SIDEBAR- Local protestors target BP station
The signs drew honks of support and occasional jeers from passing drivers.PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER
A group of local citizens staged a peaceful Sunday afternoon protest at one of Charlottesville's BP-branded fuel stations. The group, numbering over 20 at the height of the Memorial Day event, lamented the disaster caused by BP, as crude oil continues to spew from a broken well that the mammoth company was operating in the Gulf of Mexico.
Organized by musician Brandon Collins, one half of the brash acoustic duo B.C., the protest took place at the Everyday Caf© at 241 Rolkin Court atop Pantops mountain.
Inside the convenience store, a clerk gave the phone number for a district manager for station owner Virginia Oil Company, but he declined comment. Outside, a customer who would give his name only as Gary took a dim view of BP–- and of the protest.
"It won't do a bit of good," said Gary, noting that Americans rely too heavily on motor vehicles to give them up.
The protesters, however, are asking for a variety of measures. One carried a "Boycott BP" sign; another hoisted a placard touting fuel from hemp, a plant whose biomass can reportedly produce 1,000 gallons of methanol per acre but which remains under a federal ban for its similarity to its intoxicating relative, marijuana.
The young man with the "Hemp Fuel" sign expressed enthusiasm that one passing driver might have yelled out, "Good job, hippies!" However, one of his colleagues pointed out that the driver might actually have said, "Get a job, hippies!"
Meanwhile, in the Gulf of Mexico, BP's toxic plume of oil has killed thousands of birds and jeopardized the livelihoods of thousands of humans, as the government estimates that up to 40 million gallons of crude have spilled, the worst environmental disaster in American history.
By the time of President Barack Obama's prime time-televised Oval Office speech on Tuesday, June 15, some scientists were predicting that as much as 100 million gallons had spilled.
–last updated Monday, June 14
58 comments
Regardless of the reasons for BPs failures to stop this thing, I think it's important that they do. I'm actually doing the opposite of boycotting thier gas, I'm buying more frequently. Its my way of giving them money to fix the problem. I'm not sure who to blame - BP, TransOcean, Halliburton, or the widkced oil-based economy - but, so far, it seems that they've accepted the responsibility for cleaning it up. When I do need to gas up my truck, I feel justified knowing that at least some of my money will end up going toward cleaning up this mess.
I get the noble intentions behind the cause but overall I don't think it's an effective protest. Whoever runs that particular BP station has no ties to whatever happened in the Gulf, they're just trying to make a living like everybody else. And I agree with what Bootzilla noted - "Let he who is without oil usage cast the first stone." Very very true. I drive my car around town, using gas and oil. I can't cast the first stone.
Ramalamadingdong is so far out of his element, that he has no clue as to what to do now. He wouldn't know a tar ball from a rabbit turd. Now that owuld be funny!!!
This was his problem from the beginning- even if the beginning occured before he took a job he doesn't even want anymore.
Remember this old adage- "you buy a used car, you buy someone elses problems"- have your mechanic check it out before you consider taking it- same with politics- check it all out before you dfeclare yourself King of the world.............too bad big boy, it is Obama's problem.
Thet are all so damn smart aren't they...........
So misplaced, what could the White House, which has no expertise in deep-sea drilling, or the Armed Forces, which operate no deep-sea oil rig, do to plug up a leak that is 5,000 feet deep in the ocean?
misplaced... this is not the biggest spill ever.
http://www.stopaforusrep.com/blog/69-oilspill
Sean might be a meathead about UVA and Casteen, but he's exactly right about Dear Leader, the TOTUS (Teleprompter of the United States). The feds already had an approved plan for such events as what's happening in the Gulf now, which involved burning off the oil, but the environmentalists objected. Not that Dear Leader is responsible for this disaster, but his total inaction for 9 or 10 days added to the problem. Because I'm criticizing him, I guess that makes me a racist.
Hey Terry, you should write for Glenn Beck, and Hannity
Just as it was very nice and conveniant to blame Bush for Katrina.
Whoever is in office becomes the target of blame, whether rightfully or not.
Misplaced, are you suggesting we nationalize oil companies? In the sense of capitalism, why should other oil companies help out BP? Although they already have provided technical support along with other deep sea drilling companies.
And no, no other countries have the equipments or people to deal with a 5,000 feet spill as oil companies like BP.
Yes, it is very nice to blame Obama and everyone in the government in the spill, but there was absolutely nothing they could have done in terms of stopping that spill physically.
