going to begin whipping up batches of biodiesel made from used veggie oil in your garage, from whom should you buy gasoline?
This country has approximately 140 refineries. All of your gas, no matter whether it comes from a big-name station or mom and pop's quick mart comes from one of these @140 refineries. That's a terribly small number for a nation of 300 million people. Because all the gas comes from the same small number of refiners, my answer is whatever station is cheapest, assuming you're buying 87 octane gas. The companies would argue their proprietary additives in their premium gasolines make a difference-- but all gas coming from those 140 refineries that are 87 octane gas meet the same specifications, whether it's a big name or a no name retail outlet. In many places, all the gas in a given location is going to have come from the same refinery anyway.
"A rarely invoked state law trumps anti-pollution rules if a company offers 'important social or economic benefits.'"
My goodness. China uses the same reasoning for not enforcing its antipollution laws when it comes to economic growth. Now, some of their lakes have periodic algae blooms and their rivers are becomming like "sticky glue".
adrianakau2aol.com
@ stevejust
I realize all gas comes from the same place. I have been buying from BP for a while now because some of their profits are going back into AE such as the BP solar panels. So that is what I'm meaing, are they still a good choice of investment or is there someone better?