Enough is Enough

In the time since the Deepwater Horizon platform exploded there have been at least seven other major oil spills, three of which occurred in the US. Massive oil spills in Nigeria routinely go unnoticed including a nearly 42,000,000 gallon spill by ExxonMobil (remember them?) in early May. Most recently, 800,000 gallons of oil spilled in the Kalamazoo River, a tributary of Lake Michigan.

Even as news spreads that oil is vanishing from the surface of the Gulf, it is critical that we not forget the extreme anger that we all felt when the oil was gushing and that we channel that rage to ensure that clean energy reform happens now. The media, with the attention span of a schizophrenic five-year-old, will quickly forget that the Macondo spill even happened. Meanwhile, the economic and environmental impacts of the spill will persist for years. Make no mistake, a tremendous amount of damage has been done and will not disappear just because no more oil is (currently) flowing - at least not from Macondo. The plain truth is that extreme economic and environmental damage will continue as long as we, as a global society, use oil.

BP alone has been responsible for roughly 8,000 spills, emissions and leaks of oil, chemicals and gases since 1990. Simply put, there is no such thing as "safe" oil, just like there is no such thing as "clean" coal. Extraction, processing and burning of fossil fuels is dirty no matter how many safety and containment systems you put in place.

Further, fossil fuels are not cheap. Federal oil subsidies that continue to this day, billions of dollars of economic and environmental damage caused by oil spills and the true price of carbon all are not reflected in the market price of oil. It is essential that we institute further taxes on oil and establish a market price for carbon so that the price of oil reflects its true social costs. No, this will not destroy the economy. In fact, if we reinvest those tax proceeds in clean energy, it will speed the clean energy transition and help ensure that the economy prospers by creating high-quality jobs and lowering long-term energy costs.

It is time to rejects the tyranny of fossil fuels and move toward a prosperous clean energy future now! However, our government has all but abandoned the fight for our futures. Please call your senators today to tell them that abandoning the fight is unacceptable and demand comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation now!

Update: Apparently lying is innate to the entire oil industry and not just BP as Enbridge Energy Partners has understated the size of their spill in Michigan by at least 200,000 gallons, or 25%.

Obama and Reid FAIL

Dear President Obama and Senator Reid,

What is this I am reading in the New York Times? You have abandoned the fight for clean energy?! This is not the time to be timid and let Republicans perpetuate America's fossil fuel dependency. Now is the time to act and decisively move toward clean energy! Not only does our environment and wellbeing depend on it, so does our economy. Fossil fuels do not create jobs, they destroy them. Fossil fuels are dirty to get out of the ground and dirty to use, often causing billions in direct economic damages as shown by the recent spill and coal mine explosion. Fossil fuels are a primary source of greenhouse gases, and climate change has the potential to cost the global economy trillions of dollars per year. The question is not how can we afford to invest in clean energy, it is how can we afford not to?

Investing now in clean energy will create far more and higher quality jobs than continuing to invest in fossil fuels. Long-term energy costs will be lower with clean energy as fixed costs decrease with more investment and we enjoy the benefits of free wind, sun and waves. Finally, clean energy is the only way that we as a global society can avoid some of the worst effects of climate change. By failing to act now, we are not only harming the American economy, but inviting disaster through continued spills, explosions and climate change.

[New York Times]

Massive Oil Spill in China Again Shows Perils of Oil

The massive pipeline explosion in China off the shores of Dalian shows the extreme ongoing destruction wrought by the global oil industry. This massive oil spill is now covering 165 square miles of the Yellow Sea, killing birds, marine animals and threatening water quality. When will we, as a global society, learn that we need to wean ourselves off of oil? It is time to move on to clean energy sources which are cheaper, cleaner, and produce more and better jobs than the destructive fossil fuels industry before we completely destroy the environment that we all live in.

[Yahoo! News]

BP is Intimidating Key Witnesses

BP and the mafia might have more in common than you thought.

BP appears to be intimidating witnesses who were intimately involved with the rig to prevent federal officials from determining what actually happened on that fateful day. Citing excuses from location of the hearing to having not received the necessary documents, nine key witnesses have cancelled their scheduled testimony. While some of these excuses may be legitimate, the fact that all of the top-ranking officials on the rig have canceled scheduled testimony strongly suggests that BP is pressuring witnesses not to testify.

Further, BP knowingly continued to drill the Macondo well despite knowing that the blowout preventer was leaking and both internal (September 2009 and external (April 2010) audits had found that the device was well past its inspection date. This complete lack of regard for safety is criminal - and is exactly the kind of testimony that BP doesn't want in front of federal regulators. Fortunately, some witness have been able to testify:

A BP official, Ronald Sepulvado, a well-site leader, testified that BP continued drilling for oil in the days before the disaster despite internal reports of a leak on a safety device on the rig.

