You've got every right to be furious with BP. So are we. But unleashing fury on independent businesses — owners of BP service stations — only hurts local businesses and doesn't make much of a statement to the giant oil company. Sales from service stations is a tiny part of the company's revenue stream.

Nevertheless, the group Public Citizen is organizing a boycott of BP stations around the country. The action was devised "as a way for people to register their anger in a peaceful, constructive way to send a clear message to BP's management in London that their actions in the United States are reprehensible and we're not going to tolerate it," said Tyson Slocum, director of the group's energy program.

Slocum is arguing that symbolism matters. Nothing against symbolism, but if your symbolic protest hurts innocent business owners who had nothing to do with the spill and who want the hole in the ocean floor to be plugged just as much as you do, you have accomplished nothing.

BP franchise owners say they're feeling the pain from this misguided effort.

There are better ways. First, Americans can rededicate themselves to conservation. Driving fewer miles, car- pooling or riding a bike to work can cut consumption and send a message that we're serious about ending the nation's dependence on oil.

As voters, we can pressure our representatives to impose tougher stand-ards on offshore drilling and to ensure that BP remains responsible and responsive to the cleanup along the Gulf Coast. We can insist that the auto industry — and government — boost fuel-efficiency standards. We can push the government to pump more federal research dollars into the development of alternative fuels.

If anything, the lesson of the Deepwater Horizon disaster is how little we've learned from the lessons of the past. Since the Arab oil embargo of 1973, the nation has been telling itself that it must end its unseemly dependence on fossil fuels. Yet here we are.

So, by all means, get mad at BP. Howl. Gnash your teeth. But spare the small business owners who are contractually bound to BP. Instead, turn your anger into a protest that matters: Drive less and push for changes that could finally break the grip of Big Oil on the American economy.