BP Oil Spill in Photos

Check out this link for some amazing and sad photos of some victims of the oil spill.

BP: The Next Generation

Since the BP spill has yet to be contained, I have this visual of their offices being absolute chaos: paper flying out of printers, someone in the fetal position by the water cooler, a sweaty CEO loosening his tie while he continues to answer the same questions over and over to reporters, and all the blinds are closed so the staff can try to ignore the eggs and tomatoes being thrown from the public.

A little dramatic yes, but it's what we all hope the mood of Beyond Petrolium's offices are.

Apparently they are looking toward the future...

BP Oil is currently working on plans to drill in the arctic and it's called the Liberty Project. That's right, as more than 50% of Americans feel that BP Oil should be criminally prosecuted the company is proposing to drill in one of the two Polar Bear Seas, where half of America's polar bears currently live.

The NRDC who is suing BP for it's current spill has a letter you can fill out to express your feelings toward the new project here (only if you're American). The NRDC also states that like in the Gulf, BP is allowed to conduct its own environmental assesment and emergency response plan.

We all know how well that worked:

History of Oil Spills

Unfortunately the oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico is dominating headlines lately (not unfortunate that it's getting coverage but rather that it happened).

It's sad that this is how we need to be reminded that offshore drilling is far from fool-proof and spills aren't a question of if but rather when. The haunting images of animals drenched oil and unable to move should be enough for us to take a stand against our dependence on oil.

However, history has shown this won't change anything. The recent oil spill doesn't even make the top ten worst oil spills in history. Even America's latest president who campaigned for change and promised absolutely no drilling has approved more offshore drilling. Canada isn't much better with our government pushing to install a massive pipeline to carry oil from the Tar Sands right to Vancouver's coast near tourist destination Stanley Park.

The Gulf of Mexico is getting the attention it rightly should, including the usual celebrity telethons, massive government funding, investigations to reveal the obvious, and hollow promises from the oil company.

However the spotlight should be shared with all oil companies and the governments with lax regulations. Why aren't the front pages including investigations into other operations? Why aren't we demanding a halt to all other approvals to offshore drilling?

Our focus is on recovery when we should also be thinking of preventing it because it absolutely will happen again.