I don't think I would boycott BP over this. Better to boycott the whole oil industry. Better to not insist on cheap gas and driving gas hogs. Better to start developing communities where we can do a lot of our daily needs on a more pedestrian basis, and use our vehicles less.
Look at Albemarle County - one commuter development after another, with giant developments like the silly stuff on 29North.
Yeah! Let's screw over that local gas station owner, then BP will totally change its ways!
I don't see how this helps the situation. No doubt many people are boycotting BP anyway due to anger at the situation. Best just to let BP get on with fixing the situation. Punishment can come later. Also, BP is going to be paying out so much money to fix this disaster and to people affected by this, that they will need all the money they can get. If BP survives after this fiasco I will be surprised.
If one is really concerned, the best action right now is to get involved in efforts to help clean up the mess and if one cannot do that then seriously pray to God that the flow of oil can be stopped as soon as possible. That's what I'm doing. Complaining does not help at all.
They should be protesting at the capital. It is Congresses fault for allowing these agencies to run amok with no accountability.
Just wait until they implement health care.
The sad part is the people fired will appeal through the Government employees union and retire early with full benefits. Guaranteed.
Don't blame the dog for stealing the steak if you leave it unattended on the ground.
five years from now:
1) lawyers will be rich
2) people affected will get diddly
3) BP stock will be back at 80 bucks a share
4) the beaches will be 90% fixed by other nature but the government will have spent 50 billion trying to get another 2%.
5) There will be congressional hearings on where the 50 billion went.
6)The people at mineral services will be working for the oil company and vice versa.
7) We will have some new rules but only sporadic enforcement.
8) There will still be people who think that protesting at BP instead of the Congress is a smarted way to effect change.
Boycotting the local BP stations is exactly the right thing to do. Bring BP to their knees and while it won't have much bearing on this disaster, it MAY help prevent the next one. If Exxon/Mobile, Shell, and the others realize that trashing our environment might result in ginormous economic penalties, they MIGHT actually have a disaster plan in place with personnel trained to implement it.
They also might not, but if there is no economic threat they definitely won't.
Bummer for Virginia Oil, but they signed on with the wrong driller.
Sean nobody wanted this to happen, but you are right that if this were a Rep, they would have been linched by now, but Unbelievable is correct. The problem that this highlights is that "huggers" have have pushed the oil drilling to far offshore. If this were in 1,000 feet of water it whould have been capped in a few days.
Also all of the people busting on the SUV drivers and gas stations.....you guys stop driving first, don't buy ANYTHING make with oil.....cell phone, shoes, computers, water bottles, wiper blades, tires, pens, hair clips, X box, CDs, DVD, the ink on your signs, the sunglasses on your head. Get the picture..... oil is not SUVs.... oil is everything.... let drill in safer places
Obama and his liberal cronies created the oil spill just to make themselves look good while they destroy another great American business! The only solution to save the gulf is to vote to lower taxes!
Do you people write jokes for late night talk show hosts??
Sean: you forgot to add that Presidents Obama and Casteen were on the rig when it blew up. They were running things. Also Harry Reid was with them - his agenda is to turn the Gulf into a giant cesspool that can be used to store nuclear waste instead of using a big hole in Nevada. It's true because I made it up.
What are they protesting? Gas? How did they get there? Walk?
Perhaps trying to be part fo the solution is better than being part of the problem...........get creative "protesters".
They bought into Obamaland, but how will they get there?
sean, you are a fool. obama has no ability to stop the well. if some magic fix was available, it would have been done by now. only foolish people believe an easy solution exists and obama is not deploying it for some strange unknown devious reason.
Clearly Sean has as much expertise in petroleum engineering as he does in medical sciences (read: none).
BP is trying to empty this well and sell the oil? Are you joking me? Only the short-term insertion tube actually managed to take out some oil, and a meager amount at that. All of the other short-term and eventual long-term solution in relief well involve shutting down the well forever.
Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen himself has said that only oil companies such as BP has the expertise to work at this level of depth of an oil spill (not the Corps of Engineers). But of course, just as how you have shown your ignorance regarding OC pills, you are doing the same thing here.
Good to see young people still have issues that will get them actively protesting. Thought that was long gone. Hope they all rode their bikes or took public transportation to pantops. It would be a shame if they bellowed toxic fumes in the atmosphere to protest toxic oil bellowing in the sea.
Go see the NBC29 page to read the usual low-brow comments that abound. (It's important to see what the yokels think even if only to make one run screaming back to Portland.)
