please wait
How is BP still in business?
Jul 12, 2010 at 2:37pm
(Note I'm in the US, so "our" = "the US's". Also note I'm still kind of tired so this is kind of like rambling)
Oil has been gushing into the gulf 24/7 for several months. There's no sign of it stopping. The oil is moving into the North Atlantic.
Yet somehow.. some doucebags in the our government (*cough*Joe Barton*cough) end up apologizing to BP.
I just don't understand it. It's like bizarro world.
But okay. So Joe Barton is in BP's pocket. He's probably not the only congressman who is. That raises the issue of why someone who clearly works for BP and not for the citizens of Texas is still in office. But I guess that's another issue. (Personally though, I feel he should've been booted out of office immediately after he made that apology. He clearly embodies everything that's wrong with the current system)
Anyway, my point is other companies have gone out of business because of something as trivial as a bad ad campaign before. I can't imagine a worse ad campaign than destroying an entire ecosystem... yet not only is BP still alive and well, they're still profitable. They're still making money.
How is that even possible? Are people really still giving them business? Does nobody have any sense? Is our system really that broken?
BPs days should be over. If you play with fire, you're going to get burned... and they got burned. We all got burned.
What's going to happen to all those Carribean nations? What's going to happen when hurricane season starts and the oil is sprayed all over the western hemisphere?
What if the oil doesn't stop? How much longer before everything just starts dying?
Just how big of a slap in the face does this world need to get us off of oil? Was this one really not big enough? Because I can't imagine a bigger one, unless this happens again in multiple places simultaneously.
Here's what should be happening:
- all of BPs assests should be immediately frozen and used to pay for stopping the leak. Every last penny. Even the oil and gas they have in reserve should be taken and sold to raise more money if that's what it takes.
- The federal government should be chipping in as well. If this means temporarily hiking up taxes on something, so be it.
- All offshore drilling everywhere should be stopped, and offshore drilling should be illegalized.
- Companies outside US juristiction that still do offshore drilling after these new policies take effect should have hiked prices. Like a penalty tax. Something crazy steep like 30%.
- All revenue made from that penalty tax should first go to stopping the leak (if it's not stopped by then -- which it wouldn't be). After the leak has been stopped, all money should go towards finding alternative energy sources and building a new energy foundation.
But of course this will never happen.
What will happen is exactly what's been happening: nothing will change.
BP will stay in business. The leak will keep going until the well runs dry (any takers on how long that'll be? My guess is 10 years).
Oil has been gushing into the gulf 24/7 for several months. There's no sign of it stopping. The oil is moving into the North Atlantic.
Yet somehow.. some doucebags in the our government (*cough*Joe Barton*cough) end up apologizing to BP.
I just don't understand it. It's like bizarro world.
But okay. So Joe Barton is in BP's pocket. He's probably not the only congressman who is. That raises the issue of why someone who clearly works for BP and not for the citizens of Texas is still in office. But I guess that's another issue. (Personally though, I feel he should've been booted out of office immediately after he made that apology. He clearly embodies everything that's wrong with the current system)
Anyway, my point is other companies have gone out of business because of something as trivial as a bad ad campaign before. I can't imagine a worse ad campaign than destroying an entire ecosystem... yet not only is BP still alive and well, they're still profitable. They're still making money.
How is that even possible? Are people really still giving them business? Does nobody have any sense? Is our system really that broken?
BPs days should be over. If you play with fire, you're going to get burned... and they got burned. We all got burned.
What's going to happen to all those Carribean nations? What's going to happen when hurricane season starts and the oil is sprayed all over the western hemisphere?
What if the oil doesn't stop? How much longer before everything just starts dying?
Just how big of a slap in the face does this world need to get us off of oil? Was this one really not big enough? Because I can't imagine a bigger one, unless this happens again in multiple places simultaneously.
Here's what should be happening:
- all of BPs assests should be immediately frozen and used to pay for stopping the leak. Every last penny. Even the oil and gas they have in reserve should be taken and sold to raise more money if that's what it takes.
