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Which gasoline should I buy?

treehugger.com — The Sierra Club has reviewed the environmental records of the eight largest U.S. oil companies and concluded...

Bury
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  • fpcyber, on 10/10/2007, -0/+38Direct link to the reasons; http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/pickyourpoison/
    • Sparkster185, on 10/10/2007, -0/+15That's what should be been submitted.
    • EBFoxbat, on 10/10/2007, -1/+16Idea for a new Digg feature: "Vote to replace submitted URL" let the users root out the blogspam for otherwise good articles.
    • spoiled1, on 10/10/2007, -6/+2Which? the one that is cheaper ... you moron
    • spoiled1, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1Which? The one that is most expensive ... NOT!!
    • rkiga, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4And direct answers for those of us who don't know which companies own which station brands:
      BEST: BP (ARCO), Sunoco
      WORST: ExxonMobil (Exxon, Mobil, Esso), ConocoPhillips (76, Conoco, Phillips 66)
    • swankboy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Or better yet buy brands only from the US and Canada. I could care less about "terror free" I'd just rather buy gasoline "local" to the US. And if you want to be nit-picky I'm buying closer to the source thus reducing transportation. I feel so "green" all of a sudden.

      http://www.terrorfreeoil.org/companies.php

      I started using Cenex gas near my house because I have a car that takes premium gasoline (minimum 93 octane) and at some point recently only 92 is offered at most gas stations. Cenex has 94 octane gas and I feel better that the gas is coming from North America.
  • delgotit99, on 10/10/2007, -11/+6BioDiesel.
    • ChromaVita, on 10/10/2007, -3/+19Really? Do you really feel that is the best fuel for me to put in my Gasoline powered automobile?
    • aliengoods, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10NO, that is wrong. When you're driving 2K miles per month, the correct answer is 'the cheapest one possible'.
      • rderveloy, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3Diesel cars get significantly more miles per gallon than gasoline cars. If you're really traveling that much in a single month, you might want to consider getting one of the new clean diesels as your next vehicle. Honda's new diesel is predicted to get over 60 MPG, but it's not expected to be in production until 2010.
        • norman619, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3VW has one that gets 50MPG now.
        • Chicken2nite, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1The diesel Smart4two gets 70 mpg, while the gas version gets 50 mpg.
          What's kinda funny, the gas version wasn't allowed in Canada because it didn't meet emission standards while the diesel was allowed, now the situation has reversed and the diesel version doesn't meet emission standards but the gas version does.
          I guess I'll be waiting for a couple more years for the leases to expire. If they're 16k new, used they would go for a nice price.
      • KLowD9x, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Remember, cheap gas is cheap for a reason.
        • Stratochief66, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3It's because they cut it with the bodies of poor people and baby seals.
  • otatop, on 10/10/2007, -2/+16Blogspam.
  • Light11, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2co-op
  • supyonamesjosh, on 10/10/2007, -13/+15Some of the comments at the bottom made me sick

    "There are other things to consider beside environmental bona fides. What's the company's track record in obstructing a sane US energy policy? How much has the company contributed to the Republican party? I personally like the notion that at least some of my gas money goes to redistrubution of wealth in Venezuela when I buy Citgo, so I make it a point to seek it out. The fact that Chavez, for all his well-documented faults, called George Bush a devil is just a bonus."

    • therightside, on 10/10/2007, -2/+9But didnt you know Bush is evil and all the dictators of the world are honest respectable people.
      • norman619, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5Plus remember Bush is the devil because Hugo Chavez said so.
    • RealHyperX, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3they will have re-education camps for the likes of you. move to moscow!
  • rderveloy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Cool! I usually get my gas from either BP or Shell since they are on my daily commute route. I would have to actively go out of the way to buy gas from any other station. Now I know which one to prefer when one is right across the street from the other.
    • djpants428, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0I've actually been using almost exclusively BP (amoco) for years, but not because I knew their environmental practices. My parents just gave me an Amoco card when I went away to college in 2001, even though I don't have it anymore, I still stop at BP out of habit.
  • swrostmore, on 10/10/2007, -7/+2Every corporation on this list, with the exception of Sunoco, is involved with Iraqi war profiteering through oil contracts.
    • RuffRidr, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5Really? Even Citgo? I can't imagine your hero Hugo Chavez doing that.

