Date:         Thu, 9 Nov 1995 17:00:07 -0800
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         wabbott@megatest.com (William Abbott)
Subject:      Demand

	Steve Maher writes:

"An easy trap to fall into, Dave. As I recall, there have been lotsa
tanker spills over the years. I don't recall all the companies involved,
besides Exxon at Pr. William Sound of course. But I'd be surprised if
Exxon was the only one that ever spilled oil and messed up a shoreline.
Wasn't there once a big spill (more than one?) off the Santa Barbara
coast, involving a tanker, an oil platform, or a combination of the two?"

	Steve, it was a leaking well, but you've got it backward- 
Exxon guesses that we want cheap gas and builds cheap tankers and employs 
drunks to command 'em. As good capitalists, David and I, and others, 
decline to do business with Exxon now and forever more. Maybe Exxon goes 
out of business, maybe not, but we vote with our wallets. It is, after all, 
our money. You ALWAYS have a choice when you're spending your money.

	Shell, by contrast, doesn't use oil from the North Slope
of Alaska and has publicly stated that whether or not there is oil
in the Alaska Wildlife Refuge, they don't want any of it. They also
do a pretty thorough job cleaning up their spills. So I buy their
gas. 

	The Exxon Valdez spill is several times smaller than what is
apparently poured into holes in the ground every year in California, but
as spills go, it was still a pretty big one. A real accomplishment.


	Bill