There’s a lot of talk about boycotting BP around the country.  Currently the Boycott BP Facebook page has over 350,000 members and the number of demonstrations around the country is growing as well.   There’s a lot of anger out there, and there certainly should be.  The question is, should that anger connect back to the local Viking  Express or Amoco on South Blvd?  Should we boycott the locals?

At first glance it can seem obvious.  Why give the boneheads at BP another dollar?  Heck, it’s not even the first time BP has been called out trashing our environment and even much closer to home. In 2007 the Chicago Sun-times called for a boycott of BP after they applied for and received a permit to increase the amount of toxic waste they dump into Lake Michigan every year. The permit allowed BP’s refinery in Whiting, Indiana, to discharge 54 percent more ammonia and 35 percent more suspended solids into the water annually. You can read more about that one here.  Even when the current disaster fades from the headlines, the chances are good BP will never really pay.  Odds are they will take a page from Exxon’s book and have their fines rolling through appeals courts into eternity, leaving US taxpayers holding the bag.

The thing is, there is little more the average person can do to express their anger at some large multi-national corporation, other than to stop buying their products and take solace in holding up their own hard-earned money to shout, “You won’t get this dollar! Not today!!”

On the other hand, when talking about boycotting the local BP things can get a bit muddled.  The stations we see dotting our neighborhoods are most likely locally owned.  The BP Express Food Mart on the east side of Baraboo for instance is owned by Viking, a local company. Viking Village Foods is actually one of the last locals to survive the onslaught of the Big Box invasion. What the folks at Viking did do was dish out a lot of cash to BP to simply wear BP’s “good name”.  Not more than a few weeks ago that would have been seen as a good move for a small town business. When you think about it that way, boycotting the local BPs does little other than to stiff our neighbors for choosing what seemed like a lucrative franchise. Of course that’s a bit simplistic, but the concept does stand.  In fact that’s the card BP is playing to the hilt now that protests and boycotts are really starting to talk off.

So, what about the little guy?

Here’s my spin.  Buy the food, not the gas. Here’s why… Last year when gas prices were going through the roof, gas station owners were saying they did not deserve the anger.  Remember?  Their reasoning was simply this, they make little to nothing off gasoline sales. The “profiteering” if there was any, came from the corporations not the local owners.  The “little guy” made their money from the stuff they sold inside; snacks, sodas, sandwiches, etc., not the gas. Well, if what they were saying before is true then we can comfortably support our local Vikings, Amocos & First Stops by pulling into the parking lot and going in to buy a gallon of milk & a hot dog.  The gas on the other hand, we can buy elsewhere.  For the moment then we need not punish the little guy. Make sense?

And since we’re doing our best to separate our anger at BP from the local owners, we may want to ask them this in turn, “When it comes time to renew you’re franchise with BP, what are YOU going to do?”

Other ways to boycott BP & not your local owner

• If you must buy gas from BP for some reason, don’t use a BP credit card.
• Do not purchase Castrol Oil. Owned by BP
• Be aware that BP produces Air & Marine Fuel and avoid those as well if possible.
• Businesses & Government Services can stop using BP products in asphalt & industrial lubricants
• Don’t buy BP Solar products.

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