Sunday, May 2, 2010

Environmental Crime or Environmental Accident???













Environmental Crime or Environmental Accident? That is the question....

25 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The big question here is if this a crime. Obviously, more rigerious safety procedures will be put into place to help prevent events like this from occuring again, but what about the here and now? If those responsible for this intentionally, knowingly, wrecklessly, and/or negligently caused this oil spill, then I absoulutely believe this is a crime. While the long term affects can only be speculated, the short term affects of this tragedy show serious economical problems. The oil safety cement lids should be mandatorily made for worse case scenerios, such as this current event. If companies focused more on putting safeguards and failback plans in place, and less on the most profit for the least amount of money spent, then disasters like the recent recesion would not occur (or at least would have much less hampering affects). When such dangerious things are involved, more care and consideration needs to be put into the cons, because that is far more important to focus on then the pros.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The question on crime or not is definitely dependent on who you ask. Demetre hit the nail on the head with intent, etc. I would say that production cost companies a lot of money and each day they sit idol and don’t work due to safety procedures and little faulty equipment. The incentive to push on is high and the risk of something happening due to that is even higher, not to mention that the job is dangerous. I have worked in the oil field before and know a little something. My still works in the oil field as boat captains as well. The after math of this spill will be costly and if someone is to be found guilt of a crime, what punishment should they get.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Was it a crime or was it just an unexpected accident? Right now the problem is trying to fix the oil spill because it is affecting a lot of people. This oil spill could have not come at a worst time with the economy not being in great shape. In the article it states that “The oil spill has drained $32 billion from BP's stock market value”. It is not only affecting the company but the people who live around and the business who sale sea food. This is big problem that needs to be resolved as soon as possible. It has killed people and we have no idea how it is affecting the wild life.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This spill even though it belong to BP, it will be pass along to the taxpayers. Every environmental accident, the taxpayer will pay the cost. This remind me of the phase "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. I am an advocate of wildlife and it breaks my heart for the damage that is done and will be done after this is all over. It will also take a long time to recover from it. Our gas prices will be higher, so will other commodities, and BP will continue to make money, while us taxpayer will stand by and just watch and except. It is really important that we find another way to fuel our cars. This will help in environmental safety, wars would be minimize and we can move into the next century with cleaner air.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Something always has to go wrong, doesn’t it? We are talking about the biggest oil spill that has ever taken place. This is such a huge problem, that it is taking a great amount of time to figure out how to put an end to this environmental problem. No one knows what to do. Two-hundred thousand gallons of oil is spilling into the Gulf every day. Killing thousands of wildlife, polluting the air and water and on top of that this oil spill has caused the life of eleven people to end. Today on the news investigators were talking to restaurant owners in Louisiana, who were very distraught because they rely on seafood to run their businesses. We are talking about these restaurant owners going broke. Everything is going down the drain. Obama needs to plan something out pretty soon along with the EPA, and environmentalist.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I completely agree with the above comments. This is an environmental crime, but also based on what I read, an accident. The big issue right now is the oil spill affecting the marine life. This oil is still spilling and is creating tons of problems and becoming a huge environmental crisis. There should be a better plan of action, when things like this happen. This spill is just terrible, because all the animals are dying, such as the sea turtles being found dead on shore. The long-term effect of this oil spill is also something that should concern everyone. The spill is reaching to the shore and may affect so much more than we think. Other than the environmental safety concerns, I also think this spill will cost everyone money soon. I agree with Pam, maybe gas prices will soon go up. Just in time for summer, great....