      /sarcasm
  • Error601, on 10/10/2007, -4/+17Trust me...no one gives a ***** which gasoline, or any other commodity, you buy. It all evens out due to market forces.
    • krnldmp, on 10/10/2007, -3/+0Unless the Market stops buying a particular gasoline? (and only a small percentage at that)
      • Error601, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2People by commodities almost purely on price. If someone isn't selling they're stock, they'll drop their price slightly and it will vanish.
    • Otto, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Agreed. Anybody who is considering digging this up doesn't know what a fungible commodity is.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungibility
  • bskerr88, on 10/10/2007, -4/+29whatever is cheapest
    • locnguyen, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5+1 for keeping it real
      • BrapAllgood, on 10/10/2007, -4/+0That isn't keeping it 'real'; it's keeping it personal. Yay you.
    • Providence, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1seriously. Around here BP is usually 15 to 20 cents more expensive than all the others.
      • TheTaoOfBill, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Actually the closest BP to me is 15 to 20 cents cheaper then most nearby gas stations. Problem is it's about 5 miles away and there is a mobil station not more than 3 blocks.
    • Error601, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1The one the cost more verse less at a particular point in time is a function of how long their contracts are. When the price goes up, places with longer contracts can hold on a bit. When it goes down, they have to keep their price up for a bit longer.
  • Emmo213, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3All these companies have more "Black Marks" then "Green Initiatives". They're still evil while trying to make money.
    • norman619, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3LOL!!! And if they decided to quit you'd be bitching then begg them to start back up. STFU. Oil is a resource we can't do w/o. Like all over things we need there are negatives we have to live with. Grow trhe hell up please?
      • TheTaoOfBill, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2That doesn't mean we shouldn't strive to look for energy sources with less negatives.
  • musters, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2In Canada, the best to get for quality gas are Petro Canada and Sunoco.
    • digitaloxygen, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Got proof or is that just an opinion?
  • wildfire, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Jet fuel...

    ...then I can drive in peace.
  • RandoTheKing, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10Horse *****.

    BP was just caught watering down their fuel in Cincinnati.
    • turpenine, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1They have had problems with that all over.
    • GlenLeafJr, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3How do you water down fuel?
      • zdiggler, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2having less octane
      • Burn, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3With Ethanol. So I guess you are more 'ethanoling' down the fuel.
      • Error601, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2Less octane would be less ethanol. So they're gasolining down their gasoline.


        • sys9five, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1No, ethanol has less energy then gasoline. Adding more ethanol reduces the octane rating.
        • anachronaut, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Adding ethanol to gasoline *raises* the octane rating. Ethanol's octane rating is over 110 (around 113 for pure ethanol).
        • Sdiggmatism, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Adding whatever the hell it is reduces gas mileage but the price stays the same. Octane doesn't make a dime's worth of difference. Gallons per mile does.

          Anyone with a mileage meter in their car knows who the bad gas stations are.
      • Sdiggmatism, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Gussie it up however you want Trebek. What matters is, does it work?

        I find that whatever they are adding reduces gas mileage and that's what makes the difference when the dollars are crossing the counter. High octane don't make a dime's worth of difference.
        • BrapAllgood, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0I worked in a Chevron run by a man who had owned several and been in the business for 35 years. He was the smartest and best boss I ever had, business-wise. He told me that octane ratings were a scam, as the law (at least in California) requires *all* vehicles to run at 87 octane.

          I was there the night they switched all the stickers from 92 octane to 91 octane on the pumps, too. Not a whiff of it in the news for weeks after, allowing prices to remain *exactly* the same. Then they went UP. Yep.

          Please wake up, people?
  • sdwilly, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1This is the list I use to decide what gas to use..

    http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html
  • krnldmp, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Any one that doesn't use Middle Eastern oil.
  • proliance, on 10/10/2007, -3/+5Any place but Citgo. Unless you want to fund the world's newest oppressive dictatorship.
  • orvtech, on 10/10/2007, -4/+10which ever you want, just stop buying gass coming from CITGO and Venezuela, stop supporting Hugo Chavez. he destroying my country (Venezuela) at warp speed. You can see some pictures to illustrate my comment in http://www.noolvidaremos.com/Fotos.html . if you want to prevent your troops being sent to Venezuela in the coming years thats a way to do it.

