Transocean is Swiss, actually. - Edit 2
Before modification by BlackAdder at 10/06/2010 07:20:18 PM
That the platform was built, maintained and run by Transocean, the largest offshore drilling infrastructure company in the world. They're american by the way. You might want to consider that several so called 'vital' safety features are not required by US regulation, are only required in Norway and Brazil was it(?), and have never actually been proven in the wild. You might want to consider that 36% of BP shares are US attributable, with 14% owned by individuals (i.e. 401K), and these investors have had $4BN wiped off their investment so far.
Even much of the other 86% represents shares owned by funds. But the impact is still much less in the US than in the UK. From what I gather in the article, it sounds like BP going bust would cause ripples throughout the whole pension fund system in the UK.
You may also want to consider that accidents DO happen. No one planned this, no one wanted it (certainly not BP who are down $1BN in costs, nor the US subcontractors who will end up footing much of BPs bill), but it is the price we pay for our dependence on oil, and the lengths we are forced to go to to get it in the name of energy independence.
Accidents happen, but when they are due to blatant neglect, it is a real shame because it was preventable.
Did you drive a car today? - grats, you contributed to this disaster. Did you use plastics? - grats you contributed. Did you buy any products that where not locally sourced? - grats you contributed. The list goes on.
Again, I disagree - demanding oil is not the same as forcing someone to neglect safety to procure it.