e-commentary

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“Long before the oil tanker EXXON VALDEZ ran aground in 1989 in Prince William Sound, the maritime pilots and local fishermen knew and protested that a tanker would run aground.  No doubt about it, they warned.”

“The tanker was caught between a rock and a hard piece of ice.  The rock was less forgiving; the rock did not forgive.  There were also warnings about deep drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.  The damage may be far worse than suggested.  And the by-product of the same arrogance.”

“Arrogance and avarice are the two companion killers.  Oil companies are so diabolically ironic.  Exxon once was called ESSO, the ‘Eastern Subsidiary of Standard Oil’ or the phonetic pronunciation of the letters ‘S’ and ‘O’, so that no one would forget that it had been part of the great oil monopoly Standard Oil.  Before that, the company was known as ‘Humble Oil’ to remind the public of its humble manner.”

“BP had been doing an effective job of appearing green.  Although if you think about it, it looks like the British Polluters made all the decisions to maximize the green.”

“I am also afraid that we need to continue exploring for dead compressed dinosaurs in the short term.  Drilling on American land or in American waters does make the country less vulnerable to foreign suppliers.  Drilling within an American jurisdiction is more likely to result in the oil company being compelled to internalize the ‘externalities’ which are all of the costs of production.”

“Externalities?  I’m not quite with you.”

“The company may be required to pay for anti-pollution safeguards and the actual cost of labor including safety measures and the like.  Foreign operators are even worse because they can totally disregard health and safety concerns.”

“Except when domestic operators have enough stroke to avoid paying and complying.”

“There are no guarantees.  O’Bama’s recent statements about opening coastal areas to drilling are also ironic.  He is trying to develop a realistic and balanced energy policy.  The oil industry did not do much to help the case.  And look at you.  And me.  Before this day is concluded, I will drive my car with the ‘Support the Terrorist Tax’ bumper sticker on a trip that may not be necessary.  I am voting on drilling.  If not here, then there will be drilling somewhere.”

. . .

Bumper sticker of the week:

Drill, baby, spill.

This entry was posted on May 19, 2010 at 7:14 am and is filed under Antitrust, Energy, Gas/Fossil Fuel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.