- The federal government should be chipping in as well. If this means temporarily hiking up taxes on something, so be it.
- All offshore drilling everywhere should be stopped, and offshore drilling should be illegalized.
- Companies outside US juristiction that still do offshore drilling after these new policies take effect should have hiked prices. Like a penalty tax. Something crazy steep like 30%.
- All revenue made from that penalty tax should first go to stopping the leak (if it's not stopped by then -- which it wouldn't be). After the leak has been stopped, all money should go towards finding alternative energy sources and building a new energy foundation.
But of course this will never happen.
What will happen is exactly what's been happening: nothing will change.
BP will stay in business. The leak will keep going until the well runs dry (any takers on how long that'll be? My guess is 10 years).
Jul 12, 2010 at 4:26pm
I understand your frustration... but this is what our country is all about now. The mighty dollar. Corruption runs ramped throughout the government and corporations. Nothing will change because the average citizen is too busy with everything else in life to really care. BP will continue to be profitable and the dependance on oil will always exist as long as there is money to be made.
Jul 12, 2010 at 5:39pm
Aren't they currently drilling a relief well?
Anyways, I fail to see how all of this is BPs fault. It could have happened to anyone.
Anyways, I fail to see how all of this is BPs fault. It could have happened to anyone.
Jul 12, 2010 at 6:10pm| Return 0 wrote: |
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| I understand your frustration... but this is what our country is all about now. The mighty dollar. |
This isn't exactly news to me, but yeah.
That's the fundamental flaw with capitalism.... it places too much (all) emphasis on money, and not enough emphasis on other aspects of society.
The US (and really the entire world economy in general) really needs to shift way more towards Socialism. Not that socialism isn't without its flaws, but they're certainly less severe than the flaws of capitalism.
| AngelHoof wrote: |
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| the states are close to becoming beyond salvation. |
I'd say it has 2 or 3 more generations of cushy living, but after that I don't see how it can sustain itself.
But people have been saying that for decades... so who knows.
Us selling our soul to China and outsourcing all of our labor certainly doesn't help any. But that's not really new either. We've been financing our competitors/rivals/enemies for the past 50 years, so I doubt we'll stop now. But those are all seperate issues.
| Vexer wrote: |
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| Anyways, I fail to see how all of this is BPs fault. |
They were the ones drilling offshore.
| It could have happened to anyone. |
You're absolutely right. That's part of what makes this so terrifying. This is still going on, and could happen again and again.
But the fact of the matter is it didn't just happen to anyone. It happened to BP. They're the [ir] responsible party here.
Like I say... you play with fire, you're going to get burned.
Jul 12, 2010 at 6:10pm| Vexer wrote: |
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| Anyways, I fail to see how all of this is BPs fault. It could have happened to anyone. |
::sigh::... Are you kidding?
Last edited on Jul 12, 2010 at 6:11pm
Jul 12, 2010 at 6:35pm
No, I'm not.
That is just my personal opinion of the matter. If you disagree, fine.
That is just my personal opinion of the matter. If you disagree, fine.
Jul 12, 2010 at 7:06pm
What you suggested would ruin Britain's economy. A lot of British people (my parents included) have shares in BP, and a lot of British people rely on BP for their pension.
It is BP's fault but it's not Britain's fault.
It is BP's fault but it's not Britain's fault.
Jul 12, 2010 at 8:13pm| chrisname wrote: |
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| What you suggested would ruin Britain's economy. |
That's another problem that needs to be addressed, then. Anything that's "too big to fail" is bad for any economy.
The US had to deal with that crap recently. The whole concept just makes me sick to my stomach.
| A lot of British people (my parents included) have shares in BP |
The stock market is gambling. I don't feel any worse for people that lose on the stock market than I do for people that blow their paychecks at the track.
| and a lot of British people rely on BP for their pension |
That's a legitimate concern.
Is it enough, though?
People are going to die as a direct or indirect result of this spill (if there haven't been human deaths already -- there certainly have been non-human deaths).
How many deaths does a company have to cause before it gets shut down? Are peoples pensions really worth other people's lives?
