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Gulf Oil Spill: America’s Fault?

It is all America's fault!

At first glance, the title of the commentary written by Matthew Lynn of Bloomberg promises to stir controversy and in particular wrath amongst Americans and environmentalists: "BP Needs to Tell Whining Americans to Take A Hike", screams the headline. I thought it was quite outrageous and audacious of him to write something like that, but after combing through the article in Today, I realised that he had a valid point, albeit only one and flashing it out in a very blunt and insensitive manner.

Of course, to tell Americans to "go take a hike" would really be a slap in the face of Americans affected by the oil spill. Livelihoods have been destroyed as fisheries become polluted, ecosystems and biodiversity continues to suffer devastation as time passes. And while employing the "spin doctor" might seem like a waste of money to BP because of the irreversible damage to environment and reputation, to not do anything would put the management of BP in a tough spot with the shareholders (though I think it deserves quite a bit of grilling for the disaster).

Lynn's reasons for asking BP to snub the Americans:
1. "US is guilty of crazy double standards" - given the huge oil consumption / addiction of America, no wonder "oil companies have to drill in more and more dangerous places" to keep up with the demand
2. BP, with its reputation "finished in the US", should just hire "the nastiest, meanest lawyers that money can buy - the one commodity the US has in overabundance". This would no doubt make the Americans choke with burning wrath, but I like Lynn's stab at America's obsession with expensive, sometimes needlessly convoluted lawsuits
3. "BP needs to protect its shareholders" so BP should sell its American assets and just withdraw from America and focus on other markets

I think the blood of the Americans must be boiling as they read this, but I think the one lesson they need to take away is to cut on the addiction to oil, or accidents like this may not be the only one. It is promising that President Barack Obama is acting on alternative clean energy sources, but there needs to be action soon and fast.