Tag Archives: Deepwater Horizon spill

Emil Guillermo on the BP Spill: Don’t blame Big Government–blame the free market

Maybe we just needed a spill of such horrific proportions to come to our senses.

When stuff happens we want, we demand, that government take care of us.

But Deepwater Horizon isn’t so much a failure of Big Government to be in charge, it’s a stark realization at what de-regulation and a lax of oversight will do.

We have allowed Big Government to fail because the small government folks distrust the oversight. Leave it to the oil companies to police themselves.  As I write that, why does that sound stupid? 

So small g. folks allow the  free market to run amok and let  the likes of BP to do what it will without a net.  Just a net profit,  about $14 billion or so last year.

Sooo much better.

Even in crisis, the failure of the free market was colossal.  BP’s efforts  were unremarkable. 40 days? 20 million gallons later does it deserve to stay in business? And where were the free market resources to come together to solve the problem?

Someone could make some good money being a hero here. That’s the free market dream.

 Two guys in a garage could have come up with a better “TOP KILL” sooner, maybe? Instead, we had people with those pathetic looking   restraining tubes trying to herd the oil plume like stray cattle.   

Maybe BP was praying for IRON MAN  in full regalia to swoop in and  sit on the thing?

What was the free market response?  It said, “Not my problem. Especially with a 4 day weekend coming up.”

So what’s the score:

Free Market , zero.  Big Government, trying.

Obama tried to cap the political hole yesterday.  But his “TOP KILL” didn’t do much for me either.

Re-regulation.  Moratoriums. Those are the easy solutions that should have already been in place.

We need an aggressive clean up combined with a comprehensive energy plan.

Our oil addiction is a killer. The spill, the video, “Top Kill”, just a massive wake-up call as we trudge along in our oil dependent stupor.

Emil Guillermo on the BP Spill:We need Deepwater Horizon spill finale now, before the end of “American Idol” tonight. Please.

My protest over the BP spill has been  muted because I’m a user. 

Not of BP. But of oil in general. My outrage would be like ratting out one’s drug-dealer. (It is an oil addiction. George W. Bush told me so).

Lately, blog/twitter readers would notice I’ve chosen the escape route of dwelling on the ending of favorite television shows and the losing streak and offensive ineptitude of my favorite baseball team.  Contemplating those sort of things is so much better on the soul  than contemplating the end of the earth, which  in truth is what the BP spill represents.

To see the constant video of the oil streaming and the damage to the Gulf, the wetlands, the animals is too much to bear.

We need to say f-you to the profiteers and the government that enables them. We’ve already saved Wall Street and the car industry. When we save Big Oil at times like this you can see the trade off. 

At least BP isn’t in the nuclear game. That’s the only thing that makes the time to end spill slightly more bearable. Oil is less forever than nuclear. But a screwup is a screwup, and no one seems to be prepared for these worse case events.

Go to the video. See the oil flow. Let’s see a BP spill finale now.

In the meantime, let’s vote BP off the Island. And hope Obama, and  Sec. Chu and Sec. Salazar stop dancing with the oily.