Submitted by Anonymous on February 1, 2008 - 1:42pm.
Hadi,
It pains me to write this. I've been railing about oil, peak oil, war for oil and energy independence for a while now, and I've been pretty consistently ignored. Maybe that's just my style. I think we could both agree that US military activities in the Middle East are really about controlling the flow of oil out of the region. And the Big Oil companies you name do benefit from the military presence in Iraq and the Persian Gulf.
But the main reason Exxon and other Big Oil companies are showing record profits is because they are selling record amounts of oil and gasoline to the US driving public. It's important to note that Exxon's profit margin, while healthy, is actually less than the profit margins of the banking, pharmaceutical and fast-food industries, and profit margin is the more relevant profit statistic. And to compound matters further, the US imports more total oil from our neighbors Mexico and Canada than it does from Gulf countries.
My point is that boycotting Exxon is a double-edged sword. Boycotting Big Oil is difficult, if not impossible to do if you have to drive a car to work or eat food, and ironically it hurts the economies of our neighbors to the North and South. And using less oil, while it's ultimately the right and inevitable thing to do, will essentially slow the US economy, which is already on shaky ground.
I wish I had something more positive to add, but I don't think aerial advertising is the right tactic, and the fuel for the plane probably comes from the Big Three anyway.
Keep in mind that if you do go forward with the oil boycott, to boycott the credit card and fast food industries too.
"End the Occupation Of Iraq"
Hadi,
It pains me to write this. I've been railing about oil, peak oil, war for oil and energy independence for a while now, and I've been pretty consistently ignored. Maybe that's just my style. I think we could both agree that US military activities in the Middle East are really about controlling the flow of oil out of the region. And the Big Oil companies you name do benefit from the military presence in Iraq and the Persian Gulf.
But the main reason Exxon and other Big Oil companies are showing record profits is because they are selling record amounts of oil and gasoline to the US driving public. It's important to note that Exxon's profit margin, while healthy, is actually less than the profit margins of the banking, pharmaceutical and fast-food industries, and profit margin is the more relevant profit statistic. And to compound matters further, the US imports more total oil from our neighbors Mexico and Canada than it does from Gulf countries.
My point is that boycotting Exxon is a double-edged sword. Boycotting Big Oil is difficult, if not impossible to do if you have to drive a car to work or eat food, and ironically it hurts the economies of our neighbors to the North and South. And using less oil, while it's ultimately the right and inevitable thing to do, will essentially slow the US economy, which is already on shaky ground.
I wish I had something more positive to add, but I don't think aerial advertising is the right tactic, and the fuel for the plane probably comes from the Big Three anyway.
Keep in mind that if you do go forward with the oil boycott, to boycott the credit card and fast food industries too.
Artie