BP Oil Spill: Past, Present, and Future
In the autumn of 2010, I decided to look into the recent, horrendous BP oil spill. I felt so strongly about the incident that I decided to write an essay and a questionnaire about the topic to educate others. The essay and questionnaire were used to evaluate how citizens react to major world events. The essay was used mainly as a way to inform readers about the horrors hidden behind the infamous BP oil spill and the manipulative Cap and Trade policy. The essay exposed that BP was corralling oil-covered sea animals into small areas to be burned. This was not a mainstream story for obvious reasons. In the questionnaire, many of the questions addressed how people treat the environment, and sought opinions about how major corporations, such as BP, and government officials treat it, as well. The responses were varied and sometimes emotional. In this report I will give an overview of my original project, and will discuss the essay itself and the answers from the questionnaire.
The people who I interviewed were of different backgrounds, locations, jobs and viewpoints. The respondents came from a number of places not in the U.S. such as China, England, and Canada. Others live in California, Connecticut and New York. In total, there were 24 questionnaires filled out and returned. Some reactions were of positive inspiration, such as this one from Person F: “I was shocked to discover all the horrors of the BP oil spill. I feel like I should try my hardest to do my small part”. Some were of doubtfulness— like Person X’s comment that called the facts in the essay “propaganda”. Now that the one-year anniversary of the BP oil spill has just passed, this essay reminds citizens of the fact that the oil is still in the water, and it is still threatening wildlife. Even though everybody still remembers last year’s spill, this year, the Obama Administration is increasing approvals for deep water oil drilling permits. In fact, a well operated by Noble Energy of Houston TX, which is co-owned by BP, has recently received a permit to start drilling. As Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois stated, “You would think that the BP oil spill never happened”.
It must be noted that BP itself has not done a significant amount to help clean up the mess or help the people who were affected because of the irresponsibility of the company. To hide the fact that such an unbelievable number of animals were suffering because of the spill, BP decided to round up animals and put them into small, fenced off areas. The company then burned the animals, destroying evidence. “Endangered sea turtles and other marine creatures are being corralled into 500 square-mile ‘burn fields’ and burnt alive in operations intended to contain oil from BP’s ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Suzanne Goldenberg, a U.S. correspondent of London’s Guardian newspaper. Also, Corexit, the chemical dispersant BP used to “clean up” the oil simply covered up the oil, as well as harming the animals that came upon it in the process.
The original essay and questionnaire project began in the fall of 2010, six months after the spill. Now, more than half a year later, the need to do more to help still holds true. After writing the essay that told people the facts, I still didn’t feel that was enough. I had to take it a step further. To find out how much the essay affected people, I wrote a questionnaire to go along with it. 24 questionnaires (A-X) were returned. I was then able to separate the questionnaires into three categories. The categories were based on the responses given, and I named them group A, group B, and group C . The people categorized into group A were those who seemed as though they were determined to learn more about the topic and act on it. Responses in this category could sound like this, from Person C: “I am excited to learn more about what I can do to help the environment.” The people who were put into group B responded with perfunctory answers, and didn’t seem as though they were truly moved by the essay. One example of this was Person L who wrote in response to a question: “What BP did was irresponsible, however, minor mistakes happen in the government and in major corporations all the time.” Group C were the people who, based on their answers, seemed to think the status quo was just fine, and held disbelief that a major corporation would do something immoral for monetary reasons, such as a person who stated: “ I don’t believe that large firms like BP would do such illogical things such as murdering animals”. In the next three paragraphs, I will analyze the three distinct groups and give examples of why the people were placed where they were.
Group A, again, were the people that seemed like they truly wanted to be more educated on the topic and better the world. Many of the responses were very enthusiastic. These types of individuals will most likely go on to support more environmental causes, and learn about issues that they can help out with fixing. The respondents probably also came from environmentally friendly backgrounds, or already knew some information about the spill, like in Person Q’s case: “As I already knew a lot about the spill, I was excited going into the essay. I now feel as though I know more about the topic than I already did.” Another person, Person O, was incredibly upbeat and seemed 100% ready to go out into the world and help the environment: “Yes, this essay has affected me. I am definitely more aware of the urgency of being environmentally friendly. And I realize there are many things I can do everyday in my life to make the environment better. I will start as soon as I can.” This group’s members will no doubt feel more determined to work towards the goal of a clean and green environment. These nine individuals’ comments show that they’ve been inspired to do their parts in keeping Planet Earth beautiful.
Group B’s members responded with unimpressive answers to all of the questionnaire’s questions, and didn’t seem very moved by the essay. These people most likely do care about the environment, but do not have enough passion to actually act upon their feelings. Or, they might still be in denial that a person or company would do such a horrendous thing. For example, Person E answered a question by saying that “I think it is inevitable for big corporations to be focused on creating wealth – so it is not shocking that they will do what they can to maximize profits”. While it is true that major companies are focused on creating wealth, giving them the excuse to do whatever they please is NOT the correct thing to do. Another similar answer, written by Person B stated, “I think that the vast majority of employees are good people who worry about their kids just like I do … I am not sure that an organization can be evil.” The six members of Group B probably have not been very educated on environmental subjects, and so that limits their potential commitment to benefiting the planet.
Group C was the group with members that had answers showing they were fine with what is happening right now in the world environmentally. They believed that BP is able to handle the oil spill issue, and will be able to clean up its own mess. Many of the answers were brief, most of them one or two word answers. It seemed they had rushed through the questionnaire and didn’t spend enough time actually thinking through what they were writing down. Out of the nine members of Group C, four of them had answers of simply “yes” and “no”. Other answers, including one from Person X, (who called the essay “propaganda”) answering question 1 of the questionnaire – which was to list all the things people should do to help the environment – stated that he should “live life to the fullest”. These types of answers simply prove how the writers do not care about protecting the earth. Another responder, Person M, seemed to not care at all about the environment, and responded to one of the questions by saying, “I pretty much discount everything in here as noise.” That person does not want to admit that my essay contains facts, not opinions, and wouldn’t admit that large corporations indeed do unspeakable things to earn money and protect their reputations. The people who were put into Group C will probably do very little to nothing to help protect Mother Nature and will no doubt rely on others to do their duty for them.
As citizens of not only our country, but also our world, we must always be dedicated to keeping our environment clean. While Group A members seem inspired to do that already, the people in Groups B and C will need some pushing. When I think about the future, I think about how our cities and countries and world will be covered in fossil fuel fallout. By then, people will regret the mess they caused— but it will be too late. My generation’s children, and their children, and so on, will just be one step closer to a grey and dirty Planet Earth. However, if everybody decides to commit to doing the right thing NOW, then our planet will be a greener and better place.