Swans. And Oil Companies.

There's a swan nest in a little pond by our house.

(Link goes to Flickr Album)

And on a completely unrelated note, I've had a lot of guilt recently for the car I drive, (a big ass gas guzzling, loaded, dirty, Jeep Grand Cherokee). It feels wrong for me, and it drinks gasoline and produces who knows how much greenhouse gas emissions. And I have to know that MY money is going to sponsor oil corporations of unknown ethics and corporate policies. To know that I am contributing to the pillage of our environment, polluting the air, and promoting human right's abuses in foreign countries. Let's not talk about the disastrous consequences on U.S. foreign policy. AND I won't even mention the baby seals and waterfowl. But in many ways, it's totally impractical for me to not drive. As much as I hate to admit it, I have become quite dependent on having a car and being able to drive to wherever I choose to go.
I need to drive to classes, to work, friend's houses, to go shopping, librarying, and out for fun. If I had a hybrid I would feel much better.

Instead, I have a few guidelines which I'll follow when buying gas, and I recommend these to you too as an easy, no opportunity cost, way to do a little good in the world. Vote with your dollar's right?

-Rule 1. Boycott Exxon-Mobil.
They might be, hands down, the WORST corporation in the world. Never buy from them ever again. After just a brief look at what this company is responsible for, I think I would let my car run out of gas and then walk 10 miles for another gas station before buying from Exxon-Mobil.

A brief summary.
They have sponsored human rights abuses in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Where government forces under the employ of the company committed rape, torture, and murder of native citizens. In Angola, they are responsible for arms smuggling into the country in exchange for oil contracts. Bribery seems to be almost a standard business practice for Exxon in foreign countries.
As to the environment, they are responsible for the catastrophic 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, and are now refusing to pay cleanup damages. They lobbied for drilling in ANWR, and are the single corporation in Washington that still lobbies against the existence of Global Warming. ExxonMobil has the worst emissions standards in the industry, and individually are responsible for FIVE PERCENT of ALL global greenhouse gas emissions.
ExxonMobil discriminates in employment based on sexuality, and are responsible for chemical spills ranging from New York to California to Kazakhstan.

DON'T BUY FROM EXXONMOBIL.
If you really want to get involved, check out this site. I've been toying with the idea of doing something meaningful with the rest of my time before college. Maybe picket an Exxon gas station?

-Rule 2. Buy From Good Companies.
While no oil company is a saint, Sunoco is probably the best, followed by BP (it's stations are also branded under Amoco). Sunoco is about as clean as an oil company gets. BP on the other hand is more of a mixed bag. They have an extensive list of abuses and environmental sins, but they also have an extensive list of examples of trying to be more corporately responsible.
The list, from best to worst.

1. Sunoco
2. BP (Amoco)
3. Marathon
4. Citgo
5. Valero
6. Amerada Hess
7. Total
8. Shell
9. Chevron Texaco (Standard)
10. Conoco-Phillips (Union 76, Unocal)
11. ExxonMobil

Here is an excellent analysis and ranking of oil companies, which is actually where I stole most of my data from.

Actually, those are pretty much the only guidelines. But everybody will have a different threshold on how much further they're willing to drive for a better company, or how much of a price difference they're willing to pay. But I hope that, at a minimum, if there are two gas stations across the street from one another and the prices are the same, you will buy gas from the better company.