May 14, 2010

Spill, Baby, Spill

I've tried to refrain from talking about the BP / Transocean / Halliburton oil spill in the Gulf until I understood it well enough to comment on it. I'm still no expert on industrial engineering and oil drilling, but I think I've finally gotten a handle on the amazing screw up that continues unabated. What I find shocking is that we're now getting reports that the spill could be ten times bigger than we thought.

I can only begin to imagine the damage this spill is going to have over the long term.  I'm sure the fishermen on the coast would be more than happy to tell us how this is destroying their lives.  I'm sure we'll even see more signs of it soon, and not just tar balls either.  

What really amazes me, although it doesn't surprise me, is that Republicans have blocked an effort to change the law to increase BP's liability for clean up and environmental damages.  After all, that would be bad for BP and that makes it bad for their graft revenue. 

The more I hear about this, the more I believe criminal charges need to be filed.  I just don't know against whom they should be filed.  There are memos and letters going back over a year discussing how dangerous the situation was.  There are reports that hours before the explosion there was notification of system failure.  Make no mistake, those men that died on that rig didn't need to.  They died because BP, Transocean, and Halliburton are greedy, evil corporations that don't give a flying crap about the lives of the people who actually do the real work.  MMS, and their criminally cozy relationship, with the oil industry needs to see some people go to jail too. 

Yeah, off-shore drilling.  What a great idea.  How much more proof do people need to know that it is time to end our addiction to oil?  It's time for an energy revolution, and that means stopping those bastards in Washington from lining their pockets with blood money.

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