American Double Standard on Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

On June 8, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that, next week, he will visit the Gulf of Mexico for the fourth time. He will set foot on the Gulf Coast to inspect the three states affected, showing the seriousness and extent of the damage of the oil spill to the U.S. An oil rig operated by British Petroleum (BP) in the Gulf of Mexico exploded on April 20, causing a large volume of crude oil to spill. The spill marks the most serious environmental disaster in the history of the United States.

The oil spill that began on April 20 in the Gulf of Mexico has become the largest environmental disaster in the U.S. history. The estimated daily “dumping” of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico ranges from 1.2 to 1.9 million barrels. A Chinese Voice special observer, Ye HaiLin made the following comments.

Ye HaiLin: U.S. Interior Secretary Salazar has asked BP to provide salary compensations to the American workers who were dismissed as a result of the U.S. suspension of deep sea oil exploitation. When the news broke, Salazar instantly became a hero among some workers. But the action can be regarded as a gesture of kicking BP while it’s down. BP’s responsibility for removing the crude oil from the Gulf of Mexico and paying dues for environmental pollution is undeniable, but it is a little unreasonable to ask BP to compensate the salaries of dismissed deep water oil exploitation workers because the U.S. has decided to suspend deep water oil operations. The U.S. is acting like a bully.

We also noted the recent settlement of an environmental law suit that began 25 years ago in Bhopal, India. It is sad that the court has finally made a preliminary ruling 25 years after the incident. In the preliminary ruling, seven Indian defendants were sentenced to up to two years of imprisonment. The only U.S. defendant, [Warren] Anderson, then CEO of Bhopal Union Carbide Corporation, only needs to pay a fine. After the Bhopal incident, Anderson briefly returned to Bhopal. He was released on bail, and has since disappeared from India, living in the U.S. He is now retired in secrecy, with no moral or financial burden to the more than ten thousand victims of the incident in Bhopal.

The Bhopal Union Carbide Corporation paid a total of $4.7 billion in compensation, with no further strings attached. From the Bhopal accident to the Gulf of Mexico crude oil pollution incident, there is a contrast between what the U.S. company was responsible for and what the U.S. government is asking BP to be responsible for. We can clearly see the double standards in these two environmental incidents.

Part of the double standard stems from who is victimized by the environmental pollution. It is quite simple: if the receiving party is the U.S., the U.S. would ask the offender to pick up the entire price tag. However, it is very different if the United States is the polluter of other people’s land. In this case, [Warren] Anderson of the Union Carbide Corporation continued to be the CEO of the company for another two years after the Bhopal incident, and then retired quietly. He is now living in an upscale community in New York in old age and with dignity.