Dick Durbin - BP at it again

[madmax]

Three years ago our online community effectively forced the world's fourth largest corporation, oil-giant British Petroleum (BP), to clean up its act and protect the Great Lakes.

Now that same company is responsible for one of the most disastrous oil spills in U.S. history. By the time you're done reading this message, another 500 gallons of toxic crude will have gushed into the Gulf of Mexico.

We must act once more to hold BP accountable.

Cleaning up BP's mess -- and compensating individuals and businesses devastated by the spill -- could cost upwards of $12.5 billion. But if they expect American taxpayers, individuals and businesses to foot the bill, they have another thing coming.

Tell British Petroleum: Don't even think about dragging your feet, passing the buck, or billing American taxpayers so much as one penny (or one pence) for this mess.

Sure, BP has pledged to pay all "necessary and appropriate" clean-up costs, as well as "legitimate and objectively verifiable claims" for injuries and losses resulting from the spill.

But what happens when the TV crews pack up their cameras and the nation's attention shifts elsewhere?

Exxon's P.R. team made a similar promise shortly after its Valdez tanker spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound. That was in 1989.

Almost two decades later Exxon's lawyers were still in court, refusing to pay damages. In the end Exxon-Mobil, the most profitable corporation in history, paid out just a fraction of what it owed.

Tell British Petroleum: Don't even think about dragging your feet, passing the buck, or billing American taxpayers so much as one penny (or one pence) for this mess.

British Petroleum likes to furnish an image of environmental responsibility, and sometimes they do good deeds. But we know better than to just take BP for its word. After all, this is the same company that only scrapped its plan to dump toxic chemicals into Lake Michigan after hearing from tens of thousands of DickDurbin.com activists like you back in 2007.

That experience showed us two things. It proved the power of ordinary citizens to take on even the most powerful multinational corporations -- and win. And it demonstrated that when profits are on the line, BP will only live up to its environmental commitments if the public demands it.

So as millions of gallons of oil creep ever closer to the American shoreline, threatening wildlife and the entire American economy, BP needs to know we're watching. Under no circumstances will we allow them to renege on their pledge to pay for all clean up costs and any damages that arise from this devastating spill.

Thank you for taking action.

Sincerely,
Dick Durbin
U.S. Senator

FWIW - http://ga3.org/campaign/bp_oilspill/forward :shrug:

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Action speak louder than bullshit talk....so let's see how BP actually behaves, not

what they promise. Good for Sen. Durbin

[tridim]

2. Good, but I think calling BP "British Petroleum" isn't right

BP is a Houston based company, as all the relevant parties are.

[madmax]

3. Are they a British corporation or American?

Thought I read that they couldn't be nationalized because they are foreign owned?

[tridim]

5. Last I heard they were an all American corporation based in Houston.

Verifying now. Hold on.

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.politics/browse_thread/thread/a420a0bb36260a07

"BP plc" has its headquarters in the UK. So to that extent one could
obviously say BP is a foreign corporation. "BP North America",
however, has its headquarters in Houston, Texas and is registered as a
corporation in Delaware. So, BP North America, is obviously an
American Corporation.

BP is like a giant octopus. It has its tentacles everywhere. It would
probably require a significant research effort just to find out what
they own. Some of the divisions and subsidiaries that pop up when
doing a Google search, though are: BP (Indian agencies) Ltd, BP Africa
Ltd, BP China Ltd, Bp International Ltd, BP America holdings Ltd, BP
America Inc, BP Chemicals (International). Exploration and production,
BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd, Ex-Pro, BP Exploration (Angola) Ltd
and BP Exploration (Caspian Sea) Ltd.

The largest owners of BP are undoubtedly American investors and mutual
fund holders. Some of the major owners that pop up doing a Google
search are: Bank of America, UBS Warburg, Morgan Stanley, State Farm
Mutual, Fidelity, Vanguard, Massachusetts Investors Trust, Putnam
Fund and T. Rowe Prce.

[malaise]

8. BP is Wall Street?

WTF????

[madmax]

9. All the usual suspects

The robber barons are worse now then they were in the 20's and 30's.

If this were Venezuela, Chavez would have nationalized the bastards. Oh, he's already done that ;)

[Uncle Joe]

4. I do see one major difference regarding the nation's attention span between the GOG and

the Exxon Valdez spill.

While the Exxon Valdez took place in a remote sparsely populated area, the Gulf Coast is heavily populated while millions of Americans; not living there have visited on vacation.

This won't be out of sight for enough people to keep it out of mind and anyone trying to make it so will pay a heavy political and/or economic price.

Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, madmax.

[Winterblues]

6. Right the price of oil will not go up one penny.

Of course they won't make Americans pay. They are all for Good Will and would never ever ever raise the price of their goods to pay for their negligence. NEVER....

[Ganja Ninja]

7. Troops and inmate labor are being used to save BP some money.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100511/ts_nm/us_oil_rig_leak

[activa8tr]

10. Why does THIS anger me more than just about everything else other than the

damage to nature?

I don't know, but I think I hate it that Americans are paying for this corporation's irresponsible actions over the years.

[madmax]

12. They should be using local labor and paying top

dollar. The people whose lives are so screwed for no one knows how long deserve a break. :mad:

[madmax]

11. They just keep shitting on us and getting away with it. nt