But this time I mostly agree with them. To summarize:
--Target of a local businessperson without connection to the mishap
--Let he who is without oil usage cast the first stone
--Go do something truly useful if you've got that much time &
energy on your hands
"SCREW BP!
Now excuse me as I get in my SUV and drive .75 miles to the store as it's too hot to walk."
Doesn't matter that we are now enduring the worst environmental disaster in our history.
Doesn't matter who got the most BP campaign cash.
Doesn't matter that THIS administration granted BP environmental waivers and vastly expanded offshore drilling licenses.
Doesn't matter that the CURRENT president was on a campaign swing a week after the rig blew up, and still is doing nothing but standing by and making speeches at photos ops (all he really knows how to do..)
Nothing will dissuade the Obama Bots from defending the guy they worship. In their crazy world, republicans are to blame no matter what - even if they control NOTHING in Washington at present. Bush didn't cause Katrina, but he made it worse afterward for a few DAYS. Obama didn't cause the explosion, but he's is up to 5 weeks and counting as Bystander in Chief.
Partisanship can become a mental illness in its final stages. The democrats may not have cared about most of the gulf states, but Florida is one of them. Kiss it goodbye..
You'd think that at the very least, sales of any oil that might ever come from the relief wells would be mandated by law to go towards the cleanup. I'm thinking that a control detonation around the leak could plug it up. BP cannot do this. They've failed at everything. Send in the Navy and the Corps. Problem is, they need a leader - and all we have is a public speaker.
With the total failure of our Harvard educated, BP financed "leaders" - it's time for some Redneck Engineering to the rescue!
http://www.wimp.com/solutionoil/
Why didn't they drill a hole in the side of the pipe ande push a rod thru.. then go back 5 feet drill another hole and start feeding steelcable thru until it hits the rod and gets tangled on itself. Then start pushing more in until the pipe is filled with steel cable. Once the pipe has slowed to a manageable pressure, cut it and cap it.
I guess you can't teach injunuity at Harvard, Yale, MIT (or UVA for that matter)
Accidents happen. There is no punishment to be given here. Who knows, years of Tropical Depressions and hurricanes could have weakened the pipeline. Hello, anyone ever heard of Hurricane Katrina? If you stop purchasing BP gas, then the governmental payment of the clean up will just come out of your pockets through taxes. I live three hours away from the Mississippi coast. It was just getting back on its feet good from Hurricane Katrina. I feel the enormous amount of urgency here. Instead of holding up picket signs to encourage people not to buy gas which will only hinder the clean up...encourage others to find ways they can volunteer to help.
Actually, it was U. of California that was tops. Stanford was the other college in that hopelessly indebted state to support their guy.. But they were still in the top ten - along with Harvard, 3 banks, some lawyers, and a media company. No wonder he was the first candidate ever to turn down the public money (after promising he would never do such a thing, of course..)
University of California $1,591,395
Goldman Sachs $994,795
Harvard University $854,747
Microsoft Corp $833,617
Google Inc $803,436
Citigroup Inc $701,290
JPMorgan Chase & Co $695,132
Time Warner $590,084
Sidley Austin LLP $588,598
Stanford University $586,557
"misplaced”Š this is not the biggest spill ever."
Ok. In US history.
Sean misrepresents things yet again. UC didn't give money to Obama - its employees did.
"This table lists the top donors to this candidate in the 2008 election cycle. The organizations themselves did not donate , rather the money came from the organization's PAC, its individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families. Organization totals include subsidiaries and affiliates.
Because of contribution limits, organizations that bundle together many individual contributions are often among the top donors to presidential candidates. These contributions can come from the organization's members or employees (and their families). The organization may support one candidate, or hedge its bets by supporting multiple candidates. Groups with national networks of donors - like EMILY's List and Club for Growth - make for particularly big bundlers."
Given that the University of California consists of 10 universities and has over 100,000 employees, it's not very surprising it made the list.
Why would they boycott BP and not the Whitehouse? Indecision for 30 some days is what has caused this to be the largest oil spill ever. Lack of leadership skills has come back to haunt the President and his round table of Czars.
It was 100% correct to criticize Bush for his "response" to Katrina. As it was to do the same to the democratic mayor of NO and governor of LA at that time. But even Mr. Bush got his act together after a few days and got on the ball.
Obama, in stark contrast, has been asleep at the wheel for 5 weeks. And the waters are federal waters. He is responsible. Katrina didn't give out generous campaign contributions or get an environmental waiver, but BP did. All he knows how to do is give speeches, make photo ops, and sue people. Meanwhile, the sea bed belches, and the preparation along the shores has been a study in ineptitude. You could have vast expanses of the shoreline sandbagged and protected by now. This guy has no executive experience, and boy does it show.
