We used to work for Chevron/Texaco, Pennzoil, Merrit, Devon, and other oil companies. It felt like dirty work, not only because it was a middle-man job doing accounting (which I hate), but also because we were billing farmers outrageous sums of money for natural gas coming from their own land. Worst of all, I just felt all...oily...because I did not like working for those multi-billion dollar conglomerates.
I know, I know, before I get all high and mighty, I'd better reckon with the fact that petroleum is what makes the world go around, from my pickup to plastic, from my shoe soles to my lip balm.
That said, here's my bitch: The staggering wealth of the oil companies makes them get absolutely no sympathy from me. I would not give them a ten cent break on cleaning up this oil in the ocean. BP's quarterly earnings could likely more-than-cover the entire cost of the clean up:
"Integrated oil giant BP reported that it lost more than $3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008, down from an $8 billion gain in the prior quarter and a $4.4 billion gain in the year-ago period. It was the company's first quarterly loss in more than seven years. For the year, BP's profit was $21.16 billion, up from $20.85 billion in 2007. " Source.
I would never give them a subsidy for anything, greedy bastards. Yet we do:
"Greenpeace believes Europeans spend about $10 billion or so (USD equivalent) annually to subsidize fossil fuels. By contrast, it thinks the American oil and gas industry might receive anywhere between $15 billion and $35 billion a year in subsidies from taxpayers." Source.
Yes, it makes me sick. It makes me angry. It also emphasizes how helpless I feel. I know there are mega-giant corporate powers profiteering from the war, from big oil, from our lifestyle decisions to drive so much solo and eat processed food stuffs so obsessively. Knowing has not made me feel any better about it.
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