“BP notes the fall in its share price in US trading last night. The company is not aware of any reason which justifies this share price movement.”
Really?
I read somewhere, can't find it now, that BP's reason for not taking the FREE oil soaking natural fiber booms from Matter of Trust is because they are worried about debris that may be left behind/get loose from the booms.
Really? They are worried about what is mostly hair floating in the ocean and the impact that would have, I'm sorry but you've got to be fucking kidding me right. Even if that is the case and it is a sound case they cannot find a better way to explain it.
A quote from Matter of Trust's site re debris from their booms vs the booms BP is currently using:
Riki Ott PhD, Marine Toxicologist, Author and Exxon Valdez Oil Spill expert - "The oil industry's approach is to use oil based synthetic products to respond to oil spills. After use, this results in mountains of contaminated material that need to be landfilled or incinerated. This creates a secondary pollution problem. At least with hair booms and hair mats, natural material is used that breaks down faster and releases less toxins when incinerated or landfilled. They even have a chance at being composted with bacteria. To suggest that any possible shedding of natural fibers into the gulf are a problem, pales in comparison to methods using hundreds of thousands of gallons of toxic industrial solvents. The benefits of removing oil waste with natural fibers largely outweighs the minimal immediate risk to the environment. Also they reduce the secondary pollution concerns that come with using oil based products, such as only synthetic boom and dispersants."
Again really, the company responsible for the oil disaster in the Gulf is going to cite debris in the ocean. The company that probably makes money off the manufacturing of these synthetic booms because they are made from oil. The company that has been using an oil dispersant is going to cite debris from natural fiber booms. Really?
Here is a bit on the chemical dispersant from an article on ProPublica.org
“There is a chemical toxicity to the dispersant compound that in many ways is worse than oil,” said Richard Charter, a foremost expert on marine biology and oil spills who is a senior policy advisor for Marine Programs for Defenders of Wildlife and is chairman of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council. “It’s a trade-off – you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t -- of trying to minimize the damage coming to shore, but in so doing you may be more seriously damaging the ecosystem offshore.”
Is this a "How many people does it take to change a light bulb" joke happening in real life? Seriously I don't understand why BP is still the one in charge of "taking care" of the Gulf disaster. How many times does one need to prove themselves stupid, incapable, incompetent, unorganized, out of the loop, unreasonable, etc. before someone (government) steps in and takes control of or at least demand to take part in trying to manage the Gulf disaster.
Why are people so afraid/incapable of placing blame? I heard someone ask another person who just pulled out of a BP station why they still give their money to them? Their response, it was an accident! Yes it was an accident and it's not like they did it on purpose, I appreciate that, but in our society you are still held responsible for your actions accident or not, just because it is and accident doesn't make it a get out of jail free card, or it shouldn't be at least because I do realize that a lot of times it is.
Is their total and utter inability to deal with the disaster an accident, no it's negligence. We are required to carry car insurance, in CA at least not sure if that is a nationwide law, in case we are in an accident so we can at least try and financially compensate for the accident we've had. There is blame to be laid and it's on BP and it's even on each and everyone of us, in a way, and our massive dependence on oil.
Yeah it's hard to get away from it and there is no way we, at this point, can just stop using it but there are a lot of relatively easy ways you can cut back. So many of the products we choose to use everyday are petroleum based or contain petroleum. There is probably some in every single room of your home. A lot of them just aren't necessary even though you may think they are. You really want to use a facial/body lotion with petroleum in it, really?
Tree hugger has an article on 50 surprising fashion and beauty products made from oil.
The Daily Green has another article on 60 surprising products made from oil, along with a link, at the bottom of the page, to a list of 144 products.
If you think it's impossible for you to do anything to reduce your dependence on oil, or in regards to anything for that matter, it's not and never is. Every choice you make has an effect, even if it is just making yourself feel like you're doing something. It's not impossible to make a difference even if it is just in your own home. I really liked the recent mnmlist's post on "I could never give up".
Even though at this point BP is refusing the booms made by Matter of Trust they are still taking donations of hair, fleece, and nylons. I sent them a paper lunch sack full of mine and Rich's hair clippings that I had been collecting for the past year. I knew about Matter of Trusts use of hair to make oil soaking mats and booms way before the Gulf disaster. At that time they didn't have extra warehouse space, after the disaster they were donated many warehouses in Gulf states and have been accepting and making booms since the early days of the disasters. Although BP refuses them Matter of Trust is making booms available to local municipalities for use on their shores.
Update: Just came across this article at Your Daily Thread about Getting Unnecessary Oil out of Your Life. Short and simple but easy things to think about changing.
Update: I'll be adding related links as I come across them so if this is something that interests you and wanna see what I'm finding interesting check back on this post every now and again.
~Another article of interest over at Green Living Ideas: Why Don't We Care About Thousands of Other Oil Spills?
Added 6/14
Added 6/15
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