'Terror-Free' Gas Coming to a Pump Near You

[eric&gen 0]

Jan. 29) -- How far would you drive for a gallon of "terror-free" gas?

Consumers in Omaha, Neb. will be able to answer that question soon as the nation's first "terror-free" gas station is scheduled to open there on February 1.

The Terror-Free Oil Initiative, a group that says it is dedicated to encouraging Americans to buy gasoline that originated from countries that do not export or finance terrorism, is the driving force behind the idea.

"We felt like every time we filled at the pumps we were sending our money to a part of the world that wanted our destruction," said Joe Kaufman, Terror-Free Oil Initiative spokesman and chairman of the watchdog group, Americans Against Hate. "We felt like sending a message to gas companies that purchase crude oil from the Middle East that we are sick and tired of financing our own demise. We would like to avert the next 9/11."

The Terror-Free Oil Initiative says that big oil companies, like Exxon Mobil, Gulf and Shell, finance terrorism by importing oil from the Middle East. The "terror-free" gas station, on the other hand, will get its gas from a Salt Lake City-based oil company, Sinclair Oil Corp. Sinclair gets the bulk of its oil from sources in Canada and the United States.

How Do You Prove That Oil Is 'Terror-Free'?

Consumers across the country seem intrigued by the idea. Kaufman said his group has been "overwhelmed by the response."

Douglas Schmidt, of Ashland, Mass. runs a dry cleaning business and regularly buys gas for three company vehicles.

"I refuse to buy from Exxon Mobil right now," he said. "I buy from Hess. It's less expensive for one, but also it's a domestic company and that's important to me. I think it's a good idea."

Sean Fielding, another Ashland resident, was more skeptical as he filled up his Honda.

"I wouldn't believe it's terror-free. How can you prove that?" he said.

Good question. Sinclair company officials admit that some of their oil comes from the New York Mercantile Exchange -- and that means it could be sourced from Middle Eastern countries. Kaufman concedes that because oil is a "fungible" commodity, it's "hard to confirm exactly where it comes from. To tell you the truth most companies cannot guarantee that."

Nevertheless, soon "terror-free" gas stations may be popping up all over the country.

"We have investors that have gotten together to purchase these stations," Kaufman said. "We're in negotiations to open them up all over the country."

A Small Part in the War on Terror

Kaufman declined to identify the Terror-Free Oil Initiative's investors or disclose the source of their funds.

In addition to offering terror -super, premium and regular gas, consumers will be able to pick up counter terrorism pamphlets, books and bumper stickers next to the Slim Jims at the checkout counter.

"We're not looking to compete with gas stations," Kaufman said. "We understand that when you know the economics of the matter, we're not going to make a dent in the oil market. What we're trying to do is send a message and also tell the American public they can do a small part to fight terrorism."

Others would argue that the real way to tackle the problem is to reduce America's dependence on oil altogether.

"As long as we're dependent on oil, we'll be dependent on Middle East Oil," said David Willett, spokesman for the Sierra Club, the United States' oldest grassroots environmental organization.

That's a point the Terror-Free Oil Initiative says it's more than happy to address.

"We would love to promote alternative sources of fuel," Kaufman said. "We know that in 10-20 years the vast majority or refineries are going to be in the Middle East so we want to see an end to oil dependence altogether,"

For his part, President Bush voiced the theme of energy independence in last week's State of the Union address but the White House refused to comment on the specifics of a "terror-free" gas initiative.

For now, however, the people most concerned about this initiative would seem to be its local competition.

The manager at the local QuikTrip on Q Street in Omaha, declined to comment "on the advice of my bosses." But Al at Bucky's Express just down the road from the terror-free gas station speculated that customers may not be as concerned about the source of their gas as you might think.

"It's kind of up in the air," he said. "I don't know if they're going to play hardball or not. The bottom line is that customers just want to get in and out fast. They only care about two things -- price and service."

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Anything to keep money out of the savages hands. Maybe there will be one less mortar strike on a girls school. I can only dream.

[peejay 327]

On the surface it seems like a good idea and makes people feel good, but it really doesn't accomplish much. It is more marketing hype than substance. The fact is that the oil market is one big pool of oil and the price of oil is determined by supply and demand on the world market. It doesn't matter whether the actual gasoline you burn comes from Iran or Canada...burning mega-gallons of gasoline in your 10 mpg Hummer feeds the world market demand. The good old USA is the biggest importer of oil in the world (by a huge margin). We import 60% of our oil to the tune of 12 million barrels per day. As such, we are a major player in driving up the price of oil and putting more $$$ in the coffers of the petro-terrorist thugs that are used to finance our destruction. Not to mention the military costs to secure and protect our access to this vital supply of cheap, plentiful foreign oil. This petro-diplomacy often puts us on shaky moral and military footing to ensure we have enough cheap, plentiful oil to keep our county alive. Talk about shooting ourselves in the foot and feeding the hand that bites us! It is madness and national security suicide.

Reducing overall USA oil consumption and reducing imports signifigantly through mandated government energy policy would do more than anything to keep our military and our $$$ at home. Anybody that believes we can drill our way out of foreign oil dependency is delusional. We must reduce consumption as a major component in energy policy.

