Most Americans Want BP to Face Criminal Charges

In the wake of an environmental disaster the likes of which the United States has never seen before, Americans are angry and they want retribution. The target of this growing animosity is British Petroleum, the corporation behind the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, blatant and repetitive shirker of safety protocol and, unfortunately, the largest oil and gas company operating in North America. A poll of the citizenry shows that two-thirds of Americans feel that BP should face criminal charges for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

More than half of those polled want the U.S. government to pursue criminal charges “strongly,” which is a bit surprising in a country that in the past has let such things go after an initial surge of resentment. But BP has really mucked this one up. Their complete lack of any good plan to react to the April explosion that killed 11 workers and began a now 50-day-old oil leak threw a monkey wrench into Big Oil’s claim that offshore drilling is safe– that they had all the bases covered.

After years of lobbying, advertising and “eco-friendly” re-branding by oil companies (starting with BP), Americans, led by President Obama, were about to begrudgingly allow expanded offshore drilling in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico. But that attitude of acquiescence has changed to one of anger, frustration and betrayal. And we want BP to pay for the havoc wreaked on our waters.

65 percent of Americans want BP to face charges (28 percent do not, 7 percent are undecided). Additionally, and independent of that opinion, 73 percent see the Gulf of Mexico oil spill as a major disaster while 25 percent see it as a “serious problem.” These numbers are telling because they show a widespread and growing concern for the side effects of energy extraction and consumption, despite the fact that the vast majority of the country is not directly affected by the oil spill.

President Obama has gone so far as to say he would fire BP CEO Tony Hayward, who has become the clown face for the disparaged company. But it appears Americans want more than a bigwig job loss. Hell, I’d love to be right there holding the courthouse doors open for Mr. Hayward and his cronies. Then, I’d open the vault to their multi-billion dollar bank account and start handing out repayment to all those affected by the spill, especially the hapless flora and fauna caught in the middle.

Because, folks, let’s face it. We are ALL addicted to oil. We’ve been complicit in the blissful ignorance that has allowed companies like BP North America to become so powerfully wealthy and so inept at the same time. While we were sitting in front of our televisions getting cycled through Big Oil’s greenwashing machine, BP, ExxonMobil, Shell and Chevron were openly investing in disgustingly dirty oil sands in Canada, allowing atrocities to happen in Latin America and salivating over war-torn oil fields in the Middle East.

Now the dangers of oil drilling are being felt at home and we’re pissed off, which is good. But how focused will we remain when the oil stops leaking? What happens when a gushing underwater leak is not the lead story on every news program in the nation? BP continues to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars each week lobbying Washington for beneficial treatment. And they’ve got a lot more to spend.

I’m happy to see that most Americans want BP to face criminal charges, but we’re going to have to walk them to the courthouse, open the doors, sit them down in their seats and watch closely until the verdict is handed down.

This will have to be a citizens’ arrest.

Poll data via Treehugger

Photo Credit: Coast Guard, Boston & Greenpeace

Posted on June 8th in Solar Politics by Dan.