    ReplyDelete
  8. As days pass, the scale of this disaster in the Gulf of Mexico increases. Between 5,000 and 25,000 barrels of oil is spilling into the gulf everyday. Before long millions of gallons of oil will be washed up on America’s wetlands and shorelines. Right now they are looking to take the barge out and drop a 100-ton dome to trap and siphon the oil heads. They are hoping to have it on the seabed in the next 24 hours. Its basically a giant vacuum. This should stop the flow of oil into the gulf drastically.
    Those responsible for this latest disaster, including corporate executives and government officials, must be brought to account and criminally prosecuted. Above all, the transformation of these corporations into publicly-owned and democratically-controlled entities—by which their relationship to nature and society can be consciously regulated to meet social need—is a pressing necessity.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Who really knows if this is a crime or an accident? This should be used as another reminder that more saftey precautions should be taken. The real problem now is getting this mess cleaned up. not only is this spill causing that company money but the economy will take a another blow from this spill. I read this isnt the first time this company has had problems with leaks and explosions. Maybe we should prosecute someone with something to teach this company to take saftey more important.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Environmental disaster or resource economy screw up? I have been following this news story very closely and the issue that is prominent in my mind that may not be clear in the article is the exploitation of minerals in international waters. First of all, I would like to know why BP British Petroleum is drilling for fossil fuel in our gulf. Surrounding our country are dozens if not hundreds of rigs built by other countries to exploit the seas around of country. While we blunder with our environmental considerations and avoid drilling in our seas, China and the Brits apparently do not have the same reservations about the environment and thus ruin our ecosystems to fuel their vehicles. When this accident occurred, I asked myself this question: Where are the British? It is their spill after all. Ill wager they don’t want to get involved because it in our back yard and therefore our responsibility. If we have to suffer the environmental damage from other nations drilling of our coasts, we should at least get a cut of the action. My hope is that they get the majority of this mess cleaned up before Hurricane season comes in, otherwise this disaster could become more widespread and claim even more lives.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I think its BOTH! It probably was an accident and even though they don't want to admit it was their fault and wants to blame it on the company whom made the rig that broke and caused an oil spill but still. And this IS an environmental crime due to the fact that in a few days so many animals will be put at risk because of this.Many of them being endangered species I might add. Point is, whats done is done but to find a way to clean it up is what they should be worrying about. Once this goes through, which could be days and even months, I
    'm sure they will add up how much damage it caused and charge someone for it. It is sad that 11 people died already from it and now soon the animals will suffer and the "chain of life" (fish eats algae then is eaten by bigger fish which is then eaten by whales...etc) will be interrupted because of this spill. There has to be a reason of why it hapenned and could've been prevented. Therefor it is an environmental crime and should be blamed to someone even if it were an accident, a big accident.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I agree with Nick…Is this a crime? Something about this just isn’t right. This is the biggest oil spill we have seen in history. You would think the company would have some type of procedure prepared for something like this. I understand it never occurred to them that something like this would happen but still they should have been prepared. This oil spill has not only affected the company but it has affected everyone around them. This oil spill is polluting the gulf coast and all the marine life that live in the ocean. There are habitats in the ocean that are probably contaminated due to this spill. It is also affecting the states around the gulf coast not just environmentally but economically too. There are fishermen who rely on the gulf coast to make their catches for the day, now they can’t fish like they usually would because the fish could be contaminated because of this oil spill. I don’t know whether or not this is a crime but I do believe BP should be held accountable for this oil spill.

    ReplyDelete
  14. This oil spill injured and killed a lot animals, it will take a long time to get them all cleaned and back to normal. It is tragic to hear about all the animals and all the money people have to pay for fish, shrimp, coffee, tires, and bananas now because of the incident. Now fisher men can’t fish because of this oil spill. I believe that this is an accident because I do not believe that they would want to do this much damage to people and the animals.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Whether this is a crime or an accident should not be what these people are worrying about at this time. The main focus should be on trying to find different ways on how to stop these oil spills from going any further. If this “one-hundred ton, concrete and steel box” that they put on this boat does not work, what are they going to do about this ongoing dilemma. Thousands and thousands of barrels of oil are pouring into the ocean on a day-to-day basis so this problem needs to be stopped as soon as possible. Also, I agree with Deavon when he says that since this was a British owned rig shouldn’t they be the ones that are the front runners in trying to clean up this mess. I just do not think that it is right that other countries drill on our homeland to better their countries and them when something goes wrong they are nowhere to be found. Hopefully, we can get this disaster taken care of as best we can and save the marine life before it gets completely out of hand to the extent that several million fish and other things die as a result.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Another oil spill….it is amazing how something so vital to our economy can also cause such havoc for our society. The chain reaction that this can cause (small to large “sea creatures”) has become more and more of a concern as the oils spreads throughout the Gulf Coast. Engineers have a tough battle to fight along with the constant questions that will arise if it hits the “loop current”. I am curious to hear about the cause of the incident, and if there is “someone” to blame (then like Eric said) “what punishment should they get”? I only hope that the many engineers out on the boats can help find a way from this to not spread anymore, the effects of the spreading oil can be detrimental in so many ways for ssoooo many years. To all those vacationing this summer…don’t go to the Gulf.

    ReplyDelete
  17. A crime or Accitdent? It seem like no one is really worried about that right now. They are just trying to figure out what to do to fix the problem. It might be the biggest oil spill ever they said, so trying to figure out if it was a crime, is the least of their problems. This occurence effects all marine life and everyone. I honestly dont think think this is a crime, just an accident.

    ReplyDelete
  18. This was obviously an accident. I think more people are concerned with the fact that the potential sea food they will be consuming can or will make them sick. I think the big concern here should be all the wildlife that is being killed and injured. As if the world wasn't polluted enough as it is then this happens! It is scary to think how many innocent plants and animals are getting sick and dying after all of this. I think this should be what we are worried about rather than the sea food we are eating.

    ReplyDelete
  19. This oil spill just proves that there is always room for mistakes in any field of work. Like some classmates said above they should of been more prepared for something like this to happen. It's crazy that in no time we have the biggest oil spill just pouring into the gulf ,and we are just scrambling for a solution. "I know we are all hoping that this containment system will work, but I want to remind everybody that this containment system is a first of its kind deployed in 5,000 feet of water," Landry said. This is suggesting that we are clearly not ready for something like this. Landry said that he "hopes" it works but is not sure. When we talk about the sake of our economy, ocean life, etc. I would like to think of our procedure to counter be a little more than just hope. Anyways, better preparation would be key for this. It's an accident and these things occur , but there has to be a better way of approaching it.

