Posts Tagged ‘oil spill’

Why I still boycott BP, and hate big oil…

Saturday, March 12th, 2011

If you watch the ads on TV, then the spill in the Gulf is no big deal.  It is mostly cleaned up and BP has done everything it can to make it right.  Think again.  While we are spending all our energy worrying about DOMA, gays in the military, and whether or not Obama has a US birth certificate, oil companies are raping America.  Harsh words, but I mean them.

Let’s start with BP.  Now, we all need gas, so oil is a necessary evil at this point.  Until the infrastructure is in place, we will all be driving gas powered vehicles for a while.  Even if I could get an all electric vehicle, I could never go on a road trip.  That does not mean that I have to buy from BP.  While I have made my line in the sand, BP doesn’t care one whit about me and the 5,000 miles that I drove last year.  Still, when you are wrong, you are wrong.  Yeah, local franchisees are the ones who suffer most from a boycott, but until they realize that there franchise fees are big money to a company that has no real heart, I do not pity them.  If they had switched their allegiance a long time ago, they would have my support.

So what is the story with BP?  Aren’t they doing everything they can to clean up the spill?  Aren’t they helping local fishermen and repairing the environment?  Sure… if you ask them.  They spend millions on spin and advertising.  Want to know the truth? Here are a few videos that outline the TRUE state of affairs in the Gulf.

A gulf resident made this heartfelt video:

This video is from a news station that shows how BP is trying to get away from clean up, before it is cleaned up.

Enough said.  If you want to see more videos or blog posts from hundred, perhaps thousands, or people who live in the area, just use Google and you could spend all day.  I think it is clear that BP is shameful.  Especially if you see all the videos that they have posted of their own to counteract the nay sayers.

But BP is not alone.  Chevron bought out Texaco a long while back.  With it, they bought Texaco’s problems.  One such problem is the oil mess left behind in Ecuador. Finally, in a landmark decision, Chevron has lost in a landmark case.  It has been ordered to pay a $9 Billion settlement with Ecuadorian farmers who have lost their health, their land, their lives.

So, what does a big oil company like Chevron do when it loses a landmark case?  Appeal, of course.  It doesn’t matter that with record breaking profits, this figure represents a drop in the bucket of Chevron’s revenue.  Instead of taking their lumps and paying out, they appeal and drag the case out further.  Seeing as how this case has been in the making for what seems like forever, I am sure that the legal fees alone are more than the settlement.   They have even gone so far as to sue each of the impoverished farmers in the lawsuit for damages, and threated the judge in the case.

Can you tell that I don’t like big oil?  In Alaska, the Exxon Valdez spill was over 20 years ago.  Still, there are reports that some of the habitats (like herring) have never fully recovered.  So what do you do with big corporations with big money that are determined to make more big money?  You give them the right to give limitless donations to political candidates.  They are not likely to overdo it, right?

The American Petroleum Institute is made up of big oil companies like Chevron and Exxon.  They already spend millions every year in lobbying efforts and have pledged to begin direct donations starting later this year.  API spent $6.7 million in lobbying last year, following ConocoPhillips, Chevron, Exxon-Mobil, Shell, Koch Industries and BP who spent even more.  According to records, they mainly support Republican candidates, who are supportive of their efforts to open new wilderness areas for oil exploration, keep government tax breaks despite record breaking profits, and allow fewer restrictions in off shore drilling.

When government oil subsidies could promote clean energy technology, creating new jobs and strengthen the economy, we keep doling them out to industries that take the money and spend it on lobbying efforts and now campaigns.  Yeah…

Drill, baby.  Drill.

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The Oil Spill from someone smarter than me.

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

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A year of oil?

Monday, July 12th, 2010

Thanks to fellow blogger, Joe.My.God,  I was turned on to this animation.  It is a look at the oil spill over the course of a year.  This animation is based on computer simulation models, created at the University of Hawaii.  It shows where the oil spilled over the course 0f 5 months, and where it will all end up.  According to BP we can be assured that the oil spill is nearly over and that by months end, it will be stopped.  Keep in mind that this also doesn’t take into account the burning of oil or the use of dispersants.  Whether this is better or worse for the environment remains to be seen.  I look at how much of the country could be affected.  Just a small spill in a big ocean…

Of course, no one expected the oil to affect New Orleans, but it reportedly has entered the lake. Everyone says that it can’t affect the rain, but oily rain is reported along the coast. We can never predict what is going to happen here.

