I think about oil addiction every morning as I eat my banana and grapefruit. What would I have to eat if we stopped transporting fruit 1000s of miles so I can have such a delicious and nutritious breakfast? I am not aware of a good vitamin C and potassium source that grows in Seattle in the winter. Nor can I name any local farms that operate entirely without petroleum products.

I guess that is why I think declaring a boycott on oil is impractical: Boycotts are intended to send an immediate message that one can choose another supplier or do without. Any boycott of all oil comapanies would entail a level of self-dnial that few could tolerate. I ride a bike to work and my family drives "only" 7000 miles a year. But I like my food supply, and I cannot see a viable way to give it up.

I am wondering what the foreign-relations repercussions of our seizing BP's North American operations might be. Beyond angering the British, it could set a precedent for other countries to seize our assets in their countries. I am not saying whether this is a good or a bad thing, but it is certainly something to be considered.

As for "Boycott BP, but also other oil companies," that is simply impractical, as Mark S. Johnson writes. Reducing our reliance on oil, which we should be doing, is one thing. Stopping our use of it is another, impossible, thing, if it's not done gradually.

Furthermore, I also can't help thinking that boycotting BP's retail operations hurts the small-business owners who run them far more than they hurt those in One Westlake Park and St. James's Square.

Here is a little about Sara, perhaps we should advocate for putting all tribal casino assets under temporary recievership until our budget is balanced. That makes about as much sense as her rant.

Sarah van Gelder, Co-founder
As co-founder and executive editor of YES!, Sarah leads the framing and development of each issue of YES! and writes a column introducing each issue. Sarah blogs at YES!, and Huffington Post, writes articles and does interviews for YES! Magazine, and speaks on leading-edge innovations that show that another world is not only possible, it is being created. Topics she has covered include the new economy, solutions to climate change, alternatives to prisons, food, water, nuclear disarmament and active peacemaking, education for a better world, beyond the superpower, happiness, and many more. As part of her community involvement, Sarah volunteers on the Port Madison Reservation where she lives, working with the Suquamish Tribe on enhancing the quality of life for all area residents. She is co-founder of Suquamish Olalla Neighbors where she co-led a statewide effort to return the home of Chief Seattle to the Suquamish Tribe. She is also a member of the board of directors of the tribally-chartered Suquamish Foundation. Sarah has traveled and lived in Latin America, India, China, and Central America. She was a founding board member and resident of Winslow Cohousing, and previously was a television and radio producer, a community organizer, a classical Indian dancer, and founder of a cooperative of food co-ops that linked organic farmers to urban markets. She has two young adult children.

$128,000,000 per day is what Gulf Oil brings to the US economy. Progressives' knee jerk reaction to the disastrous spill is to want to stop it all. A faster national bankruptcy would be the end result.

BP now is capturing over 90% of the leaking oil according to today's news reports.

Cleaning oil off birds usually is futile - its a PR stunt made to make animal rights activists feel good about themselves. Almost all oil soaked animals die from stress, and the cleaning of them is inhumane to them.

Robert Reich is a Marxist who would put all US business in government hands. Let me remind you that the government workers failed to do their oversight jobs. Many MMS employees were surfing porn, on meth, or taking bribes. Government is a lousy business partner.
Further, the Senate Energy Subcommittee, chaired by Senator Cantwell, completely failed in performing oversight.

You need to stop echoing progressive talking points and start thinking about what really is going on. If you stop producing oil, not only will our economy collapse, but you'll do extreme environmental damage through the use of many alternatives. The food to fuel program is a huge disaster for the 40 million acres of marginal land put into production that has forced use to dramatically increase fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and irrigation water (200 gallon per gallon of ethanol). Ethanol is dramatically increasing ozone emissions, N20 emissions, and destroying many of the 300 million open cycle engines in America.

CO2 doesn't cause climate change but increasing concentrations do increase plant growth which is good for civilization, and the biosphere.

Get a life!

Randy, it's even better, you forgot to mention how much the plugging and cleanup will add to the GDP this year!

