To My British Friends.

So here's the thing.
BP. It's BRITISH Petroleum.
I've made the mistake of reading the darn comments on some pages illustrating the horrors of the Gulf oil spill clusterf*ck catastrophe and have read lots of comments implying that we're blaming the British.
Let me reassure you, we're not. Well, the rational people aren't.
The rational people are blaming the greed and hubris of corporations, in this case BP, but recognizing that Exxon or any other oil company could have just as easily created this problem, which the rational people also recognize has happened elsewhere without nearly as much media attention.  The rational people blame the notion that because one has been generally successful with their drilling that they don't need to have effective plans for solutions for when something goes wrong.  The rational people recognize that things do go wrong and pretending that they won't is irresponsible.  The rational people are angry at corporations which take great risks with the health and welfare of the planet without contingency plans and at the governments which let them get by with it.
So yes, we're angry.  We're angry with British Petroleum, but only the ignorant are actually angry with the British.

Here's the other thing rational people are doing.  They're not boycotting BP, because that's just hurting small business owners, or if they are they're hopefully taking the meaningful step.
The rational people are reducing their oil consumption.
They're walking when it's reasonable instead of gassing up the SUV to make the quick library run.
They're running all their errands at once and in a fuel conserving order so as to not make extra trips.
They're buying more locally produced foods and other items which have therefore not been shipped so far.
They're car pooling.
They're not driving for the sake of driving.
They're simply thinking before getting in their car or choosing to use public transportation.

Why? Because by using less fuel one can reduce the demand, and by reducing demand one reduces the pressure from corporations to pressure drill teams and rig operators to cut corners and take risks with global risks.

So to my British friends- still love ya, just won't be car tripping this summer.