I promised myself that I would steer clear of politics on this blog, but when it comes to the BP disaster, it seems to have nothing to do with political alignments. I think everyone on the planet should be equally outraged, no matter what their beliefs. To me, this situation is on par with watching a big group of thugs beat up and mug old ladies. I’ve compiled a list of things you may or may not know about the BP spill, but definitely should.

1. THEY KNEW IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. Employees had reported methane bubbles coming up the pipes, but were ordered to continue working anyway (link). BP also cut corners by only installing one blowout preventer with no remote backup switch, even after having similar problems earlier (link). Add this to their past negligent and defensive behavior about their safety records (link), and you have a pretty clear picture of how BP operates.

2. THEY ARE NOT “ONE BAD APPLE”. They, like every major corporation, weigh the cost compliance versus penalties of being caught. This is precisely how capitalism works, and if you really need links as examples, google the recent mine disaster, pharmaceutical companies and side effects, large companies’ recent dumping of health care benefits for employees, various product safety recalls, etc etc.

3. WE WILL CONTINUE TO HEAR EMPTY PROMISES OF GREENING UP OUR ENERGY PROBLEMS, AND YET WASHINGTON WILL CONTINUE TO DO NOTHING. Every president since Nixon has promised to move us away from “foreign oil dependency” and “alternative energy resources”, and yet, every year we become more and more dependent on oil. And if you are still mistaking President Obama for a beacon of hope, ask yourself why he accepted the biggest chunk ($77,000) of $3.5 million dollars in BP federal campaign contributions. This doesn’t even include the $15.9 million dollars spent on lobbying. (link).

4. BOYCOTTING ONE GAS COMPANY DOESN’T DO A THING. Gasoline is traded as a commodity between different companies, which means the oil that comes out of a BP rig isn’t necessarily going to end up in a BP station. Nor are you avoiding BP oil by buying gas elsewhere. (link re: citgo boycott, info still applies)

5. EVEN IF WE DRIVE LESS, OUR LIVES ARE INEXTRICABLY LINKED TO PETROLEUM. About 6,000 common household items are made from or with petroleum (link). And we are still heavily dependent on truck delivery for 70% of our goods, double what it was 20 years ago (link).

6. BP IS DUMPING MORE TOXIC WASTE INTO THE GULF AS PART OF THEIR “CLEANUP”. Corexit, the chemical dispersant that BP is using is likely more toxic than the oil itself (link). BP also refuses to release the ingredients it contains, claiming it is a “trade secret”, and has also refused to stop using it, ignoring EPA requests to use a less toxic substance. The ecological consequences of this are yet to be seen (although here is a video of a tar-ball coated beach in Florida), but cleanup workers have been reported as having dizziness, respiratory problems, and headaches. You probably haven’t heard much about cleanup injuries because the government HAS BANNED THE PRESS FROM COMING WITHIN 65 FEET ANY CLEANUP AREAS OR CLEANUP WORKERS.(link)

7. Which leads me to the most disturbing thing of all… THE GOVERNMENT HAS DONE EVERYTHING IT CAN TO MAKE SURE BP COMES OUT ON TOP OF ALL OF THIS. In addition to banning the press (how will we EVER know just how bad it really is?), giving BP full control over cleanup efforts (hello? conflict of interest anyone?), the US government ordered a $20 billion escrow fund. It may seem like a lot, but stockholders shared a sigh of relief because damages and losses are estimated at hundreds of billions, although Washington claims it’s not a cap. With a little rebranding, they can go on as if nothing happened.

8. SO… HOW MUCH OIL IS REALLY GUSHING INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO? Depends on who you believe. BP just spent $50 million trying to recover its tarnished image and an unknown amount on SEO (link). They claim it is (worst case scenario) 162,000 barrels and assume it has basically stopped, and deny the existence of plumes. Independent estimates vary from 20,000 to 60,000 barrels per day, and by the end, it will be over 4 million barrels (link). This is a like an Exxon Valdez every week, and today marks the 81st day. Plumes have been discovered 20 miles northeast of Deepwater Horizon, and another nearby (link). Entire ecosystems stand to be wiped out (link), tourism and fishing industries destroyed, and yet-to-be-seen weather, tectonic/geothermal, and public health consequences.

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT THIS?

THIS IS WHERE I REALLY GET PISSED.

I’m on mailing lists for many, many political organizing groups and I have been utterly shocked at the half-assed, quarter-assed, and zero-assed actions they’ve been proposing. WHAT DOESN’T WORK? PETITIONS. ESPECIALLY ONLINE ONES. FACEBOOK GROUPS. BOYCOTTS THAT ARE ANYTHING SHORT OF A LIFESTYLE CHANGE. CANDLELIGHT VIGILS. I even got an invite to do SUN SALUTATIONS AT A YOGA STUDIO to help the BP crisis. You know what else isn’t going to work? Expecting the government to do ANYTHING besides pay us lip service to quell public rage.

So what will work? In the short term, unfortunately, the best things you can do are donate your money and/or time to cleanup efforts (see first comment below). Educate yourself, and others around you, as word of mouth is *especially* important in this case with the media being snuffed out. In the long term, there is actually a lot more. *Cue soapbox*- limit your gasoline consumption, and the consumption of petroleum products as much as you can. Spend the extra money for alternate resources if that option is available to you (the exception being ethanol, which is more environmentally destructive than oil). Stop thinking that voting for Democrats will make things better, when their first and foremost interests have been made blatantly clear time and time again. But don’t give up on political representatives completely- pressuring them to improve safety standards could make a big impact. Several countries have banned offshore drilling and chemical dispersants, and required backup safety features, and the US could do the same. I personally plan to support independent thinkers who can give us this “change” Obama has failed miserably with. There are so many things to be outraged by in this whole scenario, and it’s time we made our voices known and make some choices to make sure things like this don’t keep happening over and over.