Should BP Continue Drilling?

At about this time last year do you remember what was on every news station on the planet? On April 20 of last year a BP oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. The spilling continued into mid July before the leak was completely fixed, 11 were killed in the explosion, along with countless numbers of animals endangered and habitats destroyed. With easily the worst oil spill in U.S. history, spilling 4.9 million barrels directly into the ocean, BP has not made a good name for them recently.

In the upcoming weeks Obama and his administration will be reviewing a petition drafted by BP to become eligible to resume drilling in the Gulf. After less than a year following their disastrous spill this will be a very difficult decision. As president Obama has recently been under fire about increasing energy costs having the Gulf oil production at full strength would definitely help domestic oil production, but is it worth it.

Following the spill all oil drilling was briefly halted in all facilities in the Gulf until stronger safety guidelines were enacted and monitored. BP ensures they will be following these guidelines just like any other company that has been granted permission to continue their operations. But with BP still paying to clean up its damages and ongoing civil and criminal investigations I don’t see why we would let them continue to damage our oceans. BP executives have numerously said they will be fully committed to ensuring safety as their number one priority and are meeting all new standards but how “following the rules” is the only thing they are using as a bargaining chip and that’s just not enough for me.

As a citizen of the United States and an owner of an automobile energy prices are important to me but not on the same level as the environment. If prices have to be higher to ensure that we are keeping our planet running I am completely okay with that but I don’t believe we should risk our environment just to lower a price.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/business/energy-environment/04bp.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=business&adxnnlx=1301891229-pOiILY8ZhUAm4bHtKJwQ5g