It’s been 100 days since the fatal explosion on the BP Deep Horizon oilrig in the Gulf of Mexico caused the largest oil spill ever. But, the effects of this disaster will last much longer than 100 days. We barely understand the consequences to the delicate oceanic ecosystem. We barely can foresee the jobs lost and industries disturbed by this tragedy.
Soon after BP and FEMA plug the leak, the media will forget this disaster and move on to more immediate and dramatic events. But, we must remember the lack of accountability to which this company held itself. We must remember that they had no contingency plan in place before this happened. We must remember that the only reasonable conclusion is that they didn’t care about the risk that this might happen.
This indifference to consequences is of the same character that Wall Street exhibited when it placed bets in derivative markets. The system was set up to favor quick profits over long-term market stability and Wall Street bigwigs took advantage of this setup for their personal benefit. Their shortsightedness led to long-term threats to our economy. This is what happens when we trust companies, whose only goal is to maximize profits, to hold themselves accountable. It just doesn’t happen.
Someone needs to care about the next 100 days, because in these next 100 days, American and Transnational corporations will make decisions that affect every single American family. We must ensure that these decisions do not sacrifice livelihoods of these American families for the sake of short-term corporate profit.
Election day is just under 100 days away. Take this time to ask yourself if you want to keep the incumbent in place who has toed the absolutist, uncompromising deregulatory party line for his entire 16-year career in Congress. Or, ask yourself: do you want a new Representative in Bill O’Neill who has practical and reasonable solutions to hold companies accountable when their decisions injure our natural resources and family pocketbooks.
(Follow the links below to donate to the gulf coast cleanup effort)
http://www.lagulfresponse.org/
http://www.healthygulf.org/