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Containment this month?

Sunday, July 11th, 2010

BP promises that we should see containment of the oil well within the month.  I remain dubious.  You know the old saying, “Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice and  pay with it with an ecological disaster and cancer causing carcinogens splashed across the country’s beaches.”  I was listening to an interview of some of the divers who have been in the water near the event horizon.  They are diving in Haz Mat suits.  Why?  They do not really know just how much damage can be caused to them by swimming in crude oil.  The same company that has issued this dictum to those divers are the same folks who are saying that this oil spill is not really that big a deal and will not have that much of an affect.   Remember that this spill is “relatively tiny”  in a “very big ocean.”

It isn’t really surprising that I remain skeptical.  BP first tried to pass the buck.  Lots of fingers were pointed, but the bottom line is that BP didn’t maintain their safety equipment.  Secondly, it was a small well and there wasn’t that much oil.  That has proven to be a complete and utter lie.  You can say that this was all underestimated, but if you listen to BP and its supporters, it continues to be underestimated.  BP and our own government have failed to utilize the help of European countries that have offered aid. They refused to use the hair mats that would have absorbed a goodly portion of the oil that floated on the Gulf’s surface and could have prevent some of it from reaching shore.  When it became apparent that BP was not capable of salvaging much of the oil for their own use, they began to burn it off.  If you have ever burned any oil product, then you know this was not a great choice.  Not only is it inefficient, it produces air pollutants and kills off wildlife.  Now they are employing dispersants.  While the crude is terrible, at least it is on organic element.  Man made chemical dispersants will do some good in making the damage of the spill seem less of an issue, but in reality, they are likely to do more harm than good in the long run.  It is not good sense to pour chemicals on top of chemicals to get rid of chemicals.  Especially when mats of human and animal hair will do the trick naturally.

As for the stopping of the leak, BP seemed more keen on keeping free of paying for the damage than they did of stopping the damage.  I can appreciate that the company has a fiduciary responsibility to its share holders to try and make money.  But when does this responsibility to its shareholders trump its responsibility to its customers, the planet, or even the population of the region?  First they promised us that they could just turn it off.  Oops, they spoke too quick.  They tried all kinds of other alternatives, and bandied about even more-all to no avail.  Finally they tried a big dome to cover the whole  damn thing off.  This only led to frustration, but at each stage BP said that they had done it.  Currently, they are removing the old dome and trying to replace it with a new one.  Once again, this should do the trick.  Yeah right….

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Should you boycott BP?

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

My answer is still yes.

BP does not own any gas stations.  That may be true.  But that is not a viable reason to not boycott BP gas stations.  I am loking around the web and I guess that BP and its mega conglomerate spin machine is doing its job.  There are a lot of people saying that boycotting BP is not a good idea.  They are saying that it will do no good and that you are only hurting the local economy.  I think it is just more spin.  As usual, I have my own opinions about the matter and have no problem sharing them with you in a long rant.

First off.  Oil continues to spill out of the ground and we have no way of stopping it.  You can watch it here.  There was a cap in place and lots of people thought that was it.  That cap failed and wreaked more damage.  Crude oil continues to rush into our ocean at a rate of unheard of proportions.  While we all sat back and trusted that our politicians to handle this disaster, BP ignored offers of help from other countries, from everyone in fact.  The CEO of BP said, “it is really a small spill for such a big ocean.”  Months have gone by and BP is responsible for the largest ecological and economical disaster in recent history (by my accounts-we have a long way to go before we see just how bad this will get).  TO me there is NO question that we should all be boycotting BP gasoline and BP stations.

Okay let’s look at the arguments by those who oppose boycotts of BP:

BP doesn’t own any gas stations.  True.  BP supplies to gasoline to franchise operations who sell their gasoline products and pay hefty fees every month to support the corporation and use their logo.  While I agree that it is really those franchisees who are hurt the most by a boycott, they can leave the group and buy their gasoline elsewhere.  Yes, they will lose money.  Yes, they are being hurt.  Yes, they will have to spend a load of cash to change over to a new supplier, and get rid of the BP logo.  Yes, it means new signs, new stationery, new supplier, new credit accounts, new everything.  Sorry, but sometimes in life you you make what turns out to be a mistake.  Just because you hitched your wagon to the wrong company, does not mean I should help support you as you support the mega corporation that has created this mess.  You picked the wrong company and I will not be giving you any more of my money to pass along to them.  At some point you have to say, “enough is enough,” and bow out gracefully.  Take your lumps and move on.  I feel for you here, as I have made plenty of decisions that turned out in hindsight to be the wrong ones for my future.  Being an adult means picking yourself up and moving on.  That is called business, get over it.  It has even been said that to boycott your local franchisee is unfair-I say to remain a part of the BP group is unfair.  Because they don’t want to lose money, we are all supposed to look away and ignore that there has been oil spilling into the Gulf for months because your supplier ignored its safety obligations and spent more money greasing palms than on stopping potential safety hazards. The longer they stay married to the BP brand the more money they will lose.  That is bad business and we are supposed to support bad business?  Would you buy crappy food just because the restaurant is near your house?  How about if you found out they bought their meat from a supplier that ignored health and safety violations and may have dangerous beef?

