This has been out for some time now but I just realized I never posted it in this forum although we sell the book on my campus. Here are there rankings of gas stations for overall Social Responsibility. As with everything else, some companies do it better than others and we should be supporting those companies rather than the lowest price. As you will find, even the best ones are still poor in the grand scheme. We really need to get off fossil fuels. The book bases it's rating on: 5 key.issues HUMAN RIGHTS: sweatshops, 3rd world community exploitation, international health issues, divestment, child labor, code of conduct. THE ENVIRONMENT: global warming, rainforest destruction, pollution, recycling, renewable energy, greenwashing, toxic waste, eco-innovations, illegal dumping, sustainable farming. ANIMAL PROTECTION: factory farming, animal testing, humane treatment, wild animal habitat. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: family farms, local business support, volunteer efforts, sustainable growth, philanthropic donations, nonprofit alliances, establishing foundations. SOCIAL JUSTICE : fair wages, fatalities, union busting efforts, health & safety records, discrimination based on: race, gender, age, ability, religion, sexuality, ethnicity.
Let me see if I read this correctly. The gas company that supports NASCAR explicitly is the most environmentally responsible? Didn't see that coming.
Consider it a case of putting the ugliest girls in the world in one room and you have to pick the best one.... lol
Fun analogy. One thing I explicitly remember is Jared Diamond stating that Chevron was being very responsible in New Guinea and this was validated by the World Wildlife Federation. I also remember Norway's selection of Chevron because of their environmental sound approach. I'm not in a position to know if this is valid or not, but it does not match the ratings in the list shown. Which is right?
That part of the book has always bugged me because of the disconnect with the rest of Standard Oil's practices and environmental record. I believe they were rated so low on this score sheet because of their propensity to do very bad stuff then try to greenwash it all away with projects like Jared describes. They do this while simultaneously funding anti-environmental groups like "Citizens for the Environment" and "The National Wetlands Coalition". I lent my copy to a friend at work but I'll get it back and see if there are more details on Chevron in there. The great thing about this little book is you can email the author and get answers. He's local to me so we ordered a bunch of books to sell on our campus. If anyone is interested I believe they are about $10.
Isn't Chevron the Oil Company that basically set Electric Vehicle development back about 15 years by buying the patent for the most practical battery technology and then not allowing it to be used? I have not bought from a Chevron station in 5 years, never will!
If there is a significant difference between how different oil companies are behaving, I certainly want to vote with the wallet. Even with a Prius, I have to send the money down that rat hole. The tricky thing is to make sure I get my facts right. One the things I want to pay attention to is the present behaviour, not the stupidities of decades past....since those are too numerous to count. That's what I have read. To be honest, I'm more of the opinion that they are more incompentent than conspiracy oriented. Most American auto companies seem to demonstrate that point.
I completely understand. I'll see what I can find out and I'll let you know. I do not want to give any of my money to these companies but if I have to I'm going to go with the least destructive one.
