Irresponsible business practices demands scrutiny
BP is bidding for federal leases to explore for oil in the Gulf of Mexico, just days after the EPA lifted a 16-month ban that kept the oil company from exploring the outer continental shelf.
The company was banned in 2012 from renewing federal leases after agreeing to plead guilty to criminal charges for the death of 11 of its workers in the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster and for lying to Congress about the amount of oil that was leaking into the Gulf of Mexico.
So what’s the big deal, right? BP did its time, and now it’s going back to what it does best.
However, BP’s rap sheet since the Gulf oil spill is anything but clean. This week, its Whiting refinery in Indiana suffered a malfunction and oozed between 10 and 12 barrels of crude oil into Lake Michigan, the equivalent of 500 gallons.
We all remember seeing the headlines about BP’s catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed 11 people and injured 17.
The blowout preventer — a device intended to contain oil that can be released in a blowout — failed, and what followed is regarded as the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, leaking 5,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
A surplus of media coverage inspired a public outcry. President Barack Obama addressed the nation regarding the issue and promised to use “every single available resource,” including the U.S. military, to contain the spill. Taxpayer dollars bailed out yet another private company, a sort of environmental TARP program.
However, there seems to be a lack of public outrage over BP’s current bids for federal drilling rights. Have we all forgotten the disasters this company is responsible for?
The Deepwater Horizon oil rig was located just 42 miles off of the coast of Louisiana. The spill distressed wildlife all along the coast and endangered fishing industries — one of the biggest industries in the region.
What kind of message is our government sending when it allows companies that conduct business irresponsibly to drill right in our backyard?
BP should be under constant public scrutiny for its past indiscretions, and it should be held to a strict standard. The company should also not be considered for government contracts. In a capitalist society, the only way to reprimand a company is to hit it in the pocket.
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