Who is responsible for the oil spill in the Gulf? BP? Halliburton? Bush? Obama?
I brush my teeth with a plastic toothbrush. I scoop my peanut butter from a plastic jar. When bothered by our dependence on oil, I could have stood up, spoken out, written a letter to my congressperson or participated in a protest. Instead I watched Southpark on my plastic-body TV. I drove to the store when I could have walked.
Who is responsible for the tragedy in the gulf? I am.
— Bryan Hewett
Asheville
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Observe that the government, beholden to an insane environmentalist ideology that views nature as an intrinsic value and superior to human beings, forbade oil companies to drill nearer to the coast line where there were shallow waters. In the shallow areas, an oil leak could be directly accessed. Instead, companies were only allowed to drill in areas too deep for current technology to address. The liability risk in deep waters was too great for the oil companies to accept. This is an example of the inherent safety features in a free market. However, because we need the oil for our economy, politicians had to entice companies to drill there by capping liability limits on accidents, legally shielding them from the consequences of failure they would bear under a capitalist system. It is government that removes the safety controls and engenders unacceptably risky situations.
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What about the last oil leak in the Gulf? It was in shallow waters, and wasn’t accessed until relief wells were drilled?? The same technology we’re using today? Blaming this on environmental regulation is, without a doubt, the dumbest thing I have ever read. I can only assume you like trying to irritate people so much, that you just write the most asinine thing that comes to mind. The oil companies drill in deeper and deeper water because they have tapped all of the oil in shallow water, and their greed makes them assume they can get oil in places where technology has not yet made oil drilling safe. It is a LACK of regulation that caused this .
Also, I suspect the cap on liability is about to lifted. The idea that politicians “enticed” the oil companies is b.s. The oil companies (via their lobbyist) wrote the legislation that forced government agencies to rubber stamp permission to drill in deep waters within 30 days. Without a doubt, Mr. Peck, you have outdone yourself with what can only be described as the single-most asinine thing I have ever read. Thank you, it’s quite a reference point.
That you would post a link to an article calling for the total repeal of environmental regulation, tells me you believe what you write, and that is scary. I would also take exception with the writer who claims such disasters are “lamentable”, but not a threat to civilization. This leak is very capable of wiping out civilization, and if you don’t concede that, you don’t grasp the full implication of filling the gulf stream with oil.
an insane environmentalist ideology that views nature as an intrinsic value and superior to human beings
It’s not that nature is superior to human beings, it’s that we can’t live without it. You really believe that nature is NOT a vital necessity to humanity?
I just realized that Mr. Peck is just parroting these statements. The origins? The great conservative philosopher Sarah Palin, and of course, Bill Kristol. Unfortunately, BP testified before congress yesterday that they were drilling in deep water because that’s where 92% of the oil is, not because of pressure from environmental regulation. Next time do some research before you use Sarah Palin as a source.