BP=Bill Please!

According to Obama, BP has stepped up to the plate and created an escrow account of $5 billion a year to reimburse those directly affected by the BP Gulf oil spill.  Even given the best scenario, it is doubtful that figure will begin to resurrect the Gulf region, or to make whole the area prior to the spill.

How do you put a price on the extinction of an endangered species, or the loss of habitat for decades to come?  The animals of the Gulf waters  in search of  clean, oxygenated water are a sight that the environmental generation could not possibly envision.  Turtles,many species already endangered by Man, have had the oil spill play havoc with their homing instincts, and are swimming directly into the spill.    How do you make a Dead Sea whole?

And then there is the Clean Air Act.  This spill has nothing on acid rain.  Continuously spewing carcinogenic particulates into the air, a mixture of gas, dispersant, and oil by-products makes for a toxic cocktail that not only can affect those in direct contact, but possibly inland inhabitants.  How do you bill for potential health costs that may not show up for years?

But we are expected to feel better with the $5 billion - $20 billion bill submitted by Obama to BP, and the increase in employment from jobs created by the spill.  I, for one, am overcome with sadness–maybe I can submit a bill for depression.

Tagged as: Air quality in the Gulf, BP, ButAsForMe, Endangered species in the Gulf, Gulf Oil Spill, Loss of habitat in the Gulf, Obama, Oil dispersants, Reformed Liberal