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British Petroleum

Gulf oil spill crisis | A threat & an opportunity

by Michael J. Evans on June 9, 2010

in Uncategorized

Gulf Oil Spill Crisis: Will President Obama Follow the Lead of Jimmy Carter, or John F. Kennedy?

The Gulf oil spill is a crisis that presents both a threat and an opportunity for President Obama. His success does not depend on exhibiting anger, as some in the media have suggested. He cannot “emote” his way out of this crisis. The outcome will be determined not by words, but by actions. The comparison between President Obama and George W. Bush, and the debate over whether this is Obama’s Katrina, is a false issue. It may provide interesting cable news chatter, but the President should not concern himself with that. The real issue before President Obama is “What can I do, now that I know the full scope of the problem and the unreliability of British Petroleum, to protect the Gulf Coast and the health and financial well-being of its citizens?” [click to continue…]

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Michael J. Evans: My Proposal for Helping Clean Up the Gulf Coast Oil Spill | Federalize the Cleanup

by Michael J. Evans on May 28, 2010

in Oil Spill Suggestions

Michael J. Evans

Michael J. Evans

Oil Spill Suggestion – Dear President Obama: please take over the oil spill cleanup, and send BP the bill.

Updated oil spill suggestion June 7, 2010: BP has paid only $48 million to 18,000 of the 37,000 who have filed oil spill claims. About 90% of the oil spill claims have been paid to individuals, reported the Wall Street Journal. Compare this to the amount BP television ad campaign, plus an unknown amount being spent on pay-per-click Google ads.

Oil Spill Suggestion Updated June-2-2010 – B.P has been, at best, ineffective in running the Gulf oil spill cleanup, and here at BP Oil News, we’ve published over 800 oil spill suggestions. (As of June 7, 2010, we’ve published over 1,400 oil spill suggestions). We’ve had suggestions for plugging BP’s oil leak, and for reducing damage from the Gulf oil spill. Now I want to make a suggestion of my own. No, I don’t have an idea for plugging the hole. But I do think I have a common-sense suggestion for cleaning it up in a way that also minimizes economic losses to people and businesses on the Gulf Coast.

One of the first things to recognize is that BP has the financial ability, and the legal obligation, to pay the federal government a large amount of money because of this spill. Any money the federal government spends on my plan will be recovered in fines and penalties from BP.  (Calculations are explained in a paragraph at the end of this article).

When oil hits the beach, tourism takes a nosedive. The federal government should rent those vacant hotel rooms (fines and damages from BP should easily cover the cost of the rooms). Then fill those hotel rooms with volunteers and unemployed workers who are willing to travel to the beach to help in the oil spill cleanup effort. Additionally, hire fishermen and other Gulf Coast residents who are out of work due to the oil spill. The government could either rent hotel rooms and hire workers directly, or it could contract with private companies/individuals who would rent hotel rooms and supervise workers. Or, perhaps even better, let the government give the money to state and local governments, and let people like Gov. Bobby Jindal and Billy Nungesser make the decisions about how to deal with BP’s oil spill. [click to continue…]

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Beyond Petroleum or greenwashing? BP’s Checkered Environmental Record Since Going Green

by Jennifer Escalona on May 9, 2010

in BP oil spill

Beyond Petroleum, or “Greenwashing?”

Beyond Petroleum or Big Polluter? Is British Petroleum just greenwashing? By now we’re all familiar with the latest national environmental crisis. An explosion on the Deepwater Horizon, a BP offshore oil drilling rig, caused the deaths of 11 workers, injured 7 more, and left an oil spill the size of Rhode Island drifting inexorably toward the Gulf Coast. But this isn’t the first time the company has been responsible for an environmental crisis, or the first time that they’ve attempted to change the narrative when accused of environmental malfeasance. BP greenwashing is the company’s current modus operandi.

The initials BP originally stood for “British Petroleum,” but you wouldn’t know it in recent years. In an interesting example of “backronyming,” in 2000 the oil giant began labeling itself “Beyond Petroleum.” The “Beyond Petroleum” slogan, found plastered on ads in national publications and on television, was soon reinforced when the company, according to Multinational Monitor’s The 10 Worst Corporations of 2005 report, announced “that it expects to spend as much as $8 billion in alternative-energy projects, including solar, wind, hydrogen and carbon-abatement technology, over 10 years.” Just how serious is an $8 billion commitment from BP? Given the fact that the corporation reported a profit of more than $6 billion in the first quarter of 2010, it’s merely four months’ profit. In view of BP’s conduct in the ten years since it began its “beyond petroleum” PR campaign, there has been plenty of evidence that it’s just BP greenwashing. [click to continue…]

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