If there is any justice in this country, BP will be found criminally liable for the spill and the deaths of 11 people, and will be banned forever from operating in the United States.

[New York Times]

BP Falsifying Images of Spill

Continuing a trend of outright lying, BP has been caught digitally altering images of the oil spill in its command center. Asked why they continued to refrain from publishing the truth, BP CEO said:

"We're a bunch of assholes. What else do you expect? The Truth? You can't handle the Truth."

Can we just revoke their corporate charter already?

[Yahoo! News]

BP's Latest Cap Effort is Failing

If any of you were wondering why I wasn't jumping for joy when BP announced the success of its latest capping effort, this is why. Oil has been detected leaking from the ocean floor. This is truly bad, as it means that the structural integrity of the well has been compromised, and is in stark contrast to the statement BP put out earlier on Sunday hours before the seepage was discovered:

We're 2 1/2 days into the integrity testing and results continue to look encouraging. - Doug Suttles

- 8:39 AM Sunday, July 18th via Twitter (@BP_America)

Although its not clear if BP truly knew that the well was not sound, my suspicion is that they did and they still put on this horse and pony show to make people think that it was over.

[Reuters]

BP’s Sordid Behavior Deserves a U.S. Lockout

I truly hope that this latest effort to cap the well succeeds. It would represent one important victory on the path to recovery. However, without independent verification, I still have trouble believing BP when they say all is fine with the well given their history of lying and obfuscation. I hope that independent researchers are given the access needed to make this verification immediately.

Even if the well is capped, it would only represent the end of the first mile of this marathon. It will take years, if not decades, to clean up this mess. We must remain focused on the cleanup, punishing those responsible and fixing the system so that this type of disaster can never, ever happen again.

Edward Hess has written an excellent position piece about why BP should be barred from business in the US. At the core of his argument is the fact that BP remains a serial lawbreaker and violator of societal standards along the lines of Arther Andersen. While some would argue that companies' only responsibility is to their shareholders, they would be forgetting that the foundation of capitalism as espoused by Adam Smith is based on moral principles.

I agree with Mr. Hess that it is time to ban BP from the US. I would go one step further and say that is is time to ban all offshore drilling and begin moving rapidly toward cheaper and cleaner renewable energy sources. Investing in clean energy would more than offset any job losses cause by the offshore drilling ban, and would actually lead to more and higher quality job creation than continuing to rely on traditional fossil fuels.

It is time to take American forward into the 21st century!

[Business Week]

BP Secured the Release of a Libyan Terrorist

BP's record of valuing profits over human lives and safety has been well established. But would they go so far as to secure the release of a convicted terrorist, denying justice to 270 innocent victims and their families, in the pursuit of profits? According to BP's own statement today, they would and did:

“It is a matter of public record that in late 2007 BP discussed with the U.K. government our concern at the slow progress in concluding a Prisoner Transfer Agreement"

Four US Senators have written a letter to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton to investigate BP's role in the release of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi from a Scottish jail. I think we all know exactly what that role was.

I knew that BP was reckless, destructive, irresponsible and well-deserving of my wraith, but this is just evil. BP, fuck you.

[Bloomberg.com]

These Pictures Are Illegal

The U.S. Coast Guard's new felony charges for journalists who come within 65 feet of booming operations is tyrannical. In a free country with an allegedy free press this type of muzzling is it absolutely unacceptable. What this nation needs is more transparency, not less, so that we can understand the scope of this disaster and hold those responsible accountable. This is a thinly veiled effort by the #GOBP to avoid paying for the true cost of the spill.

The pictures at the link below, while not illegal to view (yet), would now result in felony charges for the photographers and journalists trying to report them. This is a sad time for America, and for democracy.

[Washington's Blog]

BP Will Never Change

By this time BP's culture of profits over safety has been well established. However, it runs even deeper than you thought. The New York Times investigated this culture and has revealed the monster lurking beneath BP's shameless image polishing. From nearly causing a different mega spill by cutting corners a few years ago with their Thunder Horse platform, to the 267,000 gallon spill in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to a separate 200,000 gallon spill in May 2010 - after the Macondo disaster - it is clear that BP does not value safety or corporate citizenship and never will. Remember, when Tony Hayward came on as CEO in 2007, he was brought on to reform their dismal safety practices after the Texas City explosion. It is truly time to revoke their charter.

[New York Times]

Take Action!

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty fed up with BP. It's time to take action! Big Oil has been price gouging us, polluting our oceans, rivers and streams, and lobbying against clean energy for too long! It's time we fight back!

The National Wildlife Federation is spearheading a campaign to pass comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation. I encourage you to take a look and sign the petition!

