Terror-Free Oil Initiative

The Terror-Free Oil Initiative was a group based in Coral Springs, Florida, dedicated to encouraging Americans to buy only gasoline that originated in countries that do not export or finance terrorism or are otherwise unfriendly towards the United States.

It promoted those companies that do not directly acquire (drill for oil) their crude oil supply from the Middle East and criticized those companies that do.

TFOI attempted to create a healthy debate concerning alternate methods of fuel production and consumption.

Terror-Free Oil opened the first "terror free" gas station in Omaha, Nebraska, in January 2007. In February 2010 the station closed.

The website Electronic Intifada accused Terror-Free Oil of Islamophobia. But then, again, according to Electronic Intifada, even mentioning the religion of 9/11 hijackers is manifestation of Islamophobia.

TFO spokesman Joe Kaufman is also founder of a group called Americans Against Hate, a conservative civil rights organization and terrorism watchdog group. Kaufman is a prominent critic of the Hamas front Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Criticism
Terror-Free Oil purchased its gas from Sinclair Oil Corporation, who buy oil from all areas of the world on the New York Mercantile Exchange. After critics questioned the buying methods of the group, founder Joe Kaufman, was forced to acknowledge that the stations were likely selling some oil from the Middle East.

In an article on the Pro-Palestinian website The Electronic Intifada, American journalist Ali Abunimah called the group "fundamentally racist" and a "headline-grabbing stunt by a group of unabashed racists and demogogues", claiming the group was simply a front for Americans Against Hate.

Journalist and writer on energy, Robert Bryce also criticised the group on the American Public Media show Marketplace and the CNBC show, Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo. Bryce stated that "the trends of energy interdependence are growing and are inexorable" and branded that idea of being able choose where your oil came from as "hogwash".