Smokers should never call themselves environmentalists.
No mention of nationalizing any company. This is a major accident that affects the whole country not just New Orleans. BP has a permit to drill and the responsibility to cleanup. The Government has the responsibility to make sure BP is doing everything it can within reason and also pull resources together to limit the contamination of other states. There are very smart people in the world and someone has the answer. The WH needs to find them.
I may have missed the news but I do not recall any groups being sent to the coasts of Fla or premptive measures being taken to try and protect South/North Carolina.
As for Bobby J. I doubt he even understood what measures were in place to begin with. Dollars signs rule the world my friend.
JJ, you are spot on with the 1000' comment.
"Also all of the people busting on the SUV drivers and gas stations”Š..you guys stop driving first, don’t buy ANYTHING make with oil”Š..cell phone, shoes, computers, water bottles, wiper blades, tires, pens, hair clips, X box, CDs, DVD, the ink on your signs, the sunglasses on your head. Get the picture”Š.. oil is not SUVs”Š. oil is everything”Š. let drill in safer places"
We can make all of that stuff out of hemp. LEt's grow hemp on 10% of the land here in the US and we would have all that stuff from hemp. WHy do you all insist plastic can not be made from hemp? It can, and it is biodegradable!
the point of the demonstration was to raise awareness. lots of people stick their heads in the oily sand to avoid taking any kind of stand. i applaud brandon and company for their efforts - beats sitting around on the computer all day!
true huggers did not push oil drilling into deep water. the lack of oil pushed it there. almost all the oil today is in deepwater. thats why they are there
Individuals in Halliburton, BP, and the corrupt Interior Dept. should be identified and out-ed.
On April 21st, COLLECTION of as much oil as possible should have been the priority, instead of preserving the possibility of developing this oil/gas reserve.
It's like these greedy bastards are from another planet.
Only now are they planning the free-standing riser to near the sea surface, for long-term collection, to be improved incrementally.
A "relief well" might not be successful for a long, long time.
Boycotting the local outlets is the least we can do.
These places make a ton of money by fostering drunk driving and disgusting fat ugly people.
To hell with the local managers of these places.
This blowout was no accident. They practically made sure it happened.
The point of the demonstration was not "to raise awareness", it was to boycott a small business. See, in the picture? "Boycott BP"? In front of the BP? That's not raising awareness, it's a lack of understanding of franchising.
"These places make a ton of money by fostering drunk driving and disgusting fat ugly people.
To hell with the local managers of these places."
LOL
boycott Facebook!
I bet all 20 of those protestors hang out at The Mudhouse, smoke pot, have no money, own smelly dogs, and wear big mountain boots!
Sean,
Most of the time you leave me scratching my head....but this time I think you are spot on!! I like the way you speak your mind regardless of the retorts as well...I think you make this forum interesting and the way you absolutely refuse to back down shows great strength and passion in your cause. Kudos to ya!
Much more modern solution, Hillbilly: a secretary in our office building put a feminine sanitary device in the toilet. It went down a few feet and then expanded as is its wont, and plugged the pipe for the whole ten story building creating a gusher of sewage out of the toilet making our office uninhabitable. So I say, using a robot with a delicate touch on the applicator, put a huge feminine sanitary device in that hole in the seabed, and it'll swell up and shut the pipe and the leak is solved.
All these solutions sound so practical... on land. At 5,000 feet it is 2000 pounds per inch of pressure. Add that to the pressure that is causing the oil to spew out, along with the fact that BP hasn't fully mapped out this well... voila.
You just don't get it, do you, Sean? Oh NOES, OBAMA GOT 36,000 MORE THAN MCCAIN. THAT IS ENOUGH TO BUY 2 ADS. OBAMA IS NOW FOREVER GRATEFUL TO BP. No, Sean, this is not how the world works.
The categorical exclusion policy was adopted under President Bush in 2004. So sorry Obama didn't force a change in the policy 2 months into the presidency. Then again, the entire MMS is all screwed up anyways. And the Republicans do control something. For instance, they are blocking the liability increase of BP in Congress.
Are you suggesting we should nuke the leak? Perhaps you can ask the residents of the Gulf Coast first.
I would take MIT off that list, Hillbilly - but agreed with regard to the Ivy League. Even among the "just missed the Ivy League" schools, Stanford was Obama's largest private contributor in 2008 (followed closely by Goldman Sachs), and UVA is doing back flips to make their climate change science conducted with public money a closely guarded secret - from the public. These are POLITICAL institutions of indoctrination.