Oil, Coming Soon to a Beach Near You!

The oil is not going to stay contained in the gulf much longer. According to researchers working at Intel's Rio Rancho campus, home to one of the fastest supercomputers in the world, once the oil moves past Florida it could spread up to 3,000 miles per month:

"From these simulations we can say with a high degree of certainty that it is very likely sometime in the next six months that oil from this spill will get into the Atlantic," said oceanographer Synte Peacock of the NCAR, who is running the project. "We can say that when it happens, it will be fast, much faster than anything we have seen so far," she said.

After globalizing our financial losses during the recent crisis, it seems that we are now globalizing the damage from the BP oil spill disaster as well. Hope you like oil in your sand!

[Gizmodo]

BP Should Be Hated

Noah Blumenthal, writing for AOL News, has penned an uplifting and inspirational column against hate. While his intentions are genuine, Mr. Blumenthal's inclusion of the BP oil disaster in his "trend of hate" is misguided. I agree that there is a detrimental trend, particularly in politics, to invoke hate carelessly or for diabolical reasons. Too often, pundits and politicians rally supporters to their cause using hate rather than engaging in a discussion of the issues and explaining why their view is more beneficial to society than the opposition. This type of hate message will not build anything great and, worse, prevents intelligent and substantive discussions from occurring. However, hate has a positive side and plays an essential role in building productive societies.

Mr. Blumenthal is confusing those who wield hate as a power tool, and those who hate because their way of life has been attacked. There is a difference between Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh calling Obama a Nazi, and hating Adolf Hitler. Glenn and Rush are savvy spinsters diabolically wielding hate to further their own personal agendas, a despicable practice. In contrast, Adolf Hitler was one of the most destructive politicians of all time, systematically seeking to eradicate entire cultures and ways of life, and deserves to be hated. I think that my hatred toward Glenn and Rush for undermining society, and Adolf Hitler for destroying it, it well placed.

Further, this hate toward Hitler, for example, actually contributed in a positive way to society. Mr. Blumenthal is correct to recognize the destructive power of hate as used in current political discourse and call for constructive leadership, but he fails to recognize the beneficial aspects of hate. Modern concepts of human rights adopted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 derive in large part from the hatred toward Nazi practices. Hate, properly channeled, can be a powerfully constructive force.

I hate BP for valuing profits over corporate citizenship, for its corruption, for lying about the spill and its disingenuous "efforts" to clean it up. I firmly believe that hating BP and its way of business will help us achieve a cleaner, more sustainable and independent energy future.

I HATE BP.

[AOL News]

Oil Spill Causing Arsenic Poisoning in Gulf

Arsenic, a toxic element known to cause cancer among other health maladies, is naturally found in the world's oceans. The ocean naturally filters out arsenic as it combines with sediment on the sea floor. However, oil spills lead to an accumulation of arsenic in the water because it interrupts this natural process. The result? We are seeing a surge in arsenic concentrations in Gulf waters. As arsenic bioaccumulates in the food chain, toxic levels of arsenic will enter the human food supply - particularity over the years as media attention dies down and fishing in these polluted waters resumes. The myriad impacts of this disaster are just beginning to be explored, and this is just the latest in a series of devastating consequences directly caused by the spill.

[The Herald Sun]

This is Rich

Would you believe me if I told you that BP published an oil spill board game in the 1970s? In what has to be one of the worst marketing moves of all time, BP actually was stupid enough to issue a wildly unpopular board game allowing aspiring tycoons to explore for oil, build platforms and lay pipelines. But beware! Nascent oil magnates must also avoid the dreaded ‘hazard cards’, which state: ‘Blow-out! Rig damaged. Oil slick clean-up costs. Pay $1,000,000.’

$1,000,000 for clean-up costs? Was this BP's way of trying to lobby for a cap lower than the $75MM cap still in place today? (I jest)

Seriously, the very existence of this game promising "blow-out" adventures should be taken as evidence that the BP gurus were well aware of the risks of offshore drilling yet consciously chose to ignore them.

[metro.co.uk]

Toward a Stronger America

Obama: I voted for you and expected you to do better than Bush, not pursue the same policies as the GOBP. Shame on you! It is time to stop compromising with the Republicans, who are driven by corrupt interests in oil and gas and who will oppose every policy that you put forth. They will default on every pledge they make toward a bipartisan effort, if only to make you look silly. It is time to let your moral character and integrity drive your decisions, not political calculations and lame attempts to give the far right a voice. We voted for you and your vision of a better America, not theirs! It is time for you to lead America and make the Republicans react to you, not for you to react to Republican demands! Show the American people that your vision of America is a better vision, and that by obstructing your clean energy goals the GOBP is harming America.

[Wall Street Journal]