OT: gulf oil spill - not on a cycling forum

[eddief]

i am editing myself and deleting my potentially inciting noticing of the oil spill dilemma.

i am interested in peace and calm on the forum.

obviously would get blown out of proportion quickly.

i am keeping with cycling related subject matter.

[pbjbike]

With you. BP's mess, BP's cleanup.

[MattTuck]

we live in the united STATES of America. When 5 states are being threatened from an economic/tourism/environmental perspective, I'm sure those states are happy to have ANY additional resources working on the problem.


I hear what you're saying, and it is frustrating to see a company have these problems and then expect use of government resources for clean up, but (as far as I know) BP is paying all the costs thus far.

Add to that, the underwater drilling industry is really the only group with the technology and know how to solve this anyway.

[wc1934]

With you. BP's mess, BP's cleanup.
somehow they will try to pass the cost on to the consumer - they should be made to contribute a portion of their profits to wildlife and eco programs.

[oldmill]

Maybe the folks joining in the 'drill baby drill' jeers in 2008 would like to pitch in some money.

[Louis]

somehow they will try to pass the cost on to the consumer

Which they should do dollar for dollar.

All the costs of using the gas (including global warming) should be reflected in the price we pay at the pump. Price for clean-up or lost jobs in the Gulf region should not be distributed across US taxpayers but borne by the people benefiting from the oil.

If we have a free market then prices need to reflect all costs, otherwise everything ends up being distorted.

Louis

[Ray]

I'm quite clearly one of the most liberal folks around here, but if we, conservatives and liberals alike, are going to continue to rely on oil for many of our modern conveniences (and we ARE, for as long as we can), there are gonna be spills from time to time. Some will be small enough we probably won't hear about them and they'll do manageable amounts of harm. Some will be really terrible, like the Valdez and this one and a couple others that come to mind. I think there are plenty of things to demonize oil companies over, but expecting them to be PERFECT in dealing with such volatile processes is just unrealistic. We're demanding this stuff, they're trying to provide it, and its getting harder and harder to get at, because the easy stuff has all been gotten and consumed already. They almost always get it right. Occasionally something goes very very wrong, as in any other field of human endeavor. BP will be badly hurt by this, but we're all gonna pay the price of dealing with it one way or another, and probably both. Higher gas prices is one. And with something of this magnitude, the govt is gonna likely have to get involved as well. We could argue all day about whether they should, but they will, and would regardless of which party was in power at the time.

-Ray

[BumbleBeeDave]

Pete said it was ok to mention the oil spill.

. . . until Pete tells ME it's OK, my finger is on the trigger and I'm already having spasms. This is political and has nothing to do with cycling. Let's move on . . .

BBD

[vqdriver]

well, we'll all end up paying for it one way or the other. either help with the containment/cleanup now, or pay later in the form of beach cleanup, loss of use, loss of any tourism revenue, loss of wildlife (and it's domino effect on the local flora) unknowable variables associated with the tides, etc. multiply that out by the number of states and the miles of shoreline. you get the point. who's gonna do all that work? public agencies and local volunteers.

i'm with the OP in wanting BP to shoulder this whole mess. but realistically it's prudent to give em all the help they ask for and more. mobilize everything possible to keep it from land where things get immeasurably more complicated than when it's floating on top of the water. then bill em for it.

[Matt-H]

Ahhh, BBD... :)

You're right, not cycling related, but I will say Ray wrote a very intelligent, objective and apolitical response. :beer:

Commence shutdown.

[Louis]

This is political and has nothing to do with cycling.

I agree that it's OT, but it sure doesn't seem political to me. It's economic and environmental.

When somebody say's "Obama and the EPA should do this and that" then it's political. Maybe we have different definitions of politics, but I don't see anything overtly political in what's been said so far. That doesn't mean it can't become political, but don't call it something that it's not.

[eddief]

just the dilemma we find ourselves in re: energy.

[BumbleBeeDave]

Moderators said "no more politics" . . . and we mean it.

Let's MOVE ON, folks . . . hopefully to cycling related subjects.

Thanks.

BBD