Who Has The Oil Money
Have you heard? As of yesterday, the US geologic survey has estimated that their might be as much as 40,000 barrels of oil a day flowing up from the Gulf of Mexico. That is more then twice the amount ever reported by BP. If I wasn’t convinced that BP wasn’t telling us the truth before yesterday, I am now.
It’s all about the money, and BP doesn’t want to give it up, or pay it out in the hundreds of law suits it will inevitably be facing. In the few cases that have been filed so far, BP is all ready trying to have the cases moved from Alabama, and other Gulf coast states to more” friendly” states where they think that they would stand a better chance in the court of public opinion as well as the civil and criminal courts.
Instead of admitting the obvious, and honestly trying to help states and Gulf coast communities capture the oil as fast as possible, BP is electing to drag its feet on the clean up, and to run to what they consider to be safer havens. The morel and ethical neglect that BP is showing for the people, the environment, and even toward our government is not shameful, but down write disgusting.
Congress is now considering legislation witch would lift the cap of 75 million that a company has to pay for an oil spill clean up, and passing legislation that places no limit on the amount of liability an oil company can have. If it is passed, this might be the only way that BP will eventually step up to the plate, take full responsibility for the spill, and spend the billions it will take to get the mess cleaned up, and compensate the hundreds of thousands of people whose way of life and livings are effected by their negligence. Passing this new legislation is the hope of tens of millions of honest hard working Americans who believe more then ever, that big business should be held fully accountable for their errors and no longer be given a free pass, or simply a slap on the wrist.
The question then becomes, does the congress have the stomach to pass this kind of legislation, and if so, will the president sign it. Will the legislation be so watered down with loop wholes that it sounds good when put before the media, but have no teeth in the court of enforcement? Let’s not forget, that many states rely heavily on the investments of the energy industry to keep their economies growing. Let’s not forget that many members of congress receive and except healthy donations from the energy industry to their political campaigns. Lets not forget, that if congress doesn’t have what it takes to do the responsible thing, and pass legislation that is clear and fully enforceable, that they to can be easily replaced.