Or blood for oil will continue to be in our future.

[Portlander 0]

Thats right - it is merely hype. Instead, go local... biofuels. They work, they are practical, and 100% of the $$ stays local. Direct farmer coops, or even make it yourself with DIY kits. With biofuels there are ZERO greenhouse gasses, too (all emissions were taken put of the atmosphere as the plant grew)

I'm running an '84 Mercedes biodiesel. I can fill up with petroleum diesel in a pinch with no ill effects... its essentially the same stuff. Only the plants petroleum comes from died 100 million years ago. The first diesel engine was designed to run biodiesel. The chem companies were able to convince peope to go with petrol instread.

Best thing? NO WAR REQUIRED

[William33 110]

What a load of #######.

Have some "freedom Fries" with that gas.

These people need to get a life.

[homesick_american 1]

Thats right - it is merely hype. Instead, go local... biofuels. They work, they are practical, and 100% of the $$ stays local. Direct farmer coops, or even make it yourself with DIY kits. With biofuels there are ZERO greenhouse gasses, too (all emissions were taken put of the atmosphere as the plant grew)

I'm running an '84 Mercedes biodiesel. I can fill up with petroleum diesel in a pinch with no ill effects... its essentially the same stuff. Only the plants petroleum comes from died 100 million years ago. The first diesel engine was designed to run biodiesel. The chem companies were able to convince peope to go with petrol instread.

Best thing? NO WAR REQUIRED

That's fine for some, but there is not enough land on earth to grow the crops to make enough biodiesel to run all the cars, even if they all had diesel engines (which they don't). I don't hold out a lot of hope for biofuels for this reason. I hope I'm proven wrong, but I fear I won't be.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

What a load of #######.

Have some "freedom Fries" with that gas.

These people need to get a life.

Agreed. There's always someone with a dumb idea.

[DeadPoolX 9]

What a load of #######.

Have some "freedom Fries" with that gas.

These people need to get a life.

Agreed. There's always someone with a dumb idea.

Oh, I don't know... I thought Freedom Fries were great! I hadn't had a laugh like that in ages!

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

What a load of #######.

Have some "freedom Fries" with that gas.

These people need to get a life.

Agreed. There's always someone with a dumb idea.

Oh, I don't know... I thought Freedom Fries were great! I hadn't had a laugh like that in ages!

I'm sure the French were mortified that a few "principled" people stopped buying products named after their country

A few cafes still have that - I went to a road-side cafe for breakfast once on the way back from Ontario airport and they still listed them that way on the menu (this was in 2005).

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Thats right - it is merely hype. Instead, go local... biofuels. They work, they are practical, and 100% of the $$ stays local. Direct farmer coops, or even make it yourself with DIY kits. With biofuels there are ZERO greenhouse gasses, too (all emissions were taken put of the atmosphere as the plant grew)

I'm running an '84 Mercedes biodiesel. I can fill up with petroleum diesel in a pinch with no ill effects... its essentially the same stuff. Only the plants petroleum comes from died 100 million years ago. The first diesel engine was designed to run biodiesel. The chem companies were able to convince peope to go with petrol instread.

Best thing? NO WAR REQUIRED

bio-diesel, nice!!!! Those mercedes diesels run forever too......

[Otto 83]

What a load of #######.

Have some "freedom Fries" with that gas.

These people need to get a life.

Agreed. There's always someone with a dumb idea.

Oh, I don't know... I thought Freedom Fries were great! I hadn't had a laugh like that in ages!

Freedom Fries

Freedom Toast

Freedom Onion Soup

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I never understood why they chose "freedom". Why not "American"?

[DeadPoolX 9]

I never understood why they chose "freedom". Why not "American"?

I'm not exactly sure either. But it's been done before. I believe something similar was done to certain foods during both world wars.

[Robor007 0]

On the surface it seems like a good idea and makes people feel good, but it really doesn't accomplish much. It is more marketing hype than substance. The fact is that the oil market is one big pool of oil and the price of oil is determined by supply and demand on the world market. It doesn't matter whether the actual gasoline you burn comes from Iran or Canada...burning mega-gallons of gasoline in your 10 mpg Hummer feeds the world market demand. The good old USA is the biggest importer of oil in the world (by a huge margin). We import 60% of our oil to the tune of 12 million barrels per day. As such, we are a major player in driving up the price of oil and putting more $$$ in the coffers of the petro-terrorist thugs that are used to finance our destruction. Not to mention the military costs to secure and protect our access to this vital supply of cheap, plentiful foreign oil. This petro-diplomacy often puts us on shaky moral and military footing to ensure we have enough cheap, plentiful oil to keep our county alive. Talk about shooting ourselves in the foot and feeding the hand that bites us! It is madness and national security suicide.

Reducing overall USA oil consumption and reducing imports signifigantly through mandated government energy policy would do more than anything to keep our military and our $$$ at home. Anybody that believes we can drill our way out of foreign oil dependency is delusional. We must reduce consumption as a major component in energy policy.

Or blood for oil will continue to be in our future.

Great post. I was going to reply in similar fashion but you already did it and did a better job than I would have done.

[almaty 19]

I never understood why they chose "freedom". Why not "American"?

certainly was wrong..i see our country is less free these days