Fill 'Er Up, Terror Free

The quest for oil that doesn't support evil

Katherine Mangu-Ward February 6, 2007

Last week saw the unofficial opening of the nation's first Terror-Free Oil filling station, which sells only gas that originates from countries that do not support terrorism and oil companies that do not operate in the Middle East. The existence of the station was billed a s new way for U.S. customers to make a statement about energy policy and corporate behavior with their dollars.
I was chewing on the idea on Thursday afternoon, when I stopped to fill up the tank of my busted 1998 Camry on my way to the Whole Foods in Cambridge, MA. As usual, I drove past the Citgo station to fill up at the Exxon station across the street in my own tiny version of protest about the country of origin of my fuel.

These days, any purchase is fair game for an ideological battle. Since I'm headed to buy cruelty-free chicken weighted down with an entire food philosophy, why not put some thought into the implications of my gas purchase? I usually give Citgo a pass because most of the company's profits wind up on the hands of the Venezuelan government, headed by the socialist, Castro-loving, anti-globalization, and virulently anti-American Hugo Chavez.

The idea is not original. In fact, I'm not even the first person on my block to have the thought. My Boston neighborhood and Citgo have had a surprising fraught relationship over the years. A huge illuminated Citgo sign near Fenway Park has long been a Boston landmark, but after Chavez called President Bush "the devil" last September, my city councilor called for the sign to be taken down and replaced with an American flag:

"I'm a Boston guy-born in 1967, the year the Sox won the Pennant. And it used to mean something different to me. But, symbols are powerful things, and right now when I see that Citgo symbol, the only thing it symbolizes for me, is a dictator that means to hurt our economy and hurt our way of life."
And that wasn't the first time the Boston Citgo sign had come under fire as a symbol of energy policy. In 1979, Governor Edward J. King used it to demonstrate his commitment to energy conservation-by turning it off. And then there's the surest sign that a Citgo boycott is the way to go: Commondreams.org, a site whose editorial positions I rarely agree with, is sponsoring a BUY-cott of Citgo to "help fuel a democratic revolution in Venezuela."

Why Exxon? For the most part, Exxon has held firm on the evils of Kyoto and the dubious evidence that proposed interventions will work in response to dubious levels of global warming and earned the enmity of practically every socially-conscious buyer in America. Lately, they're showing signs of having gone soft on the issue. But I like to think that my gas money balances out other, ongoing boycotts of Exxon stations. Anyway, some of my best friends are Alleged Exxon Mobil Whores.

Mostly, though, I like to support companies that are under attack for making "highest profits in the history of the world" Quoth Sen. Hillary Clinton at a recent DNC meeting: "I want to take those profits, and I want to put them into a strategic energy fund." Ridiculous government subsidies and tax breaks aside, Exxon profits shouldn't be the federal government's business and demagouging about excess profit make my blood run cold.

I'm far from alone in my (admittedly lackadaisical) efforts to buy ideologically-appropriate gas. If I'd cruised past the Exxon and continued until I reached Omaha, the site of the new Terror-Free oil station, it's good to know that I would have had even more options with which to express my opinions on geopolitics by paying at the pump, not just in a voting booth.
"What we wanted to do we tried to figure the way to stop terrorist financing," says James Baeur, who was part the early stages of the Terror-Free Oil Initiative. "From what we understand the majority of the financing that goes to terrorism is oil revenues. There are other sources, but nothing compares to oil revenues. Like most of America, we were under the impression that most of the oil we use comes from the Middle East, but our research showed that this was not the case."

Spokesman Joe Kaufman said the project began as outreach: "We were contacting a lot of gas companies, the executives. We couldn't get on the phone with anybody important." The goal was to convince oil executive that they were "hurting America by purchasing crude oil from the Middle East," and, more important, to convince companies who were already using non-Middle East oil to advertise that fact.

After making no headway, the idea of a Terror-Free gas station was born. But finding a supplier wasn't easy.
"The situation is pretty bleak, " says Kaufmann. Even the supplier they finally settled on, Sinclair Oil, can't guarantee that they are 100 percent terror-free. Most of the oil they buy is from the United States or Canada, but some is purchased on the New York Mercantile Exchange, which creates bundles of oil from various countries of origin. Kaufman says Sinclair was the best available option.

The group has done almost no publicity for the station. "As soon as the signs went up," Kaufman said, "we started getting calls." At first, they were exited to be featured on every TV station in Omaha, but when someone sent them a clip of a segment from a network in Russia, said Kaufman, they realized they were onto something big.

None of the oil executives who snubbed the Terror-Free Oil initiative's calls have made contact with the group yet. But they have gotten "dozens of calls from investors looking to open more stations." Until those stations open for business, though, I'll have to content myself with skipping Citgo and hitting the Exxon.

Katherine Mangu-Ward is associate editor of reason.

Blogger's Note:
I sympathize with you Katherine, I once ran out of gas and the closest station was a Citgo, I kept going until I found a different station. I cringe every time I see someone filling up at a Citgo. Thankfully here in Florida, they are contemplating removing the Citgo's as the rest stop gas stations on our Florida Turnpike. I hope that comes soon, the rest stops are usually only every 40 miles or so...

The Republican-Foreign Welfare Party

From Daily Kos by DarkSyde

If there's one thing I always thought rank and file Republicans would never abandon, it's the American people. Call them nationalists, call them misguided, debate their methods if you wish. But running through the GOP I grew up with was always a strong sense of loyalty to the USA. Not anymore. Republicans today can be accurately described as the Official Foreign Welfare Party, hell bent on creating welfare Sultans at our expense.

Reuters -- The Bush administration on Monday sought a cut of $4.9 billion, or 8 percent, in education, training, employment and social services grants ... the White House's five-year plan foresees $66 billion in cuts to Medicare, a program for the elderly, and $12 billion in cuts for Medicaid, the state-federal program for the poor.

Reuters Alert -- As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan grind on and their costs could hit $662 billion by the end of next year ... This year, fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could total around $170 billion.

The neocons are paying for highways and bridges overseas, while ours fall into disrepair. Bush is using our money to build hospitals and cover healthcare for Iraqis, while cutting into Medicare and Medicaid and again leaving almost 50 million Americans without medical insurance. The Republican Budget earmarks exorbitant sums for security in Kabul and Baghdad, even as New Orleans flirts with lawlessness. How's that worked out so far?

Seattle Times -- Waxman wanted to know how the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) could have shipped $12 billion in cash from the Federal Reserve in New York to Baghdad and handed it over to Iraqi ministries with only the sketchiest accounting controls. The cash, all 363 tons of it, was shrink-wrapped into $400,000 bricks and carried on C-130 cargo planes. "Who in their right mind would send 363 tons of cash into a war zone?"

Not content with funding foriegn reconstruction and healthcare for Iraqis while neglecting American families, the President and his budgetary Benedict Arnolds seem fit to blame America for their egregious errors of judgment. Just what country do these assholes think they're working for?

Mr. Bush, you are not the President of Iraq, you are not the Prime Minister of Afghanistan. You are not a clerk for the United Arab Emirates or Dubai Ports. GOP elected officials are not errand boys for Hezbollah in Baghdad. You work for We the People of These United States of America: For now anyway ...

Blogger's Note:
I agree with DarkSyde, if the US govt. wants to ship cash, they could save some postage and mail it to citizens within the good old US of A. The fact that they lost more than 8 billion of our tax dollars on this makes it even more laughable. This is it folks, these are the people handling our tax dollars. I feel more secure don't you?

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