Boycotts of Exxon Products Pushed in Wake of Disastrous Alaskan Oil Spill

A Connecticut lawmaker is urging consumers to boycott Exxon products May 2 to protest the Alaska oil spill, and other environmentalists are urging their own protests.

“Many people are outraged and frustrated over this incident,” state Sen. Michael Meotti said Thursday. “This is an opportunity for everyone, as consumers in the free marketplace, to make a point to Exxon.”

In Erie, Pa., a couple are trying to organize an ongoing boycott. And in Florida, marine biologist Jack Rudlow had a more direct way of making his point. He packed his Exxon credit cards in an oil-filled plastic bag Thursday and mailed them to the company.

Rudloe, an author and environmental activist from Panacea, Fla., said he hoped others would join his protest.

“It makes a very interesting package to see this Exxon card swilling around in black oil, and I think it gets the point across,” he said. “They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and this beats all the rhetoric.”

The protests come two weeks after the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Alaska’s Prince William Sound, disgorging 10.1 million gallons of crude oil. Alaska officials, who are angry with Exxon’s handling of the cleanup, said recently that less than 4% of the oil has been recovered.

In Erie, Mary Machuga, 34, said she and her husband, Mike, 38, began campaigning for a boycott this week out of frustration and have been getting messages of support.