You are only hurting the local economy.  I don’t even get this argument.  This is obviously corporate spin at its best.  If you continue to drive, then you continue to buy gas.  Nearly all gas stations are franchises owned by a local business person, so switching from one brand to another will not hurt the local economy.  It only moves the money to the hands of another business owner.  Yeah the BP owner may lose money and have to lay off staff and even close.  But those dollars spent on gas are being spent somewhere, and if you choose another local franchise to shop at, then your money stays here.  That owner may have to hire more help and then jobs are created.  We do not have a local oil supply or a local refinery that is going to suffer.  So this whole argument makes no sense to me at all.  Switching from Coke to Pepsi will not hurt the local economy.  Switching from Great Lakes Brewery to Heineken will.  That is how supporting the local economy works.

You can’t stop using BP anyway.  There is some truth here.  BP sells its oil to all kinds of manufacturers.  That is why they delayed so long to start burning or decided to refuse help in the clean up  They planned on salvaging as much crude as possible.  Even if it isn’t good enough for gasoline, it might make plastic bags, lipsticks, even your detergent bottle.  So you can’t really boycott BP completely.  I imagine that if even manufacturers stopped buying BP petroleum, then they would sell it to a middle man who would turn around and sell it again as their own.  It might even be blended in with oil from multiple suppliers, so you never know where it is coming from.  All of this is true.  However, brands are built.  BP has spent a long time and a lot of money to build the BP brand.  They have also spent a ton of money trying to salvage their brand and their reputation.  A chunk of this money is coming from those of you who are supporting the local BP station who passes along their share in franchise fees to BP, as well as taking their profits in gasoline.  Big oil is big business.  When you stop buying BP gas, you are telling them that their brand is tarnished, and you are asking the franchisees to switch suppliers.  Some already have.

Unless you are planning on going to the Gulf and volunteering to wash wildlife, there is little that you can do right now to stem the results of this disaster.  One is to contact British Parliament and tell them to rein in one of their corporations.  Another is to contact your congress person and tell them how fed up you are-even write the president!  But the biggest thing that you can do is to stop buying BP gasoline.  You have to spend your money where it matters.  By boycotting BP you are helping to stop further disasters.  I would bet that right now, other oil companies are double checking their oil rigs to prevent this from happening to them.  If we ignore it, why wouldn’t they?

Really, the only way to stop this kind of abuse is to stop using so much fossil fuels.  But don’t get me going on that….

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Count yourselves lucky.

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

Sometimes we like to complain, or maybe we feel down, or we are fed up with the government on any level.  So as the week draws to a close, I just wanted to share a couple of sites with you to help you put things in perspective.

We can often get so wrapped up in our own little lives that we forget that we are a pretty small part of humanity and that the planet has a lot going on outside of ourselves.  Enter Foreign Policy magazine.   They continuously show us how diverse and big the world is and how we fit into it.  This month is a failed states issue, focused on dictators and countries who are barely even still existing-with an enlightening article about Ronald Reagan, too.   They have complied a photo essay of the world’s most failed states, called Postcards From Hell.  While we are worried about the cost of gas, many countries are falling apart completely.  Take some time and check it out, it is a beautiful pictorial and merits time and attention. Thanks to Fellow blogger Joe.My.God. for pointing this out to me.

The other is Huffington Post.  There are a great many images here of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  Right now, a scene is being played out in the Gulf that is likely to be the worst economic, environmental and political disaster of our lifetimes.  It has already bigger than Exxon Valdez in scope.  What it will do to the economy of Gulf states and the livelihood of those living there is yet to be seen.  The ramifications on foreign policy, energy legislation, and economic recovery cannot even be calculated.  This with has great images of not just a bunch of animals, but politicians, hearings, oil, beaches, people…. all sorts of things that are being affected here.  My hope is that somehow the price of shrimp and gas may finally wake up many to the real problems with a fossil fuel based lifestyle, since environmental destruction doesn’t seem to be nearly as important as comfort, or we would never had started selling Hummers.

