I don’t know about you, but I have lost all faith that the British Petroleum Company (BP) has a clue about how to fix this mess of an oil leak that they created. Either that, or they are more concerned about not damaging the well structure than they are protecting the world’s ecology. I don’t want to believe that but it seems impossible for an organization as sophisticated and high-tech as BP to be so helpless on what should be their core competency.
Our government, the organization we usually look to for fast solutions to problems of this magnitude has suddenly gone missing in action. “It’s BP’s mess and they are responsible to clean it up” says our government leaders. Bull. It’s the world’s mess…caused by BP who shall be forever known as the defendant in courts around the world…and the world needs to get busy before we find ourselves with the worst environmental disaster in the history of mankind.
BP has had thirty days to stop a leak…granted a leak one mile under the sea…but this isn’t their first rodeo. They spend millions of dollars a year convincing the world that oil drilling is as safe as mother’s milk. They are the dream team of petrochemical knowledge. They speak of being BP…beyond petroleum. Good grief they can’t even plug a hole.
Meanwhile we…the people of the world…continue to watch as massive amounts of oil gush into the Gulf of Mexico headed for land near and far…poisoning fisheries and critical ecosystems, damaging beaches and the economy of States and nations, adding to the unemployment rates and family burdens.
In the last 18 months our federal government has inserted itself in places it arguably does not belong and seems determined to continue that encroachment of private business and family responsibility. Those are debates that will continue and the people will finally decide what level of big government they want in their lives. Where, I wonder, is our government’s new keen interest in all things when the BP disaster tops our national news every single night for a month? It’s like they are dealing with a sovereign nation and can’t offend or intrude…just raise concerns and rattle our political rhetoric. Enough.
The health and welfare of our nation is at stake. It’s time to take control and bring the world’s resources to the table. Stop being afraid of this disaster being labeled “Obama’s Katrina”. Fix it. Now. Surely someone in the world is smart enough to know how to seal a pipe laying in 5000 feet of water. If not…we should stop all deep water drilling until someone can demonstrate that knowledge…and start mandating $100 billion dollar bonds for those who risk our lives and future for oil.
And…shame on us if we don’t immediately shift our creativity to renewable energy sources…with passion and an urgency that involves us all. We can do it. We just have to make up our minds.
This crazy, destructive dependence on oil has got to end.
You made two assertions here: ” I have lost all faith that the British Petroleum Company (BP) has a clue about how to fix this mess of an oil leak that they created”
or:
“they are more concerned about not damaging the well structure than they are protecting the world’s ecology”
In my opinion, whichever one is the correct one, doesn’t really matter. They are equally bad. As you said, they spend MILLIONS convincing people that drilling is safe and that IF they have an “incident” they have the technology to quickly fix it. That is just as morally wrong as it is to put your drilling structure ahead of the environment. Because of BP, thousands of animals will die- painfully, thousands of people will lose their jobs, and people won’t be able to enjoy the natural beauty around them.
Nero fiddled while Rome burned, and President Obama gave a speech at a Barbara Boxer fundraiser in San Francisco.
Nice to have “big government” when we need it, eh? Make up your minds, folks.