Sarah,

I checked into solar panels for my log loader, but it didn't work out. Had trouble converting, lack of power and when the sun don't shine...well if I didn't appreciate that 100 gals/day o'deisel before, I sure do now.

My next experiment will be a nuclear chainsaw.

Ha ha, all the rightwing commenters here get to watch their Halliburton wet dreams turn into nightmares. And what a picture of manly manliness we see, when Mr. Tough-guy American faces the prospect of a morning without his banana! Or how about Mr. Self-sufficiency, who heats with wood- wood that was split with a machine that depends on imported oil.

Naturally it doesn't take long before someone is wandering around ranting "Communists! Socialists! Indian Casinos!" Uh, yeah, whatever you say....

As usual, Sarah has some good practical suggestions. Anybody who's really interested in being tough and self-sufficient will be learning how to live off of the umbilical cord. Growing vegetables is not rocket science, especially in this climate. But you knew that already.

Sarah has some confused suggestions. Should we take BP into receivership-- ignoring the practicalities for the moment--or boycott BP? Nevertheless, the most bang for ones social, political and economic buck is local food. Mark can pat himself on his back for his transportation choices, but his thousand mile breakfast has more negative impacts. Further, the nutrional quality of produce of the industrial variety has declined 25 to 30% over the last four decades. Industrial agriculture selects traits such as appearance, long-distance transport, and mechanized havest--traits not linked to taste and nutrition. In comparison, a properly tended home garden represents not only gourmet food, but food as medicine. Most people don't know what brussel sprouts should taste like, as one example, because they are largely grown in California under frost free conditions. However, touched by frost, the plants produce sugars as a natual reponse, making them sweeter. The same with kale.

The truth hurts doesn't it Cat Owner, Sara is full of useless ideas and your cats would starve without oil.

what's Kale?

@rednecklogger: kale is considered a cooking green, although its often eaten raw. Its in the same family as cabbage and broccoli. Kale has proven to have anti-inflammatory properties; inflammation underlies many chronic illnesses, auto-immune diseases, and cancer.

Via Energy Farms @ wordpress:

"Energy used by the US food system accounted for 80% of the increase in American energy use between 1997 and 2002, according to a recent report from the USDA’s Economic Research Service. Other remarkable conclusions of the analysis include:

Food system energy use increased by 22.4% while total energy use rose by just 3.3%.
On a per capita basis, total energy use actually fell by 1.8%, but food system energy use was still up by 16.4%."

"Melting ice caps, changing rainfall patterns, mega-storms and failing crops are already happening, but that is only the beginning if we start hitting climate tipping points. We must kick our fossil fuel addiction. This is our part of the solution."

Solution? We do recognize that the planet is already irremediably affected, don't we, and a change in daily habits by our particular animal species won't "solve" that problem? No, apparently, we don't. I don't argue for doing nothing but recognize the reality that what you will be doing will be a statement of your moral viewpoints, NOT a solution. The time for solutions is way past. Reducing our carbon footprint won't stop the glaciers from melting anymore than you could prop up a falling redwood with little individually placed sticks.

Ants can't move a rubber tree plant?

That song was written to inspire people to put their common minds to work, as such it clearly identifies the problem.

This week, The Week noted that China has begun to switch its population off rice and on to potatoes because of the calculated need for an additional 100 million annual tons of food for the population anticipated within 20 years. Arable land and fresh water are shrinking—casualties of rapidly expanding cities. Potatoes demand less water and yield more calories per acre than rice. So far they have been successful popularizing potato chips, in flavors like "cool cucumber" and "spicy prawn."

True or not, it is likely we will be sorry indeed for spreading our addictions world-wide, then doing a U turn about the rest of the world horning in at the same time we refuse to give up the addictions ourselves. Leaving addictions behind, at any scale, takes mutual courage and determination. But you are wrong, sarah: amoral pitching in is common sense, far beyond a statement or moral viewpoint. And starting with how your body works, what you are putting into it, and how and where that is produced puts first things first.