The Gulf Oil spill and what America can do
If you do not live under a rock you are aware of the BP Deepwater Horizon off-shore oil rig which caught fire and collapsed in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20.
There are 3 leaks which are spewing as much as 200,000 gallons of oil per day into the Gulf of Mexico.
This disaster has the potential to become the largest environmental disaster in our history. It is estimated that if the oil spill enters into the Gulf Stream, it could wrap around Florida and travel up the East coast of the United States.
As part of the government's deregulation attempts in 2003, oil companies operating off-shore oil rigs were NOT required to use a cut-off valve called an acoustic switch, which could remotely shut off the oil flow in event of an oil rig collapse. Most countries in the world who perform off-shore drilling use these.
the Wall Street Journal did an great article on the use of these switches:
http://online.wsj.com/...
The cost of these switches? Only $500,000 each. Most oil executives probably carry this much around in their wallets. The cost of clean up of this disaster remains to be determined, but you can bet it will far surpass $500,000. The painfully ironic part is that BP will only legally be obligated to pay for the cost of the rig itself in the end, passing the bill to American taxpayers if the US gets involved in the clean up efforts. And it will because it simply has to.
The clean up of this disaster is not something we all can engage in realistically, but there IS something we all can do as Americans:
Boycott BP and Amoco (owned by BP) gasoline.
Simply do not purchase your car's gasoline from BP from now on. What will this do? Simple: the large oil companies that are now making record profits lobby the US government for free market deregulation. This means these oil companies do not want rules imposed on them. Rules that could prevent disasters, but rules that will cost them money, like the $500,000 cost of an acoustic switch.
BUT if we show these oil companies that they will lose money in the US for their lack of responsibility, it will send a message to other oil companies that Americans will not support anyone who creates an enormous environmental disaster on its soil (or waters). And they just may begin installing the safeguards necessary to prevent such disasters as the Gulf oil spill.
Please send a message that America will not tolerate the carelessness of these huge oil companies. Boycott BP and AMOCO gasoline. It is simple and easy to do, and could make a huge impact.