Update: Pro tip, actually READ the article and not just the first paragraph before you call me names lol! If you come away from this thinking I am advocating BP get away free and clear PLEASE see the entire paragraph dedicated to 100% liability as I make no such claims. As a matter of fact (if you read you would know) 100% liability is FORBIDDEN by the government. LOL! Amateurs.
It has been about a month since the BP “Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill” first shook the headlines of every major news source across the globe. At every turn we have heard about the chaos and destruction that has been caused by this oil spill but not once has anyone talked about the real victim in all of this, BP.
It is very easy to vilify BP for this oil spill. Even our government is advocating we take a hard line on BP. US press secretary, Robert Gibbs, said that the government intended to keep “its boot on BP’s neck.” However what many people fail to realize is this spill is an accident not an act of environmental terrorism. BP is not profiting from this spill. As a matter of fact 11 people lost their lives, where is the media coverage of that?
It is easy to lambast a company when events like this occur, but one must see beyond the media spin. It’s easy to splash some images of birds covered in oil and point a finger at a successful multinational company like BP and let the environmentalists go wild. Let’s keep in mind that BP is losing hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil daily. Their stock prices have plummeted and a company that has provided excellent service for many years to power our lives is at risk of collapsing. This means that small time subcontractors will suffer to feed their families, jobs will be cut, and entire industries will feel the shock as gas and oil prices will shoot sky-high. We rely on oil to live our lives and as such any event like this affects all of us on an economic level. It is because of this that BP is a victim and I feel bad for them. No one in this scenario profits.
Actually that’s not entirely true. It just so happens that environmentalists and government profits the most in these situations. Environmentalists who jump at the bit to berate a company like BP have done the most profiting. They are on all the media networks expressing deep remorse while other members of these groups are lobbying in Washington. Now with a chance to coin this a “disaster” they can leverage to get their agenda through on the hill.
What is this agenda? More regulation, less productivity for companies, a potential ban on offshore drilling, and increased taxes. Their fear mongering will do little to help animals. These companies that put the life of an animal above the life of a human aren’t the least bit concerned with the animals. They want to tell you what to be afraid of, and who you can blame for it; all the while making sure they manage to gain from it. If they have their way oil would be nonexistent. Life would be somewhere in the middle ages and all the good that oil does would be wiped away. This is unacceptable.
The other profiteer is Government. If anyone is to blame it is the government. Setting legislation for limited liability creates moral hazards, much like the TARP bailouts! United States federal law limits BP’s liability for non-cleanup costs to $75 million unless gross negligence is proven. Why isn’t liability 100%? A 100% liability cost would match a companies need to make sure it was doing business as safe and as efficient as possible. Government doesn’t encourage this, it creates a chance for companies to cut corners. Keep in mind that it is also government regulation that forces these companies to dig in deep water to begin with. Government interference prevents more sensible drilling on land or close to shore.
Government also profits because it now has a platform to steal more money in taxes. Without question taxes will be on the rise so bureaucrats who have no idea about oil spills can fund their proposed bills and social programs through “Oil Spill Prevention Acts”. These acts will do nothing to prevent oil spills and everything to assault civil and commercial liberties. There is even talk of ending tax breaks for oil companies. Seems like a nice way to increase the price we pay for oil and drive more companies away from doing business in the United States, really productive ::sarcasm::.
Government meddling with business drives companies out, taxing them into oblivion won’t clean up oil, it will hurt Main St. All of this does one thing and that is hinder the free market. Let free market forces determine the fate of BP, the market will correct this, like everything else. The government can’t sop up oil any faster than private industry can. All government can do is give it a lackluster effort and bill you for the cleanup. If we vote with our money than BP will do whatever it takes to satisfy its investors and customers. Not to mention what private individuals will come up with as a solution.
Let us keep in mind that these events are rare. Government does not need to step in and destroy the American oil industry. We don’t stop buying cars because people get in accidents, we don’t stop flying because a plane goes down, and we don’t need more regulations on the oil industry that will only hurt average everyday Americans at the pump. We need to understand this was a terrible accident, lives were lost, and a company hangs in the balance. The animal life will undoubtedly suffer and that is terrible. Let it be known that I feel for these animals, they did nothing to deserve this. However, it must be noted that government cannot protect them better than free individuals can. This is a true tragedy of the commons.
Finally, BP is not a terrorist organization hell-bent on destroying the American way of life, it is a company trying to turn a profit. Couple that with asinine limited liability (government intervention) and you are left with what you have today, a company doing what it can to fix the mess it made within its legislated ability. Had the free market been in place this oil spill would have been 100 times less damaging, if it even happened at all.
From Mr. Lew Rockwell Ron Paul’s former Chief of Staff:
The abstraction called the “ecosystem” – which never seems to include humans or their civilization – has done far less for us than the oil industry. So let us not forget that the greatest tragedy here is BP’s and its subsidiaries’ and subcontractors’, and the private enterprises affected by the losses that no one intended. If the result is a shutdown of drilling and further regulation of private enterprise, people will lose. And that is what counts.
“The greatest danger to the State is independent intellectual criticism.”
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