Drill Baby Drill!!! During the 2008 Presidential Election Campaign this was the mantra chanted at Republican rally after Republican rally. Crowd-after-crowd in city-after-city was stoked up by politicians like John McCain and Sarah Palin in passionate calls for more off-shore oil drilling. In 2008, American consumers were facing pain at the gas pump—gasoline was selling for over $3.00 per gallon in many parts of the country. Politicians, like McCain and Palin, latched on to a rather mindless and short-term solution to our nation’s oil problem. Why don’t we open our shorelines up for off-shore drilling? Won’t we add millions of barrels of oil to our supply and thereby decrease our dependence on foreign oil? The world will be wonderful and gas prices will go down. This was the rhetoric pushed on us by a number of our politicians at the time. Unfortunately, in this country our political leaders often reach for short-term solutions rather than long-term solutions—I guess it is the political climate—in this country no matter the party (Democrat or Republican) it has become increasingly hard to govern a partisan, mistrustful, and restless populace. How hard is it to govern? Ask President Obama.Several weeks ago I was struck by a political announcement—President Obama announced plans for his Administration to move forward with plans to increase off-shore oil drilling. During the 2008 Presidential Campaign, Candidate Obama opposed increased off-shore oil drilling. Flash forward to 2010, President Obama reversed course and announced plans to increase off-shore oil drilling. Drill Baby Drill became the official policy of the Obama Administration. I can only speculate, but it appears that President Obama was sending an olive policy branch designed to placate Republicans, by announcing his newfound support for off-shore oil drilling.
The Louisiana BP oil rig tragedy this past week has forced us to examine and deliberate on the efficacy of off-shore oil drilling. It appears that this tragedy could eclipse the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. Coastlines from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama could be affected. Already, these are fragile coastlines and ecosystems. The first oily birds have started to reach the beaches. This is a tragedy beyond belief. It will take years for this region of the country to recover.
Are we really willing to bear these sorts of tragedies for a meager amount of more oil? How would you like to see the beaches of Maryland, New Jersey, and Delaware choked with oil? This is something no right-minded person would want to see. This should serve as a wake-up call for our nation’s leaders to develop a comprehensive alternative energy program. We can’t keep drilling for oil. We literally are destroying our planet and environment. Selfishly we are destroying the future of our children and grandchildren.
How does all of this relate to corporate justice? Keep reading and I’ll explain to you how this relates to corporate justice. Well, this week I was driving (yeah, burning oil) and listening to a right-wing radio host blast President Obama’s response to the BP oil spell. The talk show host blasted what he dubbed as Department of the Interior SWAT teams being deployed to inspect off-shore oil rigs. The talk show host characterized the Obama Administration’s response as a move to a police state, where the government would conduct warrantless searches in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution. This radio host went on to say that President Obama was planning to nationalize the American oil industry. The host compared President Obama to Hugo Chavez. What was this guy smoking or drinking? Remind me not to drink from his cup. This is nonsense!
BP realized early on that its resources were inadequate to respond to an oil spill of this magnitude. BP specifically asked for government help. Apparently, the NAVY has at its disposal remotely-operated dive vessels and robots that can assist in capping the leaky oil rig. The NAVY would lend these vessels to civilian authorities to assist in their mitigation efforts.
Some schools of political thought preach a gospel that the government is always an impediment and should step aside. The gospel preaches that corporations and free-markets are be-all-to-end-all of the world. Again, government has no role in our lives. This harkens back to the right-wing radio talk show host that I referenced a moment ago. Instead of truly talking about the role that corporations and government can and should play vis-à-vis one another, this radio talk show host was distracting his targeted listeners from the real trouble. Yes, corporations are vast and control enormous resources—still there are times when they are playing outside of their league. This time around, BP is in the midst of a tragedy of nation proportions. Even with billions of dollars, BP can’t buy its way out this one. Undoubtedly, BP needs the government’s help. More importantly, the people of the Gulf of Mexico region need their government’s help in this time of need and tragedy. This tragedy reinforces in our minds that the path of corporations and governments sometimes collide and intersect.
Where are the people who were yelling Drill Baby Drill? What happens when the mantra gets reversed to Spill Baby Spill? I’m curios to hear your thoughts on the BP oil rig tragedy. What role and culpability do corporations like BP have when things go tragically bad? What role does or should the government play in this these types of tragedies or disasters? I want to hear from you.
