On March 24th, 1989 the Exxon Valdez crashed and spilled tens millions of gallons of oil into Prince William Sound. Many animals were killed, and almost all of those who responded and tried to clean it up ended up dying years later as a result.
In 2005, about 16 years later, ExxonMobil posted the largest quarterly and annual profits of any company in human history.
BP is going to get away with this.
After a corporation does this they should very simply no longer exist. A corporation that destroys large areas of the Gulf of Mexico, ruins animal and fish populations, and ruin millions of peoples lives along the Gulf Coast should no longer be in business.
Now I know that BP has committed to putting 20 billion in a fund that will be used to "make whole" the people of the gulf as a result of their actions. 20 billion won't get that job done. The damage from this disaster will be FAR higher then 20 billion. Secondly, how can you "make someone whole" after they are dead or have had to change their lives forever? How the hell do you put a price on that?
BP is ordering the coast guard around, restricting media access and forcing cleanup workers to not wear protective gear because apparently it "looks bad". BP has been running this entire thing from day 1, and that's why they are gonna get away with this.
After BP caps the well next month, this story will fade away. The corporate media will move on to the next "big story" (probably the midterms) and the BP oil spill will be just another "remember when that happened" and most people will just forget the horrors of the BP oil disaster.
The Supreme Court has said in the past that corporations have the same rights as people. If that's true, then BP should be sentenced to the death penalty for what they have done.