What I’ve been hearing for WEEKS now is “BP is the most environmentally unconscious oil company in existence” – well, let’s get something straight – NOTHING about drilling for oil is “environmentally conscious” – ok?
I’ve also heard “I’m going to boycott BP” – how? You’re going to stop buying gas from gas stations that have the BP logo on them? Why would you do that? If there’s a BP you regularly get gas from, why boycott them? Why punish the little guy? Why punish the little gas station that is privately owned. Are you so naive that you think those individual stations are owned by BP? “Boycotting” BP doesn’t mean anything. It won’t fix the mess in the gulf, and it won’t help BP not burn alive in this crisis. More than likely this crisis will bankrupt that company.
What you SHOULD be concerned about is the current administration giving THAT PARTICULAR RIG a safety award. Be it Obama and his constituents or a bi-partisan group, this CURRENT administration (not the previous) is responsible for rewarding that very rig with a safety award. Where were the inspections?
On top of that – why in THE HELL are we drilling a mile below the surface? That stuff needs to stop. Now.
What needs to happen:
1. First and foremost – STOP THE LEAK.
2. Clean up the mess
3. Introduce new restrictions on where you can drill. – I’m not talking about federalizing oil drilling. I’m not talking about some major government group that actually does the drilling – I’m talking about, a group that just says “you can drill here, and you can’t drill there” – that’s all. Maybe it’s something the U.N. (for what it’s worth – which isn’t much) should look at. I don’t know. Since this can and has caused MAJOR environmental issues in the past, in the present, and I’m sure it will in the future.
Here’s the bottom line folks. You can be as mad as you want at BP or the big oil companies. You can be as angry as a swarm of bees…BUT:
IF YOU DRIVE A CAR, YOU’RE PART OF THE PROBLEM!
This plays right into what I’ve always said, and thought. The United States does not have a transportation system in place to support even a modest-cut in gasoline/oil spending. It would mean the loss of jobs in: the oil companies. the folks who work on the rigs. the folks who run the tanker ships. the freight/transit companies that transport the oil. the companies that refine the oil. the gas companies (distributors) that deliver to the service stations. the service stations. More than that, you’re talking about more car companies going the way of GM. They’ll need to get bailed about because they’ve banked their markets and products on domestic and foreign oil.
Folks there isn’t an easy answer. Yes, everyone (including myself) would agree we should begin SOME sort of relief process of pulling back maybe .5% a year of our domestic oil usage. You know – so that in 20 years maybe we’ll be using 10% less. I dunno maybe even that’s too adventurous. The key here is, there’s no one solution. There’s no way to point the finger at any one company or individual.
I won’t point the finger at Barack Obama, because he didn’t cause this issue. I won’t point the finger at BP because they didn’t cause this issue. Many contributed to the cause. More than anything, it’s our lifestyles. Myself included. I need gas for my Honda so I can go to work, and have a life. I’m guilty. If you own a car or drive a car, you too are guilty.
Stop with the name calling – lets band together, and fix this problem. Let’s support instead of point fingers. Because when your fingers get tired, the oil will still be spewing.
Good day. -jw
Muzzle by The Smashing Pumpkins
you know what…every one is at fault…..BP is a PETROCHEMICAL company…..they sell materials to make PLASTICS…thats right the soda bottle you have…could be BP sourced petroleum.
Can’t argue with you. I was only looking at it from the automobile standpoint…but it’s true. Oil is used for SO much. I think we’re only recycling like 2% worldwide in terms of plastic?
YESSSSSSSSS!
by the way, that was jonathan schoonover in the last comment UHthankyou.
I can’t help but wonder how many other rigs have had their pipes double checked since this fiasco.
I pray that oil companies everywhere can learn from this disaster and make preventative measures are in place.
That said, disasters have a way of not being 100% preventable. So let’s skip the blame game, hitch up our trousers, and get to work.
There was debate about deep water oil rigs being required to have a 2nd relief well also. If you drill one, you must drill two in case the one goes bad. That rule was contested by oil companies as being too expensive, congress caved, and now BP is scrambling to drill a relief well to relieve the pressure on the broken well.
It seems to me the simple “relief well” rule would have saved a lot.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/06/documents-bp-cut-corners-in-days-before-gulf-explosion/1
The real problem is cutting corners to save money and maximize profit. In about 10 minutes sitting with a friend discussing the spill we came up the idea that if a relief well is the best possible solution to stop the leak, why dont oil companies pre-drill down to a certain depth so that if a blowout happens it would only take a week to finish the final drilling instead of months. The answer is that would cost a lot, so they dont even consider it. And from the looks of the memos they didnt care, until it blew up dropped half the value of their stock shares.
Than everyone is as fault. Not just BP. They shouldn’t burn for this. They should be responsible for the cleanup/relief efforts – if they can come out on top, and still do business, go for it. If not, than yes, this cost them their company.
Every oil company is guilty of the same mistakes BP is, they just haven’t had a major disaster yet. That’s all.