Boycotting BP Gas Stations a Waste

Privately Owned BP Stations

If you watch the video posted above this post, you will see that BP does not own any gas stations in the United States. Every gas station is privately owned and when people boycott getting gas there, they are only hurting an individual that is not payed by BP. There have been miniscule drops in business, but the upcoming Summer season usually sees an increase in sales and prices. This season will definitely hurt the sales. So next time you pass a BP station and think that the people working there are bad people, think again, BP sells the gas to them only. There have been local news stories where people have thrown balloons filled with paint at BP gas stations. The only person paying for this is an individual and it is coming out of their wallet, not Tony Hayward's company. I am not telling you that you have to purchase BP gasoline, but do not think that avoided these gas stations will hurt the BP conglomerate, you are only hurting one innocent individual who did not mean for this all to happen.

"The oil is on the surface," Hayward said. "There aren't any plumes."

'I want my brother's life back'

History of the Comic

Rustle the Leaf is an environmental comic strip that was published from November 2004 through July 2007, and is still available online through various environmental and earth science web sites. At the height of its distribution, the weekly comic was featured on over 70 Sierra Club Chapter and Group web sites, on the home pages of the U.S. and Canada Green Party web sites, on several college and university web sites, and on hundreds of environmental, natural products and science web sites around the world. From February 2005 through February 2007 the strip was the weekly comic feature on the web site for Orion, a publication called "America's finest environmental magazine" by The Boston Globe.

The strip's characters were created in late 2002 and early 2003 by Dave Ponce, a Central Indiana-based marketing consultant, and were proposed as a comic project to Steve and Melissa Zeitler, founders/owners of Citra-Solv, LLC., a manufacturer of natural, eco-friendly cleaning and personal care products. Ponce provided consulting and creative services to the Zeitlers, and believed their philosophy of sustainable lifestyle practices would resonate with a larger audience if presented in an engaging, humorous, noncommercial, less politically-charged context. In January 2003, the Zeitlers agreed to fund the development of "Rustle the Leaf," and to make it available on their web site at www.citra-solv.com. Although Ponce had knowledge and experience writing environmental articles, and was a devoted follower of the comic strip medium, he did not have the art skills to draw Rustle the Leaf, and tapped friend and digital illustrator Corey Wilkinson to bring the characters to the page.

This is just a short history of Rustle the Leaf from Wikipedia, you can read more about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rustle_the_Leaf .


"The American people have a right to air that they and their children can breathe without fear."
— Lyndon Baines Johnson

Solar Day 2010

June 19, 2010 will be the official Solar Day for this Earth. This is the second year of celebrating solar power and how "green" the power truly is. This date is chosen because it is the weekend closest to the summer solstice. This means that day has the most daylight hours and therefore more sun, if the clouds aren't out of course. The development of solar power has changed the face of energy dependency on fossil fuels. Solar, wind, thermal, and hydro are just a few other sources of energy that do not harmt he Earth directly. So when the Summer comes around the corner, think about what you can do to change the environment in a positive way, maybe even invest in solar power.

"Only when the last tree has been cut down,
Only when the last river has been poisoned,
Only when the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten."
— Cree Indian Prophecy

Whatever You Do, There is Always a Risk

With all of the modern technology today, scientists can find things wrong with every aspect of a person's life. From brushing your teeth to driving your car, there is always a chance for harmful particles to get onto your body or into it. People have been doing these things for many years and nothing has come to thought that it could be harmful to their well being. There are warnings on almost every home necessity, from soap to even food. I am sure you have seen those pharmaceutical commercials, where a person will talk very quickly and name many side effects. Some of these listed side effects very from headaches to heart failure. There are many serious problems with newly formed products, but most products are not extremely harmful to people's health.

"It's a job that's never started that takes the longest to finish."
— J.R.R. Tolkien

Destruction of the Battered Gulf Coast

I am sorry if this picture offends anyone, but the public should be allowed to see what BP has done to the Gulf Coast. This is a saltwater Dolphin that was caught in the water for an attempted rescue, but the oil already got too far into the body of the dolphin. This is truly the inconvenient truth for all Americans and people overseas. There will always be mistakes, but this is an absolute disaster. The endless attempts at capping the wellhead have failed and now it is time to start punishing those who made this go wrong. BP has been fined $69 million, but many critics are saying this is too little for the monstrous oil company. People say they should be fined this for everyday that oil is coming out of that wellhead into the ocean.


Ecologically speaking, a spilt tanker load is like sticking a safety pin into an elephant’s foot. The planet barely notices. After the Exxon Valdez accident in Alaska the oil company spent billions tidying up the coastline, but it was a waste of money because the waves were cleaning up faster than Exxon could. Environmentalists can never accept the planet’s ability to self-heal.
— Jeremy Clarkson

A New Way of Flying High

The has not been much of a change in the airplane industry in the past 50 years, when it comes to general plane design. This is because of the fear to change the airports yearly and cause tons of money to be implemented into the airplane industry. The largest change in travel has been seen in the automobile industry, but the airplane's have been lacking. NASA gave five companies and one university contracts to fund the development of airplane prototypes. There were various constraints that consisted of greatly decreasing emissions, reducing fuel consumption, decreasing noise, and having the plane capable of taking off on a shorter runway. All of these will help make flying better for the environment and more economical. The future of flying may be very different then what it has been in the past.

The packaging for a microwavable "microwave" dinner is programmed for a shelf life of maybe six months, a cook time of two minutes and a landfill dead-time of centuries. ~David Wann, Buzzworm, November 1990

The Endless Oil Spill

The oil spill has entered its seventh week, dousing the Gulf with oil and causing disruptions with local and national governments. Our president does not have answers to the many news agencies concerning the oil spill and BP representatives are still optimistic in the future of the spill. BP has been looking out to the public to find answers to this disaster and once hurricane season starts, there could be major problems. The hurricanes could push the oil filled water into marshlands and destruct the already battered Gulf Coast. Hurricane Katrina destroyed the Coast and the efforts to repair all of the land is still underway. Another Category 5 hurricane would destroy wildlife and dampen the relief efforts that are currently in process.

The use of solar energy has not been opened up because the oil industry does not own the sun. ~Ralph Nader, quoted in Linda Botts, ed., Loose Talk, 1980

Significance of the Cartoon

Rustle the Leaf includes many, many humorous comics, but create a very strong environmental opinion. They try to educate the community as a whole to help the future of our planet, economy, and social status. Making a comic appealing to children, teenagers, and adults makes a universal message for others to follow and possibly learn something from. So check out the Facebook page for Rustle the Leaf at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rustle-the-Leaf/124817034120?ref=ts .


When a man throws an empty cigarette package from an automobile, he is liable to a fine of $50. When a man throws a billboard across a view, he is richly rewarded. ~Pat Brown, quoted in David Ogilvy, Ogilvy on Advertising, 1985