I was watching the news recently, listening to several stations continue to report on the BP oil-spill-disaster, showing countless pictures of oil covered critters, and diagrams with plums of oil filling up most of the gulf. Reporters over and over indicated that this event was the worst industrial disaster the world had ever seen. Reactions from many have been to consider boycotting BP filling stations, and donating money/time to the efforts to cleanup the animals, and the coast affected by the tragedy. Enraged by the greed of BP Execs and many engineers who “overlooked” certain warning signs focusing on a bottom line profit, many are calling for the BP execs to be tried in court, and held responsible for their actions. But is this really the worst case of greed and negligence the world has ever seen? Are these BP teams who are seeking profit really guilty of the worst case of disaster capitalism the world has seen?
In December of 1984 a Union Carbide (now owned by Dow Chemical) pesticide plant exploded in Bhopal killing over 5,000 people, and leaving over 120,000 others with a need for lifelong care. After the disaster, Union Carbide settled with the Indian government for $470 million….$350 million of which was the insurance sum…meaning that most of the victims got less than $1000 dollars each. When Dow purchased Union Carbide in 2001, there was finally hope that victims from the Bhopal incident when Dow announced that it would promptly “compensate victims of Union Carbide’s past negligence”. Dow promptly paid over $2 billion to… 14 asbestos plaintiffs in Texas, doing nothing for the victims who were continuing to suffer in Bhopal. Worse still, some 25 years AFTER the incident, some 390 tons of toxic chemicals abandoned at the UC plant CONTINUE to leak into the groundwater of the region affecting thousands of residents that depend on it. Not only was the area not cleaned up, and not only were the victims not taken care of, but the incident has continued to affect generations beyond the explosion due to the lack of concern for taking care of the area.
The BP incident in the gulf is terrible. The beauty and wildlife of that region have been destroyed, and may likely be affected for several generations to come…but looking at the numbers from the explosion itself, of the 126 oil workers who were on board the BP oil rig… 11 people went missing, and an additional 8 were critically injured. So well say that 19 people were DIRECTLY affected from the explosion of the rig… that is .000152% of the number of people who were affected by what happened in Bhopal.
A valid argument would say that as of now, we cant tell definitely how many people may be impacted by eating fish from the contaminated area, or drinking water from that area in the gulf. Very true. It’s also very difficult to compare the disasters based on the value of human life alone, when so many animals, and so much of the ocean has been destroyed by this disaster. But this is also not the first time we have seen greed take precedence over the value of the environment, and especially over the value of human lives. I don’t write all of this to say, “Get over the BP thing” or to try to say it isn’t that bad. I hate that animals are getting sick, I hate that the once beautiful coastline is being destroyed, and I hate that oil continues to leak into the ocean. I am saying that I believe we need some perspective on what is going on here, and we need to recognize that we have the opportunity to do something about it. Daily we have the opportunity to cast our vote for corporate accountability, greed, and/or negligence. With every dollar you spend, you are casting your vote…buying from a company that has ethical standards, and supporting what they do. BP is obviously not the first company to ever cut corners to lower costs and increase profits at the cost of the environment and human lives. Many of the products we purchase every day are made in less than savory environments for people working for well under what we would consider a fair days wage.
Should BP be held accountable for what went on? Definitely, but hopefully this will also serve as a wakeup call that above huge profits, the preservation of human lives, and the care for the environment deserve a value on a company’s spreadsheet. So vote. Do your homework; try buying a product that might be slightly more expensive if you recognize that the company’s values are in line with your own. Don’t let BP off the hook, we can’t let this be another Bhopal…Encourage social and environmental responsibility with the way you spend your $$.
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