Markets & Justice

Markets & Justice
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White Australia Has A Black History

White Australia Has A Black History

Sunday 22 February 2015

BP is dragging its feet on payment to clean up the mess in the Gulf of Mexico




BP caused the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history, but it only wants to pay a tiny fraction of the price.
In 2014, the oil giant was ordered to pay $18 billion for the devastating Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. This January, its executives appealed the figure claiming it “can’t afford” to pay.
But not having enough money is the least of BP’s problems. Last year alone, BP made a profit of $23 billion, making it one of the 10 most profitable companies in the world. It’s also distributed a whopping $19 billion in dividends to investors since the spill.
If it can share its huge profits amongst its shareholders, it can afford to pay to clean up this devastating environmental disaster.
On April 20, 2010, the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig led to 11 deaths and injured and killed hundreds of marine animals, making it the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
The long-term effects of the reckless oil spill have been even worse. Just recently, a new scientific study from Florida State University showed that sediments settling on the ocean floor from the spill will contaminate the entire food supply for years to come.
This isn't the first time BP has tried to avoid responsibility for this tragedy. Back in 2010, a BP executive blatantly lied: he told the US government that just 5,000 barrels of oil a day were being released, even though he knew that number was much higher.
Now, it has lost an appeal to the U.S. Supreme court asking to pay less than what is required to. It's clear, BP is doing everything and anything to wiggle out of this responsibility.
Time and time again the SumOfUs community has stood up to Big Oil's destruction of the environment. Hundreds of thousands of us joined forces to stop Shell from drilling in the Arctic and almost 200,000 of us came together to demand that Chevron pay for its crimes in the Ecuadorian Amazon. And together with allies, we’re holding back climate-destroying fossil fuel projects like the Keystone XL pipeline.
Let's come together one more time to show Big Oil that it can’t recklessly destroy our environment without paying the price.

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