    PD: you can by extra hi flow catalizer to get your exhaust more green.
    • diggThomas, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Easy on Hugo Chavez, when Hilary gets in US prez office he'll look very conservative.
      • orvtech, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2humm.. i dont know how is hilary... but ( I do not intent to insult any one) i just hope he is not like Mr. Carter, that old man has doomed Venezuela to protect his businesses.
    • cquinnd, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2I think CITGO switched away from purchasing Venezula gasoline in 2006.
      • orvtech, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1No, CITGO is a Venezuelan company owned by the Venezuela Government (way before Chavez). from what i have understood it is the biggest company (since the have refineries, gas stations, etc...) in the US, and one of the biggest world wide
    • Kikokun, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3hey orvtech, I bet you must be rooting for Bush to carpet-bomb your country to rid it from that evil Hugo Chavez, eh?

      just like he liberated Iraq from Saddam and now they're soooooooooooo much better off. And then rape your country and appropiate all the Venezuelan oil, and give the profits to Bush's big oil cronies.

      MENUDO CIPOTE ERES, te sugiero que dones tu cerebro a una fabrica de comida para gatos, es el mejor partido que le vas a sacar.
    • canadiense, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1No doubt you're one of the 5% of Venezuelans who used to almost exclusively enjoy the profits from oil. Now Chavez is sharing the wealth and you're angry? Can't afford to keep the Land Cruiser on the road? My heart bleeds. Chavez is EXACTLY what South America needs - especially Venezuela. I took a look at your pictures as well ... my first trip to Venezuela was 1989 and back then there was a military roadblock every hour or so. You don't show those pictures ... nor do you show the pictures of the many pre-Chavez riots every time they even THOUGHT about raising the price of gasoline.

      I support Hugo Chavez.
  • thcobbs, on 10/10/2007, -6/+3Gotta love that one of their major black marks is not believing in Man-Made Global Warming. This only means that they are telling you which companies are best in line with their politics and really has not much reference to the good that they may or may not do for the environment.
    • norman619, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Exactly. It's perfect crap in other words. Let's just convert our cars to nuclear energy. I'm sure eveyone would love that!
      • djpants428, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Mr. Fusion would be great! I could run my car off of banana peels and empty beer cans! I could get drunk and eat bananas and be helping to save the world!
      • Stratochief66, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Why the duce not? Electric cars, fueled from nuclear electricity?
  • samdu, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2It's all expensive. Especially since my car requires premium. And it's not like ANY oil company is doing the environment any good on balance. So I buy the cheapest premium gas I can find.
  • CraigJ, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4I'll buy from which ever is closest, because driving out of the way to save a few cents or be environmentally friendly is wasting money and not being environmentally friendly. The exception is Citgo which is owned by the Hugo Chavez, er, Valenzuela. I won't buy Citgo gas regardless of price or availability.
    • anachronaut, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3It's Venezeula. And I don't drive that much, but I do make a point of buying all my gas at Citgo, assuming one's available nearby.

      It's obvious we can't expect our votes in the ballot box to count for a damn anymore no matter which way you lean, so I vote with my wallet whenever possible. Venezuela (in the form of Chavez) has repeatedly offered aid to the American poor and has correctly called Bush out for being the corrupt, evil scumbag that he is, so their gas company gets my vote.
  • bankhead, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2in response to "whatever is cheapest"
    http://www.automotive.com/gas-prices - Put in your zip code and this will tell you
  • sodypop77, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Get a bike and eat food for your fuel. The world will benefit and so will your health.
  • clickwir, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1Hmm, I've found that in my car, Mobil gets the best mileage.
  • PooPsnooP, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2From Wikipedia:

    "BP was named one of the "ten worst corporations" in both 2001 and 2006 based on its environmental and human rights records.[9][10] In 1991 BP was cited as the most polluting company in the US based on EPA toxic release data. Greenpeace International named BP one of Scotland's two largest polluters in 1992. Since branding itself an environmentally sound corporation in 1997, BP has been charged with burning polluted gases at its Ohio refinery (for which it was fined $1.7 million), and in in July 2000 BP paid a $10 million fine to the EPA for its management of it US refineries. [11]According to PIRG research, between January 1997 and March 1998, BP was responsible for 104 oil spills. [12] If one combines BP's own emissions with the emissions of the products it sells, then BP's emissions are greater than those of Central America, Canada or Britain."

    Hmmmm...
    • NonLeftistDiggr, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Dude, all it takes is flashy colors and a slogan to convince anyone at the Sierra club anything.

