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Public Citizen Urges Boycott of BP
BP Should Know That Its Irresponsibility Is Unacceptable; More Than 5,000 Have Already Signed Petition
WASHINGTON
If you drive a car, boycott BP.
That's what Public Citizen is calling on the public to do in the
wake of an April 20 explosion on a BP-leased rig that is causing
210,000 gallons of oil to gush into the Gulf of Mexico every day.
Already, more than 5,000 people have signed to Take the Beyond BP
Pledge at https://www.citizen.org/boycott-bp.
"Eleven oil workers are dead. One of the largest oil spills in U.S.
history continues to worsen. Yet BP continues to doubletalk on its
responsibility and its liability," said Robert Weissman, Public
Citizen's president. "BP must pay. A consumer boycott will deliver that
message and give people a way to act on their anger. We are urging
people to send a clear message to BP that its shoddy oversight of this
project and its history of environmental and worker safety violations
is unforgivable."
The pledge asks people to boycott BP gas for three months. Public
Citizen has also launched a Facebook group, "1,000,000 Strong to
Boycott BP."
"BP made a conscious decision not to install a $500,000 safety
device that could have prevented the Gulf disaster," said Tyson Slocum,
director of Public Citizen's Energy Program. "A company that made $14
billion in profits in 2009 - a bad year - refused to spend a fraction
of a percent of its profits to safeguard against what is fast becoming
the worst oil spill of all time. The sheer greed at the expense of
safety and the environment is mind-boggling."
BP has one of the worst environmental and safety records of any oil
company operating in the U.S. BP has pleaded guilty in just the last
few years to two crimes and paid more than $730 million in fines,
penalties and settlements for environmental crimes, willful disregard
for workplace safety and energy market manipulation. (See https://publiccitizenenergy.org/2010/05/05/cost-of-doing-business-bps-550-million-in-fines-2-criminal-convictions/ for details.)
"There are other places to buy gas," Weissman said. "While no oil
company is a stellar corporate citizen, BP is a particularly bad and
irresponsible actor. We want the company to feel the extent of the
public's wrath."
Added Slocum, "the BP disaster highlights the need to stop offshore
drilling expansion and end our national addition to oil. It also
emphasizes how crucial it is to hold Big Oil accountable. The BP
boycott is a way to start."
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power. We defend democracy, resist corporate power and work to ensure that government works for the people - not for big corporations. Founded in 1971, we now have 500,000 members and supporters throughout the country.
(202) 588-1000LATEST NEWS
Rallying With Sanders, Platner Condemns 'Corrupt Politicians and the Corporations That Bought Them'
"We will defeat the oligarchy and the political system that it maintains," said Graham Platner. "The politics of Susan Collins."
May 25, 2026
US Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday rallied in Orono, Maine with progressive Senate candidate Graham Platner, who called for transformative political change to reclaim the wealth that has been "stolen by corrupt politicians and the corporations that bought them."
Platner, who effectively locked up the Maine's US Senate Democratic primary after Gov. Janet Mills exited the race last month, placed five-term incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins among the corrupt lawmakers who have sold out workers and advanced the interests of the billionaire class, which is shelling out millions to protect Collins' seat.
"We will not just fight the oligarchy," Platner told an audience of 1,400 gathered at the University of Maine, the location of the 40th stop of Sanders' (I-Vt.) nationwide "Fighting Oligarchy" tour. "We will defeat the oligarchy and the political system that it maintains... The politics of Susan Collins. A politics that turns politicians into millionaires but tells you to be grateful for crumbs. It is a lie."
Platner declared that "we need a political revolution," something he said Sanders "has been fighting for for 60 years."
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Watch the full rally:
Sanders, who became the first US senator to endorse Platner last August when he was widely seen as a long shot to win the Democratic nomination, said that "what we're talking about"—from Medicare for All to a living wage to union rights for all workers—"is not radical."
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Sunday's "Fight Oligarchy" rally came days after a survey showed Platner leading Collins—who has held her seat for nearly three decades—by seven percentage points among likely voters, who appear unfazed by an intensifying wave of attacks on Platner from pro-Collins super PACs and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
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"He’s the Jim Cramer of Iran war predictions," said one critic.
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Conservative commentator Dave Rubin, who for months has been a top booster of President Donald Trump's illegal war with Iran, was inundated with mockery on Sunday after a viral video exposed months' worth of his failed predictions about the conflict.
The video, which was posted on social media Saturday, begins with Rubin telling viewers to not listen to any of the prognostications being made by critics of the war, which Trump launched in late February without any authorization from Congress.
"I'm pretty good with predictions," Rubin says. "And my prediction here is that everything the media is now going to say about Iran—it's going to close the Strait of Hormuz, and energy prices are going to go crazy—none of this is going to come to pass."
Iran war: greatest hits from the last 12 weeks pic.twitter.com/9pgXyvmsgF
— Dave Rubin Clips II (Parody) - Retired Jan.20/2025 (@DaveClips) May 24, 2026
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The video compilation of Rubin's failed predictions drew immediate ridicule from critics.
"He’s the Jim Cramer of Iran war predictions," joked Krystal Ball.
Commentator Adam Mockler wrote of Rubin that "it’s brutal watching him make failed predictions week after week."
Journalist Glenn Greenwald argued that the video should be the last nail in the coffin of whatever credibility Rubin had left.
"Imagine having sat through and listened to all of this Israeli propaganda, which turned out to be (predictably and completely) false," commented Greenwald, "and then thinking there was some value in continuing to listen to this person."
The Bulwark's Tim Miller said that while he knew Rubin was "a smooth-brained hack," he still "couldn’t even fathom how bad these war takes would be."
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A Sunday report in The New York Times revealed how the Trump administration is using a key government agency to shut down any efforts to regulate online betting markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket.
According to the Times, the administration has stacked the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) with industry insiders who have systematically "mowed down" staffers at the agency who have expressed interest in providing oversight on prediction markets.
Among other things, the report documented how multiple officials at CTFC have been put on leave simply for asking questions about the betting markets' ties to members of President Donald Trump's family or for having past experience enforcing regulations related to cryptocurrencies.
What's more, the Times found that even being an industry insider isn't enough to guarantee good standing in the agency. Brian Quintenz, who was tapped by Trump to lead CTFC last year, saw his nomination withdrawn after he drew the ire of Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss for refusing to support their cryptocurrency exchange's complaint against the agency.
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As explained in a Thursday report from CNBC, the Trump administration is "fighting a multi-front battle to stop the state actions and assert its regulatory authority," with CTFC arguing that it is "the only entity that can regulate" betting platforms.
16 different states are engaged in legal proceedings against the platforms, and Minnesota last week passed a law to ban them outright, which immediately drew a lawsuit from the administration.
The new Minnesota law, which is scheduled to take effect in August, bans prediction markets "from hosting, creating or advertising in the state," according to ABC News.
In an interview with ABC, Minnesota state Rep. Emma Greenman (D-63B) said she authored the legislation because she has grown increasingly concerned about young people in the state seeing their finances drained from placing online bets.
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