I’m not openly one to rant, but I have heard all that I can handle about BP. Everyone hates BP. Yes, we have acknowledged that the spill in the Gulf is something that will alter the course of our existence for many, many years. This plight is even worse for those of us that live on the Gulf. It is exponentially worse for those that cannot work due to the ecologically damaging effects of the spill. Pensacola Beach has been ravaged, everyone is feeling a deep sense of loss for our beautiful sea. The tourists aren’t coming this year. Odds are they won’t return next year either. We are losing revenue at a pace that has only been set by other natural disasters. Yes, I’d consider this a man-made natural disaster. But what are we doing to stop this kind of reckless endangerment from proliferating? 

We start “Boycott BP” groups of Facebook. 

Is this really effective, or are we taking steps away from accountability? By hating BP, we are given the safety of condemning the actions of the company without looking at why the spill was caused: The increasing demand for fossil fuels that we require on a daily basis. This is not to say that each and every individual does not take steps to curb his or her need for gas, but most are hating BP while feeling righteous about pumping Shell petrol into their SUV’s. What we have here is a scapegoat for our own conscience. We are comforted by the idea that it is a company that is destroying our natural resources, and not our choices that created the need for the company. The central focus has been altered to “anti-BP” and less toward the “pro-alternative fuels.”

I have been grappling with my own conscience with the BP spill lately. My husband went to school for deep-sea diving and got the best job he could to provide for our family, out in the oil fields in the Gulf. As an environmentalist, he was conflicted in many different ways with his new chosen profession, but the only thing that keeps him going is the promise of being one of the divers that assists in converting the oil rigs to wind generators someday. We are still hopeful that green energy solutions will take the main stage in the Gulf. There have been many spills in the Gulf, not nearly as catastrophic, that only the industry employees were aware of. “There is always oil everywhere in the Gulf,” my husband told me, “but nothing like there is now.”

And now there is an opportunity for many people to see all of the terrible atrocities that are occurring in the Gulf. But what is the media focused on? BP. The loss of revenue thanks to BP. 

Yes, BP isn’t the safest company to work for, but the employees that are put to risk on a daily basis work for BP through third-party contractors and aren’t considered BP employees. The divers, the riggers, the machinists on the oil rigs, all go to work, knowing the risks of their jobs. For many, it’s the pay that compensates them for the danger that makes the job worth it. Shell, Chevron, and other companies hire these men and women for their willingness to risk their lives for money. 

So what can we do? Perhaps, we could spend less time Googling the evils of BP (and I agree, there are many) and more time assessing our daily petrol expenditures. Maybe try to skim a few miles off of errand running, or take public transportation more often, or learn how to lessen your family’s carbon footprint at home. There are so many ways to curb our appetite for gas, and maybe, just maybe, we can use the spill as a wakeup call.