      If Al Gore said eating ***** was good for the environment, we wouldn't need as many waste treatment plants, but breath freshner sales would explode.
  • davidjunit, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1BOO. I should've known better but I was hoping this article actually analyzed the fuels and determined which burned the best. :(
    • 3tcp, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1It's pretty much all the same. It gets sent through the same pipelines, the only possible difference would be the additives the company puts in and things like the amount of silt in the fuel storage tanks.
  • bfeagan, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3A very nice article.

    TOO BAD THE LINK LEADS YOU TO SOME NO-NAME BLOG
    http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/pickyourpoison/
    http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/pickyourpoison/
    http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/pickyourpoison/
    http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/pickyourpoison/

    for the love of god
  • corradokid, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html
  • Stochio, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5BP #1, eh? I'd be nice if they stopped dumping Mercury in Lake Michigan.
  • ehalasey, on 10/10/2007, -4/+3How about not at all and putting your fat American ass on a bike?
    • eatmorgnome, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Ok, here's the deal. You bring a shovel and your bike to my house. You can then start riding your bike to where I work. The shovel is for me to clean your guts off the 15 miles of chaotic highway between my house and my job.
    • ArmandoM, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1It's comments like this that give the rest of us cyclists a bad reputation. I'm American, and I bike my fat American ass to work almost every day unless it's raining, but I don't try to push my transportation choice onto everyone else, because I don't want to act like an elitist prick.

      No wonder the people driving cars don't want to respect us and share the road.
      • BrapAllgood, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0I *love* sharing the road with bikes. Except on the PCH in Big Sur. Fools, they are.

        Of course, I have almost completely stopped cycling or driving, so I can talk easy. :)
  • CaviMike, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2This must be why my check-engine light comes on and starts puffing black smoke whenever I put Sunoco gas in my car. Buried as inaccurate.
  • uselessexpert, on 10/10/2007, -5/+5Citgo = Venezuela
    Venezuela = Hugo Chavez

    I don't support communist pricks! ***** CITGO!
    • orvtech, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Thanks
    • Kikokun, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3clearly you have ***** for brains.
      VIVA HUGO!!!!!!
    • happytron, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1In reality, affluence is probably the most potent enemy of communism. If you don't buy Citgo, they'll just be even poorer and its clear that forty years of sanctions with Cuba haven't helped anyone.
  • drmsucks, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Buy the one without ethanol, if you can find it. More BTU's, 10% better gasoline mileage.
    • QuantumLo0p, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1You got it! Also, I watch for what is foreign or domestic.

      KILL ETHANOL NOW!!!
      • drmsucks, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Ethanol = a feel good "solution" without substance and with bad economics.
      • 3tcp, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1foreign or domestic doesn't matter because as a commodity the only factors keeping prices different in one place and another is the cost to move it. The market acts this way but all governments have a hand in taxing, subsidizing and regulating it enough to change it from the base commodity price that is payed for it from producers.
  • gobispinster, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0um...i dont know about shell's gas though...they've basically caused hell in Nigeria, infact there used to be massive boycotts directed at shell gas.
    this is what came up when i googled "shell+Ogoni"
    http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=shell+ogoni&meta=
  • NonLeftistDiggr, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3Well clearly I need to start buying Exxon or ConocoPhillips, because the Sierra club is a front group for politics over science.

    These are the same type of buttholes who asked for and supported MTBE additive in CA before retracting when it polluted our ground water. These are the same type of dumbasses who will burn a car to make a statement and release more pollution through that then the car will through the entire cycle of its operational life.

    BP has a few commercials with a green looking flower saying they care about global warming, it doesn't matter how many plants they blow up through poor maintenance, the commercials obviously work on the human sheep.

    I can't believe I got dupped into going to a site called treehugger, I'm going to take a shower and read something about physics to make up for it.
    • BrapAllgood, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1I had a scientist walk into the station I was working at and furiously tell me that they were going to be adding "this ***** called MTBE" to gasoline and it poisons the groundwater. He said it was criminal and wanted me to complain to my bosses (a lizard bunch, if ever there was). He said that it was all ***** politics and that when the truth came out, they would HAVE to remove it. Problem is, they knew the truth before adding it.

      Two weeks later, flunkies arrived with sheets of stickers to adorn the pumps and the raping began. It was 1995 or 1996 when I started waiting for "the *****" to be taken back out of the gas.

