Boycott Exxon Mobil

HOUSTON (AP) — Oil giant Exxon Mobil topped its own record for the biggest annual profit by a U.S. company last year, racking up earnings that amounted to $4.5 million an hour for the world's largest publicly traded oil company. It reported the record net income — $39.5 billion — despite a 4 percent drop in earnings in the final three months of 2006, as prices for oil and natural gas fell from extraordinary levels earlier in the year.

For the love of all that is good and holy, please boycott Exxon/Mobil. I don't know about anywhere else, but in New York state, every Exxon/Mobil station is always the most expensive place on the highways. They also have a shady practice of advertising a price that is 10 cents lower than their real price. All their locations with a car wash do this. For example, the real cost per gallon could be $2.42 (while everyone else is priced at 2.33 or so), but in big letters you'll see $2.32 "with purchase of car wash" (in small letters). So you only save a few dimes if you go through the automated car wash, which has to be priced at about $7 - $10. It really makes me wonder how many people get fooled by that and figure since they're already there, they might as well just get the damn gas.

Exxon Mobil's profits didn't go unnoticed on Capitol Hill, where one lawmaker called them "outlandish" and said oil companies have benefited too long from a Republican-backed energy policy that cheats American taxpayers.

So what are they going to do about it?