I boycotted my natural gas supplier, SCANA Energy today. The web site www.freenortheast.com shows me that SCANA gave 100% of its PAC money to Republicans this year.
Here's my email to them (I borrowed and adapted from a site called Ad Nasuem that is boycotting Sean Hannity advertisers):
"I have recently discovered that SCANA provided 100% of its PAC money to the Republican Party in 2004.
As a patriotic American and Democrat, I am bothered that you would choose to support just one political party.
SCANA is, of course, free to use its PAC money as it wishes; after all, this is America! However, I cannot support a business that endorses just one political party in such divisive times. Like Republicans, Democrats, Liberals, and Moderates, all want the same thing:
peace, prosperity, and happiness. It doesn't seem to be good business sense to be associated with just one political party that leaves out approximately half of your potential customer base.
I have been a satisfied SCANA Energy customer for many years. Frankly, I can no longer support a company that takes my dollars and gives them to a Republican Party that sees a mandate where none exists. Political discourse under Republican leadership has become coarse and one-sided, and I fear it will only get worse. Therefore, I will be soon be switching my natural gas supplier to one of the many other options available in Georgia."
Next up for my personal boycott is AirTran Airways (I've already written to them about advertising on Hannity). Then Kroger (which will hurt since I spend $500/month on groceries there), then maybe Home Depot and Walmart.
I know that there are plenty of good people who work at these companies that might be hurt by boycotts, and I am feeling bad about that. But since we lost many local and state governments, the 3 branches of the federal government, and the media, I feel like the only power I have right now is in how I spend my money.
I hope to do a few of these a week, so please offer suggestions on improving my boycott messages to these companies (I've not really done much of this before).