I can talk all day, but the images on these sties speak louder than I ever could, so take some time to look some of them over.

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Who gives a damn about the Gulf anyway?

Friday, May 14th, 2010

Save the oil and not the ocean.  That seems to be the standpoint of BP.

First off, let me say that there is a lot of speculation about this issue.  I personally do not know the truth in cold hard facts.  That, however, will not stop me from ranting on about this horrible mess that we have created in the Gulf of Mexico.

Step one, hide the severity of the problem.  I was listening to NPR and one official from Mississippi (I think it was a senator) said that this problem is being blown completely out of proportion and that this was nothing like the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska.  He cited his clean Mississippi beaches as proof that there is really nothing to worry about-his beaches are just as clean and beautiful as they were months ago.  This is the type of short sighted viewpoint that got us into this mess.  He and his cohorts that are big in the oil industry states continue to suggest that no matter how big this problem gets, we should not let it stop us from continuing to drill for our own oil-even if it is offshore.  This was a statement at a congressional hearing on the matter.  This is really no big surprise.  Lobbyists have major power in the gulf states and big oil companies have deep pockets for lobbying efforts.  Remember they made record smashing profits as the price of gasoline rose to obscene levels for no good reason.  Say what you want, the price has dropped by as much as $1.50 and nothing has changed, so there was no good reason.  From the very beginning, media has downplayed the true severity of the problem going on in the gulf.  Every day THOUSANDS of gallons of oil are spilling into the ocean.  I read on the Huffington Post: Don’t worry about that pesky oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, BP CEO Tony Hayward says: It’s “relatively tiny” compared to the “very big ocean.” At the same time, Sweden has offered up the use of oil skimming vessels, but as of yet we have not asked them to send them out.  They are weeks away, and we continue to watch the problem and evaluate proposals of help form Europe and the UN.  Step One, check.

In reality, we cannot accurately measure the amount of oil spilling into the ocean every day.  Some say 5000 gallons a day, but most speculate that it is more than this.  In fact, NPR reports that it could be as much as 70,000 barrels a day-the equivalent of an Exxon Valdez every 4 days.  No one can really be sure, because part of the problem is that the oil doesn’t always rise straight to the surface.  Much of it is lingering below the surface and that cannot be accurately tracked.  All tracking fo the oil spill is being done by air and satellite and that may or may not be giving us an accurate picture.  What is clear, is that using the most conservative estimates, this is an ecological disaster.  Huge amounts of oil are heading to Louisiana and the wildlife refuge that is home to life seen in relatively few places in the world and how this will effect the ecosystem of the southern US remains to be seen.  To get a glimpse at the estimates and how this slick is moving toward shore, check out this interactive map on the NY Times website. If conservative estimates are to be believed, then this is a disaster, but it is likely to be a catastrophe unlike anything we have seen in recent history.  To top it off, oil pockets go hand in hand with methane, which is also being released into the atmosphere at an alarming rate.  No one seems concerned about this at all, because in relation to the amount of oil flowing into the Gulf waters, it is merely an inconvenience.  Oh, and by the way, tar balls of oil are starting to show up on beaches, and states are scrambling to keep the oil at bay.

Step two, pass the buck.  What exactly went wrong, no one is entirely sure.  What we do know is that everyone is blaming someone else.  TrasOcean Ltd is the company that owns the actual rig.  They blame BP for failing to keep up on safety measures.  BP is shifting as much blame as it can onto others.  Here is how I understand this mess:  Regulators failed to monitor the situation.  That department needs to be fired and experience what unemployment is like instead of the high life of doing nothing and looking the other way and probably taking perks in the process.  BP is responsible for not following up on its back up systems.  It has been determined that all the back up systems were a mess-there was faulty wiring, dead batteries, untested equipment, and the like.  This is mainly their problem and they will have to foot the bill.  The fact that they are not owning up to it, means I have to find another gas station to buy my gas from.  At the same time, they are blaming the concrete for failing-a product of Haliburton.  Every time I hear that name, I cringe.  Haliburton alleges that BP was drilling deeper than reported and that affected the quality of the concrete they provided.  TransOcean lays the blame on BP who operated the rig.  They must know they have some blame, as they have filed a claim i court to limit their liability, before the oil even is stopped from gushing.  This move will also allow all the lawsuits against them to be consolidated before a single judge.  Step Two, check.

