I’ve been watching the growing condemnation of BP from all sides of the political spectrum and it’s making me mad as hell!

Now, don’t get me wrong – BP is no friend of mine. Some days I can’t bear to read the news coming out of the Gulf of Mexico, let alone look at the heart-wrenching images of oil-coated wildlife. It’s about to get worse with Tropical Storm Bonnie likely to spread the oil and migratory birds starting to fly south for winter, many of them via the Gulf.

There is no doubt that BP’s behavior has been appalling. It was evidently lax in its safety standards, it repeatedly attempted to play down the amount of oil gushing from the well, some of the comments by senior executives have been downright thoughtless, and its eagerness to find new places to drill before it’s fixed this problem is nothing short of obscene.

But here’s the truth: BP is no better or worse in its environmental or ethical practices than any other big oil company. Right now, BP is being made a scape-goat and that suits all the other oil companies just fine.

Right-wing darling Sarah Palin of “drill baby, drill” fame has bashed BP as a “foreign company”. Meanwhile President Obama and other government officials insist on calling it British Petroleum, when the company’s official name is BP and has been for more than a decade. Last I checked Britain and the United States were allies and being based in Britain wasn’t a corporate crime. Anyway, BP is a multinational and 39 percent of it is owned by Americans, with six Americans on the board of directors. It’s a slick trick.

Then there’s the whole brouhaha over BP’s latest deal in Libya and whether BP is responsible for the release of the Lockerbie bomber. It’s a fact that the U.S. and Europe don’t see eye to eye over Libya – I’m not about to defend the regime, but public perception of Libya is a whole lot worse in the US than it is across the pond. I don’t think BP has a particularly moral stance vis-à-vis Libya, but then oil companies are not usually known for their moral stances, are they? The Libya affair pales into insignificance next to Shell’s crimes in the Niger Delta. Or should we call it Royal Dutch Shell? Nor is it as dangerous for the world as U.S.-based Exxon Mobil pumping millions of dollars into spurious climate denial research.

Now I don’t really care if people want to say bad things about BP. The public anger is more than justified. What I do care about is that demonizing BP makes it easier for the other oil giants to get away with their evil-doing. They don’t even need to throw their hands up and say “don’t blame us, it’s all BP’s fault,” because we’re doing it for them.

Already, the Obama Administration has been unable to impose a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf, after an appeals court judge branded the decision “arbitrary.” Arbitrary? Really? Does the judge truly think the decision was random or capricious? I would call it “sensible” myself. But then Obama did rather back himself into a corner by announcing an expansion to offshore oil drilling right before the BP disaster struck.

As difficult as it may be, we need to remember that Big Oil is the true enemy, not just BP. It’s the oil industry at large that is responsible for the mess in the Niger Delta, the oil pipeline explosion in China earlier last week, and the leaky oil tanker that ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia in April.

Off-shore drilling is inherently risky. It’s a miracle of modern engineering and human ingenuity that we’re able to do it at all. And when things go wrong, we’re at the mercy of natural forces and there’s not a whole lot we can do. It’s lunacy to even consider doing it somewhere remote, cold and pristine like the Alaskan wilderness, even if the waters are shallower. I don’t care if it’s not BP at the rig – I don’t trust Shell any more.

Public support for offshore drilling has eroded since the BP oil disaster. No wonder, after seeing shocking evidence of just how badly things can go wrong. What’s astonishing is that it’s still supported by the majority of those polled. And there’s a good chance that allowing BP to take all the blame while other oil companies go scot-free, could mean this trend is reversed and public support for offshore drilling once again continues to rise.

We need to end off-shore drilling for all oil companies, not just point fingers at BP. And if we don’t want to be dependent on foreign oil, well then that seems a good reason to wean ourselves off it altogether. How about we build windmills, invest in electric cars, move to sustainable farming methods and ditch the plastic addiction? Can we do it? Yes, we can!

Image: Fibonacci Blue

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It’s been five weeks since the catastrophic explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform and since then, millions of gallons of sticky black oil have killed countless animals and fouled sensitive wetlands along the Gulf of Mexico.

Yet, the spill still hasn’t been contained, those responsible are still pointing fingers at each other and we’re all waiting for a decisive response from the government. Meanwhile, oil regulators have been sitting around watching porn and using crystal meth. Everything’s under control, people! Please ignore the nauseating sight of suffocating seabirds!

Here’s a quick rundown on the latest oil spill news:

Officially the Worst The U.S. Geological Survey has officially confirmed what we already knew: the Deepwater Horizon spill is far worse than the Exxon Valdez disaster. 12,000 – 19,000 barrels of oil have been pouring into the ocean for 36 consecutive days. USGS Director Dr. Marcia McNutt says 130,000 to 270,000 barrels remain on the surface of the water, while about an equal amount has been burned, skimmed, dispersed or evaporated.

Top Kill Stops Spill? After numerous failed efforts to contain the spill, including attempts to cap the gushing pipe with a “top hat”, BP decided they’d try to cut off the pipe altogether using a method called a “top kill”, injecting cement over the well to seal it. As of early Thursday, the oil giant refuses to say whether this latest cleanup effort is working, but the Coast Guard reports that the pipe seems to have been plugged.

Don’t Drill, Baby Just weeks after President Obama’s controversial statement that offshore drilling may be a necessary part of U.S. energy independence, his administration has not only fired the head of the Minerals Management Service for lax oversight of offshore drilling, but will also extend the offshore drilling ban.

Volunteer Illness This much oil is bound to have an effect on human health, and some oil spill respondents are already falling ill. Crew members on three of the commercial fishing vessels that were helping to clean up spilled oil have been hospitalized with severe nausea, headaches and dizziness. The Coast Guard has sent all 125 commercial vessels filled with volunteers back to the shore as a precaution.

BP Seeks Oily Judge BP is still trying to deflect legal blame, but they’re hoping that in the 100-odd  lawsuits already filed against them for oil spill damage and worker deaths, they’ll have at least one person on their side. BP is requesting that a single judge with oil ties, U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes, will handle all pre-trial issues.

Impact on Wildlife Most of the oil might be under the surface of the sea where we can’t see it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not already affecting wildlife. One scientist called the impact “a slow moving train wreck” with effects that will “go on for years, if not decades.” Louisiana’s marshes in particular are a critical habitat for wildlife, and the Gulf of Mexico is home to the endangered sperm whale. Countless other species including sea turtles, pelicans, manatees and bottlenose dolphins are also at risk.

Image: IBRRC

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