      Agreed, The Sierra Club is a bunch of evil pockets being lined.
  • fani, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I religiously avoid Exxon-Mobil. Those bastards.
    In my area in Livingston, NJ, current gas prices are $2.71/gal. Those Exxon bastards charge $3.09/gal !!! WTF !!
    And they're only about 0.75 miles from this place !!!!
    Also, they're making record profits and their CEOs/top brass are minting money. But they won't do anything towards the env. or even giving people a break from high gas prices. ***** Exxon
  • Kikokun, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Civilization must have sink to a new low when BP comes at the top of a "responsible corporations" list.

    In BC Canada I usually stick to Husky stations, Co-op, Petrocanada and the one with the First-Nations logo, I guess just because they're not Chevron or Exxon.
    Does anybody know if this canadian companies actually have a goo- ahem - a not-so-bad corporate record?
  • kai05yang, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Top of the Barrel
    * ExxonMobil
    * ConocoPhillips

    Middle of the Barrel
    * Royal Dutch Shell
    * Chevron
    * Valero Energy Corporation
    * Citgo

    Bottom of the Barrel
    * BP
    * Sunoco
    • chronusmcgee, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Many of these stations get their petrol from the nearest refinery, and are rarely branded until they arrive at the station. In other words, petrol is petrol, as long as it is clean and doesn't have a bunch of additives that contribute to pollution and eat away at your pocketbook. While detergent in your cylinders would seem to make sense in destroying grime and sludge, the reality is, it does nothing but make you feel happy you are taking care of your engine, truth be told, you are likely causing damage to your fuel filter and exhaust system.

      The same feature of detergents that make them useful for digesting grease, make them dangerous and useless when heated in a combustion chamber. The detergent found in a certain leading brand of petrol, is nothing but dish soap. When detergent is heated above 230 degrees, it decomposes into several aromatic compounds related to benzene. They are poisonous and are not generally further degraded by a catalytic converter, nor do they cause the residue inside the cylinder to dissolve, since detergents only operate when the base fluid they are dissolved in is still a liquid.

      If you spend money assuming that a fuel is better due to octane level or some additive that will actually reduce energy per liter, then you are wasting money and making somebody else richer in the process.
      • BrapAllgood, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0CLAPCLAPCLAPCLAP!

        Nice. Very well stated.
  • Treoinmypocket, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2I find it laughable that while there is a lot of finger-pointing at Exxon for Human Rights Violations (unspecified) there is no fingering of Citco. Its owned by Hugo Chavez for Pete's sake. Add the comments about I like that CITCO is redistributing wealth...and you have a seriously warped set of sensibilities here.
  • chronusmcgee, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Just buy regular petrol. The higher octane fuels are for engines with higher compression and thus higher knock probabilities. Most engines these days are designed to operate optimally on regular petrol. If it is a hemi, never use high octane petrol since it will almost never knock due to the optimal shape of the cylinder heads.

    My father in-law is a chemist, and always buys the cheapest petrol on the market. One thing you may want to invest in though, is a decent fuel filter.
    • BrapAllgood, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0When I worked for Chevron, my boss (35 years in the business before retiring recently) there always put regular in his vehicles. He owned the station and wrote off every last cent of the gas he used...but swore that the higher octanes were a complete waste on your average automobile. Fart smucker, Jim was.
  • Ebacherville, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0gasoline is so 21st century, biofuels.. thats the shiznit now, a few cents per gallon of fuel and a few hundred bucks to modify you vehicles.. The descision for me is am I hungry for somthing or thursty .. becuase thats the only reason i go to a gas station any more.. becuase i have my very own biofuel station at my home. Got to love being educated and smarter than the average sheeple.. this has been around for decades.. nothing new or breaking here, just simple proven technology thats older than most people on digg.
  • caponumen, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1How did pure baby seal blubber miss the list?
    Plus it makes a nice dressing in a pinch.

    BTW
    Good job CASH HUGGERS for turning your alarmist site into cold hard millions......
  • pevensen, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I believe this is all pointless. Just because you go to a BP station doesn't mean you will get BP gas:

    see the last part of: http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/saudigas.asp

    "Moreover, the idea that oil companies sell gasoline only through their branded service stations, and therefore if you don't buy gasoline from Shell-branded gas stations you're not sending money to Shell (or, by extension, the Middle East), is wrong. Oil companies sell their output through a variety of outlets other than their branded stations; as well, by the time crude oil gets from the ground into our gasoline tanks, there's no practical way for consumers to know exactly where it came from."
  • truckerdog, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0My favorite take on this one is at http://www.endoil.org/node/313. EndOil is my new favorite site, just in case anyone cares.
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