I have a simple solution to the entire problem.  Make everyone involved pay the full amount for the oil spill.  This will ensure that every entity will work 10 times harder to make sure that they are not at fault in any future accidents-likely reducing the chances of future accidents.  Excess moneys can be used for rebuilding efforts as we can never have enough money to try and rebuild fish and wildlife populations that are demolished by this kind of disaster.  Leave the players involved open for civil suits.  We can never be done with this mess, as we find out how many fishermen lose their livelihood, how many tourist attractions end up closed, and what ever else will happen.  stop coddling big business who are only after profits, not caring about the ramifications.  Considering the amount of money paid out by Exxon Mobile and what they make in profits, they have done just fine while Alaska still suffers from issues surrounding that oil spill.

Step three, save the oil.  This is really going to have to go into another post.  But it seems that all the efforts surrounding stopping the spill involve siphoning off the oil.  Great it you can save it, but that is secondary to the actual STOPPING THE SPILL.  I will be reading more about this side of it and writing again, but it seems that we are not working hard enough at stopping the release of oil at all costs.  That should be our #1 priority.

Amplify

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Give em your hair

Monday, May 10th, 2010

I have been reading a lot lately on ways they plan to clean up the oil spill in the gulf of Mexico. If there is anything good to come out of the Exxon Valdez spill a few years back, it is that we are better prepared to deal with this disaster.  Don’t get me wrong, this is a HUGE problem and the effects that it will have on wildlife, the economy of the Gulf states, tourism in Central America, and the oceans cannot even be calculated.  We have yet to even stop the flow of oil into the gulf.  While you are reading this one sentence another 25 gallons have spilled into the ocean.

One thing that has been found to help clean up an oil mess is natural and fairly abundant.  Hair.  Hair, fur, and the like are natural absorbers of oil and dirt. That is why we wash it so often. It is being collected and turned into mats that can be used on the water as well as the beaches to absorb the massive petroleum spill. I have even heard of these mats ebing composted or used to grow mushrooms. In 2007, this method was used to help clean up an oil spill in California (watch the video below). TO think with all the pets and people getting clipped every day and all that mess is going into landfill. Now we have figured out a use for it. I hope that once this mess is done, that perhaps the government and oil companies will begin to stockpile these hair mats for just such an emergency. Want to know how you can help? I got this email today:

News Release! Please Help!

Companies Helping to Ameliorate Damage From the Oil Spill

Camp Bow Wow and Home Buddies by Camp Bow Wow, the nation’s largest pet services company is offering a unique way to help out. The company has reached out to all of its franchisees (200+ throughout the US and Canada), asking them to collect dog hair and fur after a pet’s grooming, which will then be used to create oil booms to help ameliorate the disaster.

Franchisees will be donating any type of fur, hair, feathers, natural fibers and used nylons to create oil booms, which will help soak up oil from the spill in the Gulf. These fur oil booms are then used to contain the spill. Matter of Trust, a 501(c)3 non-profit, is coordinating this effort nationwide by sending all fur/hair to the region. As a leader in the pet services industry, Camp Bow Wow and Home Buddies are helping to bring this effort to light and raise awareness for the ways in which companies can help out on the local and national level.

Individual franchises throughout the US will be aiding in collecting hair / fur / fibers from their neighborhoods and bringing awareness to this cause by putting up flyers, info on their websites, etc.

“As there are growing concerns that the oil spill in the Gulf may now eclipse the Exxon Valdez spill, we want to do our part in helping with the cleanup. Pet hair is an absorbent and can be used to create oil absorbing mats. By collecting pet hair after grooming at our franchise locations, we will be able to use our resources to aid in the effort,” noted Heidi Ganahl, CEO and Founder of Camp Bow Wow and Home Buddies.

Camp Bow Wow of Strongsville is an Official Drop Off Site! If you are interested in donating, please visit Strongsville Camp Bow Wow or Home Buddies in Strongsville, to drop off hair / fur. 440-572-3200. Fur and Hair does not have to be freshly shampooed to be dropped off, but must not be filthy.

Several businesses in the area are already pitching in, including hair salons & dog groomers!

If you own a pet, a salon, or know someone who does, think seriously about chipping in here and giving your old hair a new life.

Amplify

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