Oil

[poliphilo]

It's sneaky of President Obama to be harping on about the Britishness of BP, but when you're desperate to divert blame from yourself any old scapegoat will do.  BP itself- keen to promote itself as a Goliath sans frontieres- stopped calling itself British a while back.  Is this ironic? Maybe in an Alanis Morisette sort of a way.

A lot of the anger has been directed at the presentational skills of the BP high ups. Its chairman went on holiday after the rig blew up, its Brit on the ground made that unfortunate remark about wanting his life back. It's not as if either of them could have done anything to make things better- but they could have tried to seem a little less wrapped up in themselves.  In a world ruled by the media appearances go an long, long way- and seeming to give a shit is as almost as good as actually giving a shit.

Our man Cameron is mainly concerned about how the demands on BP are going to hit British pensioners- who have invested in the company- and how maybe next time round they won't vote for him. My sympathy is limited. Investment is a risky business and the higher the returns the less stable they're likely to be. My father was a Lloyds name and when Lloyds had an annus horribilis in the 90s  he suddenly found he was liable to pay out rather than rake in.  He could have sidestepped his obligations, but he didn't. He said he'd taken the divvies when times were good and it was only fair he should take the hard knocks too.

We want the oil- but the oil is running out- so we go looking for it in more and more inaccessible places. Everyone concerned must have known that it was a risky business to exploit the deepwater fields- and everyone concerned had their fingers crossed. It's cheap and unhelpful to say we're all to blame, but there's a level at which it's true.  We want the oil and we want it now- and we collectively turn our eyes away from the costs. The Gulf oil spill isn't the first such disaster. I was reading that it's dwarfed by what we've allowed to happen in the Niger delta. Thing is the shouts of indignation from West Africa don't carry very far. Only when there's a fuck-up in a place where the relatively privileged live are we obliged to pay attention.

I read the other day that BP has been thinking- recently- of rebranding itself as Beyond Petroleum. I hope that's true. If there's any good thing about all this it's that we've been reminded- dramatically- that our stocks of oil are running low and will soon run out- and we really need to be thinking very hard about how we're going to power our civilisation when they do.

Comments

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

It is my (I'm sorry to admit) cynical feeling that all the people around me protesting about BP and their evils are driving to their protests in their giant cars.

If they really wanted to do something about the oil spill, they'd be pushing for replacement energy sources.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

Or getting rid of their great big cars. But that would be inconvenient.

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

Indeed.

I am not one of the people vituperating BP, precisely because I need my car and I need my air conditioning and I am fully aware of my complicity in the economic situation that causes companies to do things like haul oil long distances over water or pull it up from strange and dangerous places. I am using this opportunity to think about how I would decrease my dependence on oil (while also being fully aware that as a single person I can do nothing).

I would have hoped that something like this disaster would have been an opportunity for the whole country to step back and say, "Wow. Alternate energy sources. RIGHT NOW." Instead, we seem to be engaged in self-righteous blaming of corporatism, ignoring the fact that corporations give us what we ask for. :/

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

Also: we might want to re-think the bans on drilling in places where the containment of a disaster is more feasible. It's an article of faith that one may not even think of drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve, for example, but the fact is that there would be much less damage to the ecosystem if there were a land-based spill there than if millions of barrels continue to spew one mile underground in the Gulf of Mexico, where the Gulf Stream can spread its influence up the east coast of the United States and then to northern Europe.

A policy that looks at several approaches -- increased drilling where the impact can be minimized; use of more natural gas; increased emphasis on disaster preparedness and prevention/mitigation; research and development to make alternate sources of energy safe, reliable, and affordable; and examination of personal habits to reduce one's energy footprint -- makes a lot of sense to me. And I positively refuse to take another finger-pointing, podium-pounding sermon by someone with an energy footprint the size of Godzilla when I am sitting here with no air conditioning and a bicycle instead of an automobile.

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

I have personally never understood the ban against drilling in Alaska. If the need is great, then our choices are to reduce our need or to face that we might have to sacrifice in order to meet it. I see very little of the latter, and very little willingness to do the former. I can only conclude the latter generations of Americans as a whole are about as emotionally mature as my toddler. "BUT I WANT IT!!"

[drox.livejournal.com]

I have personally never understood the ban against drilling in Alaska.

There isn't a ban on drilling in Alaska. Alaska has oil wells everywhere (well, everywhere that has oil underneath, which is very nearly everywhere) both on land and offshore.

The ban is on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). And I suspect it will remain in place at least in part because there's a refuge on the Canadian side too. And there's a treaty in place between these countries regarding the refuge and its wildlife. If drilling were to proceed in the wildlife refuge on either side of the border, it would be a violation of that treaty.

Migratory wildlife don't respect national boundaries.

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

"Drill, baby, drill!!!"

Wasn't that what you and your crazy old people were chanting back in '08 at the Republican love-fest? Or have you conveniently forgotten?

A lack of meaningful oversight, and the gutting of industry regulations, unequivocally supported and implemented by the Republicans, generally, is what brought us this disaster. Not surprisingly, it's what caused our recent financial collapse, too.

Increased oversight and regulation, including not drilling in risky places where disaster looms like this, is exactly the sort of thing that I and other liberals have been advocating for years and years and years.

No one who supported the Republicans in recent memory has any right to lecture anyone on any topic under these circumstances. If you were sincere abuot the suggestions you offer, you would never have supported the Republicans in the first place.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

I am still chanting drill baby drill. As long as this world insists on running on oil, it's necessary. The cozy mess that resulted in suspension of regulations for BP started back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and perpetuated by the very superior minds in the Obama administration. And still, we need the oil.

As for waving moral superiority around: do you drive an automobile with an internal combustion engine? If you do, then I am your moral superior. I am car free and use a bicycle to do just about everything.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I don't think it becomes me- as a Brit- to say too much about America's huge appetite for oil (ours is bad enough) but I heartily agree.