TrueMajority Says: Support Citgo!
I’ve been doing this irregularly for a while now (though I also buy gas at Stewarts because they support local businesses, have good hiring policies, and treat their workers well), but now TrueMajority is officially calling for Americans to boycott ExxonMobil, Shell, Gulf, and all the rest, and to drive up to Citgo, the only major United States gas company pumping oil mined in a country with a democratically elected leader.
Not coincidentally, that leader is Hugo Chavez, the man locked in a perpetual war of words with the United States government that sometimes extends beyond words (like when the United States supported a failed coup to depose Chavez, or when Chavez circumvented the United States government and made deals with liberal Northeastern states to supply cheap heating oil to non-profits and poor residents).
With the slogal “Support Democracy, not the Middle East,” TrueMajority is framing the boycott as a measure to support democratically elected governments. Of course, this is really about turning the pro-democracy rhetoric that has anchored Bush’s foreign policy against the administration by harnessing it to support Chavez.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that. In fact, I think it’s a great idea, and I think it’s fantastic that Chavez, through his tactical maneuvers against the United States, is managing to help low-income homes from the Bronx to Boston to Providence to Burlington stay heated this winter.
Of the top oil producing countries in the world, only one is a democracy with a president who was elected on a platform of using his nation’s oil revenue to benefit the poor. The money you pay to Citgo goes primarily to Venezuela — not Saudi Arabia or the Middle East.
“Citgo is not just another oil company,” says Citgo CEO Felix Rodriguez. “With Venezuela’s state oil company, of which we are a subsidiary, we share a broad social mission.” So buy Citgo gasoline and support democracy in South America:
Find the Citgo station closest to your home address
And this winter Citgo is helping out less fortunate Americans, too.
You already may have seen the headlines about how Citgo, unlike every other oil company in the U.S., is making cut-rate heating oil available to struggling families in the Northeast. The Energy Department predicts a nearly 26 percent jump in heating costs this winter compared with last year, and despite a year of record oil company profits, the country’s heating oil assistance fund is falling behind.
Citgo has stepped in to help out. They’re selling heating oil at discounted rates to poorer communities in Massachusetts and the Bronx, NY, and working on deals to keep low-income homes in Rhode Island and Vermont warm, too.
So while you’re out on the road this month, you can help some fellow Americans by filling your tank with Venezuelan gas. Here’s a link to find the nearest one of the 14,000 Citgo gas stations in the U.S.:
Find the Citgo station closest to your home address
Naturally, if you can get where you’re going without a car, do so. And we’ll continue to work for a country with more renewable energy options. But in the meantime, help your Northeast neighbors by supporting Citgo when you drive.
Find the Citgo station closest to your home address
Thanks for all that you do,
Matt Holland
TrueMajorityACTION