More BP, then 'nuff of that for me

Yesterday's blog post was about the BP oil spill. There was some reaction. Interestingly enough, my wife reposted it on her Facebook page, and the post drew more comments from her friends than I did from mine. Hmmmm. . .I am grateful for all of it. I'm hoping for some discussion or observation any time I post. Those who know me know I'm a gentle, tolerant soul. I will take you seriously, and I only look like I bite. (That's a joke, son.)

I do want to respond to one of the responses. It tended toward a point of view contrary to mine, and that response deserves a serious, respectful response.

The person (I'm not using his name - not because of anger but because I'm not sure he would want it used) pointed out that this was an accident. My question: at what point in the BP hierarchy was this an accident?

There is no doubt in my mind that, among the rig workers, this was absolutely a tragic accident. Nobody wakes up in the morning and goes to work thinking, "Gee, I think I'll blow an oil rig, create an environmental catastrophe, and kill a bunch of coworkers while I'm at it." Nobody in their right mind would think that, and I'm confident nobody did. For the workers, it was an accident.

But a little higher up the ladder. . .from Wikipedia: " Internal BP documents show that BP engineers had concerns as early as 2009 that the metal casing BP wanted to use might collapse under high pressure. . . In March 2010, the rig experienced problems that included drilling mud falling into the undersea oil formation, sudden gas releases, a pipe falling into the well, and at least three occasions of the blowout preventer leaking fluid.^[26] The rig's mechanic has stated that the well had problems for months and that the drill repeatedly kicked due to high gas pressure providing resistance. . .the blowout preventer was damaged in a previously unreported accident in late March 2010. . . Preliminary findings from BP’s internal investigation released by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on May 25 indicated several serious warning signs in the hours just prior to the explosion." I won't quote the whole article. But the point is, BP knew this, and ordered drilling to proceed anyway.

Can you seriously refer to this as an accident from management's point of view? If you take your car around a sharp curve at 100 miles per hour, you will probably have a crash. You most certainly will not have an accident.

The person who responded pointed out that they put gas in your car.  Let's not give them too much credit here - they didn't do it for charity - but he does point to a valid, larger issue. Our problem isn't just addiction to foreign oil. It's addiction to oil, foreign or domestic. It really doesn't matter if you boycott BP gas stations. They're usually franchisees, and you'll be hurting one of the innocent parties. When a service station needs to fill their underground tanks, in most instances they make phone calls to local storage facilities to see who has the best price that day, and that's where they buy. You may be in a Clark station, but the gas could be Shell. It could be BP. You don't know.

The ironic think is, it's still hard to find someone to admit that Jimmy Carter was right - just 30 years ahead of his time. And Al Gore? Maybe he's absolutely wrong. Maybe he's a complete crackpot. But. .  .but. . .what if he's right? Al Gore has presented his evidence. Where's the contrary evidence? What if he's right?

BP does employ a lot of people. I just can't see the argument that employing thousands compensates for killing two dozen in two incidents. Yes, the workers knew what they had gotten into - deep water drilling is a risky business - but in this case the company's management seems to have ignored and maybe even worsened the risks. Criminally so? That remains to be seen.

This wasn't meant to be a broadside against BP, but maybe it was. Other companies do deep water drilling more safely. BP has a particularly bad track record. My heart goes out to the workers who were lost. . .to their families. . .to those who continue to work at this dangerous job. Bless you all.

But this doesn't change what I see as the larger issue in all of this. Many of both parties have noted that we are just too dependent on the gloopy toxic messy environment-killing stuff.

As always, thanks for hanging out with me for a few. I do hope I've been respectful in addressing this.