I read a news headline this morning: “Witness: BP took ‘shortcuts’ before well blowout.” The article goes on to say, “Senior managers complained oil giant BP was “taking shortcuts” by replacing heavy drilling fluid with saltwater in the well that blew out, triggering the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico….” I also saw a segment on 60 minutes a week or two ago that went into much more detail about that very subject. These revelations have me hoping that the folks at BP who are responsible for those ill-fated decisions will be held CRIMINALLY responsible and that BP will face fines the likes of which will make the EU judgment against Intel look like play money.
Fucking ridiculous!
I, for one, have mostly been in favor of drilling for oil wherever we can find it. Why the hell should we buy it from other countries (financing terrorism while we’re at it, in some cases) when we can use our own? And, we’re Americans—of course we’d do it in a safe and cautious manner, right? Or so I thought. That’s another part of this that has me really pissed off right now: I KNOW we’re capable of doing this safely. We can do ANYTHING if we devote our minds and resources to it. They chose, however, to prioritize profits over doing the right thing. This not only makes BP look bad. It also makes the American government look bad (as it should, based on some of the things I’ve read). AND, it makes ME, as an American, look bad. Seriously, we can put guys on the moon in 1969, build an atomic weapon in a matter of months in the 40s, and countless other amazing achievements. But we can’t drill for oil without DESTROYING the ENTIRE GULF OF FUCKING MEXICO!????????
I had to personalize this a bit in order to even come close to feeling the appropriate level of anger. I had to imagine something that hits closer to home. What if they’d done this in the San Francisco bay and I had to see (and smell) the mess every time I crossed the bay bridge. It would devastate the region in many different ways (ecologically, tourism, etc.) for years and years and I’d be LIVID! Or what if they’d destroyed the American River that’s been a part of my life since I was barely old enough to be out of diapers? I’d probably personally start shooting BP executives in that scenario! Or I could imagine if they’d done it off the shores of Penang Island. The region would be poisoned for years to come. The livelihood of the thousands of people who rely on those waters to make their living would be destroyed. The hundreds of thousands (or more) of people like me who go visit Penang each year would be sad to see the destruction of such a treasured place. Many would not go back, thus depriving thousands more Penangites of their tourism-dependant livelihood. The people who live there would no doubt be personally devastated by it, the way I would be devastated by the destruction of the American River.
I could go on and on about any of these imaginary scenarios, but the point is that in the Gulf of Mexico it’s not imaginary. They actually fucking did it! All of the effects I’ve described in my imaginary scenarios—and more—are taking place at this very moment. They knew they were taking risks with something that wasn’t theirs to risk, and they did it anyway. What the hell is wrong with these people? And what the hell is wrong with US if we let them get away with it? A HUGE region of our country is going to be affected! And I haven’t even touched on the people who were actually burned alive in the explosion. We all know it’ll probably never really happen, but I truly, truly hope the Obama administration treats this like what it is, a crime.