Jul 12, 2010 at 8:27pm
Well, if you cripple a country's economy then the people won't be able to afford food, the government won't be able to afford to pay their welfare, and people die anyway. BP have basically caused innocent deaths either way.
BP, however, do deserve to be punished. Severely. Their greed seems to have gotten away with them and they were cutting corners left, right and centre (case in point; the person they were supposed to call in the event of an emergency such as the one they have now has been dead for 5 years).
The British media also needs to shut up. They keep saying that American companies were the ones drilling and that BP isn't at fault. Originally I wanted to believe that (it's easier to blame someone else) but I decided to check it out and what I can surmise is that it's bullshit. BP leased the rig from some Swiss company and they(BP)'re in charge of the drilling.
Having said that, Obama's anti-British rhetoric is really irritating me. What is "British Pollution" all about? BP isn't even an acronym and hasn't been since about 1912. BP is a multinational corporation. This has nothing to do with us. So much for being Best Friends Forever...
BP, however, do deserve to be punished. Severely. Their greed seems to have gotten away with them and they were cutting corners left, right and centre (case in point; the person they were supposed to call in the event of an emergency such as the one they have now has been dead for 5 years).
The British media also needs to shut up. They keep saying that American companies were the ones drilling and that BP isn't at fault. Originally I wanted to believe that (it's easier to blame someone else) but I decided to check it out and what I can surmise is that it's bullshit. BP leased the rig from some Swiss company and they(BP)'re in charge of the drilling.
Having said that, Obama's anti-British rhetoric is really irritating me. What is "British Pollution" all about? BP isn't even an acronym and hasn't been since about 1912. BP is a multinational corporation. This has nothing to do with us. So much for being Best Friends Forever...
Jul 13, 2010 at 8:05amclosed account (z05DSL3A)
No, BP is BP. British Petroleum was the company that merged with Amoco to form BP.
BP is the third largest energy company and I think the fourth largest company in the world, that is how it is still making money.
In terms of share holding, i think 40% of the shares are in british hands and 39% are held in the USA.
BP is the third largest energy company and I think the fourth largest company in the world, that is how it is still making money.
In terms of share holding, i think 40% of the shares are in british hands and 39% are held in the USA.
Last edited on Jul 13, 2010 at 8:12am
Jul 13, 2010 at 10:31amThe fundamental problem is not BP. its oil. Sooner or later this was going to happen. If not to BP, then to someone else. And you know what? It will happen again. Sometime. Some place.
The problem is us and our addiction to the poison called oil.
Mistakes will happen. Frying the poor sod who happens to be on watch at the time does not remove our collective culpability for guzzling oil left right and centre. There is no such thing as a perfect machine and that include drilling for oil.
Like someone said at the beginning, if you play with matches you are going to get burned.
Jul 13, 2010 at 5:07pm
Yes. AFAIK there is already a fusion power plant in existance, being used for research.
Fusion produces more energy than fission and is actually a lot cleaner because there is very little waste and it isn't radioactive, so it can be disposed like normal waste. It also has the same benefits that fission has in that it doesn't pollute the air like carbon-based fuels do.
The only downside is that if something goes wrong you basically wipe out a huge chunk of a country. But at least it won't cause a city to be in a Chernobyl-like state a. because the city won't exist and b. because the land won't be radioactive (I think).
Fusion produces more energy than fission and is actually a lot cleaner because there is very little waste and it isn't radioactive, so it can be disposed like normal waste. It also has the same benefits that fission has in that it doesn't pollute the air like carbon-based fuels do.
The only downside is that if something goes wrong you basically wipe out a huge chunk of a country. But at least it won't cause a city to be in a Chernobyl-like state a. because the city won't exist and b. because the land won't be radioactive (I think).
Last edited on Jul 13, 2010 at 5:08pm
Jul 13, 2010 at 10:23pm
Cold fusion is an impossibility, but basically all the energy created through nuclear fusion without any of the heat generated by it. If it were possible it would be (supposedly) completely safe.