    ReplyDelete
  20. C.Meeke
    Is this a criminal act or a very unfortunate accident? I guess that depends on how you see corporations. I think that the federal prosecutions working for the government will have a hard time proving that criminal law was broken. We live in a society that has moved away from innocent until proven guilty to one where people are already guilty even before their case was handle in the court system. It is very unfortunate that technology along with the media censures the truths in society at times when the truth is really needed. What about the other companies that are involved in the court case? All fingers seem to pointing that BP is guilty. The EPA and the environmentalist are on a witch hunt and being influenced by the media. Now that said that let’s talk about the issue. What type of liability should these companies be responsible for? Was any crime committed or was this a terrible accident that could have been avoided. The country will never know if any criminal acts were committed. However a paper trail always exists and it leads to the Obama administration signing off that the oil rig complied with the safety standards and was given an award before the explosion of the rig. So if any is an accomplice to this accident the CJ should check out who inspected that rig and gave the award. So who is liable for this tragic accident? I cannot find any violation of an intentional act being committed. Is BP an accomplice to a much bigger problem that some in society feel about oil ran business in my opinion yes?

    ReplyDelete
  21. Obama is fighting to prevent the Gulf spill from becoming his own Katrina ahead of November congressional elections. Zero chance of that happening.

    Bush had every FEMA employee staged and in training before the first winds hit and when the levee devastation became obvious, had called in every available military branch and national disaster organization. The famous “non-caring flyover” was because he had convened a top level panel on Katrina in DC.

    But the Katrina “reporting” was just an effective Democratic campaign tactic with no basis in fact. And just as the “press” ignored the clear leadship during every minute of the Katrina mess, they will trumpet 40 days (and counting) with only two photo ops and a press conference as amazingly empathetic behavior by our Commander in Chief.

    But wow, do I wish that my President could have followed up with a third photo op in Louisiana congratulating and basking in the reflected glory of a successful “top kill”.

    ReplyDelete
  22. At first I thought that this spill was just an accident and yes even big corporations make big accidents. After a while however, I found that this is a crime and they company knew it. If it wasn't a crime, then why did the president of the company run to another country after it happened? A person only runs from their responsibilities when they know that what they have done is wrong. The actual accident might not make the spill a crime but how the president and company handled the spill is a crime. When you are dealing with something as precious as they were, a simple oh no our bad does not cut it you have to be prepared for the worse and hope for the best in this particular field. A lawyer does not prepare to lose a case but if they do they know how to appeal and so on and so on. This should be the same in their case, make sure there is not a spill but when there is know what to do to stop it and keep it from spreading. Accidents can simply turn into a crime very fast!

    ReplyDelete
  23. we have been lied to about the cause and how many gallons throughout the life of the circus. BP is not going to give the public accrete numbers as far as the actual amount of gallons in the ocean because BP does not want to pay a few billion dollars in fines. BP has spent a lot of money already in the cleanup and to the Louisiana food industries. BP has given compensation to all of the fishermen and businesses affected on the Golf Coast. The White House Energy staff will lie to the public because they think the public would rather hear what should be said rather than the truth. Why, I don’t know? I think it’s not being honest in the public eye creates more panic and chaos. I would much rather hear that “we are doing the best we can do getting the oil out of the sea, we haven’t made a big impact but we have people working on a timely and effective way to have the oil stopped and out of the water in no time. I know we elect officials to represent us but not to manipulate and deceive us. All official documents have been tainted how do I know this one speaks the truth? Giovanni Monsanto

    ReplyDelete
  24. While the tragic aftermath of this accident involving the BP oil spill was one of great disaster to U.S. fishing industries and other economies along the Gulf Coast, I don't believe it was a crime that someone should be held accountable for, but was an accident that was hard to predict and even harder to fix considering the amount of oil that spilled into the sea. The aftermath of this seen a lot of blame placed on BP and indeed the British Government was criticised for not supporting the United State's hard stance against the company. For me watching this from an international point of view, I believe that BP paid the price for this environmental accident in the form of share prices declining and massive revenue losses. However, to state it as a crime of which people should be held accountable is not fitting to the events that happened. It is interesting that suddenly Americans become very interested in environment concerns when such disasters suddenly start to affect them, and are quick to point the blame as a response to such accidents happening. However, the United State's refusal to focus on environmental concerns in the past, as well as being the biggest threat to the environment in terms of pollution it creates (20% of total pollution in the world), I don't think it is the right of the U.S. government to start pointing the blame when it comes to environmental issues.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Excellent article. Very interesting to read. I really love to read such a nice article. Thanks! keep rocking. Website

    ReplyDelete