Where to gas up in the post-BP era

In many of the stories I have written about how awful oil companies are, Citgo, BP and Arco (owned by BP) have been the ones I considered better than the rest, even though none of them are great. Needless to say the irresponsibility and probably criminal negligence of BP leads me to take BP and Arco off my recommended list and add them to the boycott list. Now of course let me say that people need to gas up. But let's face it, it is hard to find an oil company worth patronizing.

So let me recommend a couple of things. First off, on the West Coast there is Conserv Fuel which, as far as I can tell, is as good as you're going to get. They are independent, offer, from what I remember, reasonably priced gasoline, AND also offer a range of alternative fuels like biodiesel, ethanol, etc. I understand that they have changed management since I used them, but still maintain some of the same alternative energy options and remain a better option for fueling. Here are the locations I find for Conserv Fuel: (there used to be more I think)

11699 West San Vicente Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90049-5105
(310) 571-0039

254 Santa Rosa Street
San Luis Obispo, CA 93405-2434
(805) 784-0700

I recommend going out of your way to use these stations if you can. Perhaps they are the ones I can most recommend.

I also recommend Citgo. They are linked to the Venezuelan government, but honestly I prefer that to the Saudi, Kuwaiti, or Iranian government. They tend to be more reasonably priced (I suspect the fact that it would cost less to transport fuel from Venezuela than from the Middle East) and they are not linked with any major environmental disasters like Chevron, Exxon/Mobil and BP are. In a list of bad choices, Citgo remains better than most. Also it should be noted that Venezuela only owns a 50% share in Citgo, the rest remaining American owned. And remember, Citgo provides free heating fuel to poor Americans in parts of the country, something no other oil company does. Citgo is mainly on the Eastern half of the country. Go here to find a Citgo station near you.

For diesel engines there is biodiesel, which is cleaner in all ways than petrodiesel. Newer diesel engines can use up to 100% biodiesel (B99 or B100) while old diesel engines can use up to 20% biodiesel (B20) without problems. Old engines have gaskets that will wear faster with higher than B20, but those gaskets can be replaced with ones that can stand up to 100% biodiesel. Engines get less gunked up from biodiesel as well. Most biodiesel is made locally, creating local jobs. Biodiesel stations can be found all over the country. You can find your closest stations by clicking on the map at this site.

Beyond that, it is hard for me to recommend fueling stations. I have as yet heard little outright bad about Sunoco. Given that I know specifically bad things about Chevron (ties to repressive regimes, responsible for many deaths in Nigeria and for ecological disasters around the world), Exxon/Mobil (more ecological disasters from Valdez on), Shell (ties to awful governments world wide), and now BP, the relative quiet regarding bad things about Sunoco sounds promising. You can find a Sunoco station by clicking here.

That is my take. Here is a website that has a similar but slightly different view. They don't include my Conserv Fuel and biodiesel options. They have BP high up like I used to but this is before the latest disaster, so I suspect they will revise that eventually. They agree with me that Exxon/Mobil is rock bottom and Sunoco is probably as good as you will get. They put Citgo lower than I do, but I still prefer Citgo personally. But between my suggestions and theirs, you can now make some personal choices on where you want your gas money to go.