Thanks Just.
Another thought: Who would like to wager that most of these kids has smoked something in the last few days (hours)? A cigarette of ANY kind? Hmm? Smokers - Obama included - should not call themselves environmentalists. They pollute the air and themselves simply to feed their addiction(s). The guy with the marijuana sign should write some text on it"
"I love to get high and finance rape, torture, and mass killings in Mexico - because less Mexicans is better for the environment, but I'm special."
I think PlugUgly has a good technique. Sean let's jam your cotton-filled noggin down in there and let it swell up and plug things.
Seriously now Sean, what the %$@%!$ do you know about plugging an oil well? ("I’m thinking that a control detonation around the leak could plug it up.")
Yeah, I was all about the burning off of the spill. Its probably better than using additional fuel to drive boats around collecting the oil in those cotton sponges only to be incinerated eventually. Same goes with all the plastic bags being used to collect the crap washing up on shore. Sometimes environmentalists fail to see the big picture.
However, this ISN'T the biggest oil spill ever. We'll be fine.
"The problem that this highlights is that ââ?¬Å?huggers” have have pushed the oil drilling to far offshore. If this were in 1,000 feet of water it whould have been capped in a few days."
No one seems to understand this....the same type of people that you see in the pic above were the same ones who protested and campaigned to get drilling moved offshore.
Leaders of businesses often do not have experience directly related to the product or services the company provides. This is where leadership skills come into play.
Why not call in other oil companies? Do other countries have equipment or people that could benefit the situation?
The Pres. has at his disposal every single resource available in the country and can get access to resources in other countries. Take charge for goodness sake.
Misplaced,
Other oil companies have been helping BP. The problem is, they really have no more experience than BP does at this particular type of problem. That's one reason why I am not specifically down on BP in this. They are all guilty of not having backup plans and solutions.
It's time people take responsibility for making sure that our agencies do their jobs, and force companies to have backup plans. Where was drill baby drill Bobby Jindal who is crying about response time when he was signing onto the bill to drill? Did he demand that stronger back up regs should be in place.
Nope.
archtype
you cant so so crazy to believe BP wanted the spill to happen? you cant be that delirious, can you?
how exactly does it benefit them to lose $10B and get tied up in lawsuits for 20 years?
If you want to do something useful about this spill: Join the "Boycott BP" Facebook page. Git er done...
@Gascon, so I boycott BP and their revenues go down and then they don't have the money to fix the spill...yeah, that'll "git er done"....
The Bystander in Chief suddenly thinks sand barriers are a good idea - on June 3rd!
http://michellemalkin.com/2010/05/24/louisana-gov-jindal-blasts-obama-in...
http://www.gocomics.com/glennmccoy/2010/06/02/
As if they weren't already going to get trounced in November as it was..
BP declaring bankruptcy should be interesting..
archtype,
Collection of the oil was the biggest priority. That's why they made the big box, which got clogged up with methane crystals. Top kill was a later action, and it seems the integrity of the well wasn't quite enough for it to work.
What they are doing again now is also about oil collection. The less it leaks, the less there is to clean up.
I rarely defend big oil, but this is one case where I think BP is unfairly becoming the whipping boy for a lot of weaknesses in the industry, and our own society in regards to use of resources.
If we don't drill it someone else will. Better us than the Chinese. Now get off your butts and start encouraging better resource uses.
Sean = an angry (and boring to boot) white feller unable to accept an African-American in the Oval. Get over it. And prepare for a second term.
It's moreover a desperate attempt to keep the spotlight off their new god Mr. Obama, our Bystander in Chief, who has fallen flat on his face the last 5 weeks and is still totally clueless as to how to deal with a crisis like this. He was BP's premier recipient of campaign cash in 2008, and his administration likewise gave BP an environmental review waiver just a few months ago - just before he OK'd a vast expansion of offshore drilling just days before the rig exploded. All of BP's "solutions" have involved being able to empty this well and sell the oil, not close it down forever. The Navy and the Army Corps of Engineers would have done that weeks ago.
This guy's never run so much as a candy store, and boy does it show! Imagine the difference in media coverage if a republican had dropped the ball this bad with something this serious. Bush dropped the ball for a few days after Katrina, as did the dem mayor and governor. But this is well over a month now, and continues as we speak. Maybe it's time for Biden to step up and get something - anything! - done, and for Mr. Obama to admit he's in way over his head.