Who pays for Oil Spill damages?

Setting RED/BLUE, Liberal/Conservative, DEM/GOP politics aside;

Who should pay for the Oil Spill damages.

Be nice, or we won't get to play in this sandbox (how apropo).

For simplicity, BP should be held primarily responsible for all damage. They can then try to collect compensation from their subcontracting firms by whatever means they see fit.

Of course, we all know that the U.S. taxpayer will end up footing most of the bill.

Omahan because he's the only one who can afford it..... seriously, of course BP should pay for the damages, although I am not sure that punitive damages should be accessed. There are a lot of if they would of, we had to do's playing into this senerio, there is a lot of blame for whats happened. Example of a lof of the reasonings involved:

1. If BP would not have skirted the rules this would not have happended.
2. If enviromentalists had not forced them to move to deep water then any spill could have been stopped already.
3. If there had been an update at MMR this may have been prevented.
4. If Americans did not love big cars and the open road then the thirst would have been diminished.

You can go on and on, the reality is that Americans demand a boogie man, they have to have someone to blame. Although BP is resonsible because its their rig, its not necessary to demonize them. I think the government's slow response to the needs of the areas and their requests for equipment played a small role in some of the damage which may have been minimalized by faster approval and delivery of equipment.

Now who will pay, the American Consumer, we will pay through the cost of repairing the enviroment as well of the cost of the eviroment and animal life that will be lost, we will pay in higher taxes and deficits because of the costs of the clean up which will eventually be picked up by the US government, and then we will pay at the pump when the cost of oil rises and BP passes its costs on to us. So who should pay and who will pay may not be one and the same.

In the end, no matter who "pays" for it, we will pay for it.

If the government foots the bill. . .taxes.

If the company picks up the bill. . .higher consumer prices.

If there is a lawsuit, a bunch of fucking attorneys get rich. . .the spill barely gets cleaned up and damages barely reach the victims. . .taxes and prices go up.

Are you talking about cleanup or punishment. If cleanup then most of the cost will be born by the taxpayers (anyone who buys from BP). If punishment then you had better get used to the idea of getting a lot less than the cost of cleanup.
For example let's say the clean up cost $50 billion and we decide that Hayward and BP are 50% responsible, the EPA is 15% responsible, the other alphabets are 35% responsible. The individuals do not have $50 billion. Maybe you can bankrupt Hayward, put some individuals in jail with the loss of pensions (we're talking about government people) but you may only collect $1 billion. So we go back to the taxpayer again for the rest. Can we hold the environmentalists who forced the deep water drilling responsible accountable? Can we hold Clinton, who signed the law, responsible. Can we hold the bipartisan group of lawmakers who passed the law responsible? Should we? Can we hold lawmakers who make stupid laws accountable?
Even if we do bankrupt and jail everyone who was bought off or failed to do their job the taxpayers and customers of BP will have to pay. We should now focus on not letting this happen again. No, I'm not talking about not drilling. We still need the oil. I'm talking drilling where it is safer and easier to drill; ANWAR in Alaska, shallow water drilling, Kansas, South Dakota, etc. It only makes sense.

We need to find someway to assess punishment that cannot be passed on and jail time cannot be passed on to others. We could take their money, their personal money, but the company can recompense them and make them whole. The only real good way is jail time and that we cannot do unless we have a public investigation and trial.

I know that many want fines and boycotts but consider if a Senator Canniday and Joe Blow were stopped for drunk driving. The court takes away their drivers license and fines them each equally. Canniday pays his fine out of his pocket change and calls for his driver to pick him up outside of court. Blow has to deplete his savings to pay the fine and waits for the bus to get him part way home. Same crime, same penalty, unequal punishment. Only jail time will work.

I was watching a show about how all the beaches are almost bare. Tourism is greatly down which these towns/cities depend on tourists to make their money.

Not to mention the damn innocent animals, fish, plant life, organisms that are and will suffer for long periods of time.

Nobody did this on purpose, but shit this is almost too unfathomable to comprehend the mass damage that has and will be done before this is all said and done.

So incredibly sad, and everyone is so tunnel visioned on who's fault it is & how we should punish them that we are all forgetting the many lives that are being altered and destroyed.

I love nature! I love every single piece of the puzzle that makes up nature! We should take every precaution known to man to protect nature as a mother & father would protect their child. But we don't. Like some bad parents, we abuse what should be kept preserved!

Everything/Everyone serves a purpose in nature. We are all part of the same team. We all need each other to survive!!!

So BP (insert whoever) pays huge fines, gets a beat down....Does that ever fix anything that has happened here? NO

I was watching a show about how all the beaches are almost bare. Tourism is greatly down which these towns/cities depend on tourists to make their money.

Not to mention the damn innocent animals, fish, plant life, organisms that are and will suffer for long periods of time.

Nobody did this on purpose, but shit this is almost too unfathomable to comprehend the mass damage that has and will be done before this is all said and done.

So incredibly sad, and everyone is so tunnel visioned on who's fault it is & how we should punish them that we are all forgetting the many lives that are being altered and destroyed.

I love nature! I love every single piece of the puzzle that makes up nature! We should take every precaution known to man to protect nature as a mother & father would protect their child. But we don't. Like some bad parents, we abuse what should be kept preserved!

Everything/Everyone serves a purpose in nature. We are all part of the same team. We all need each other to survive!!!

So BP (insert whoever) pays huge fines, gets a beat down....Does that ever fix anything that has happened here? NO Originally Posted by BottomlessFilth

So what's the solution, the bottom line is even for the forceiable future we are dependent on oil as a nation, not only for cars but for others things which he actually use more oil for then gasoline such as plastic, Asphalt, Vasoline, KY etc etc. What has happened can never be fixed completely, not trying to be mean or anything, but whats the solution? I guess if any of us knew, we would be rich.

Yes, DD you are very correct. Sadly we have trapped ourselves in front of a double-edged sword. We have a need to preserve Earth as well as need to continue our known way of living.

BTW:
I don't use Vasoline, reminds me of what my grandpa used to put in his hair LOL.

Don't use KY either, I'm slippery enough LOL. If using my strap on, and something is needed, I prefer to use Anal Eze by Ben Wa LOL, hee hee hee.

You are a very dirty girl LOL.

If the company picks up the bill. . .higher consumer prices. Originally Posted by ANONONE

I might be wrong, but wouldn't you have to fine EVERY oil company for that to be true? If BP is fined and then attempts to raise their prices, they'd get undercut by the other oil companies and lose market share.

Why couldn't BP pay the whole amount of whatever they are fined over a long period of time? They might not be as profitable as Exxon (Who is?) but they're the 4th largest company in the world and should be able to survive a payment plan. And I don't really care if they survive or not.

I know its popular to paint BP the bad guy here, but lets be honest this could have just a easily had been Shell, Exxon or any other oil company, none of them would be able to solve the problem, the problem is why are we drilling so deep. The concern that a problem would cause an enviormental disaster played out anyway, and it will be worse because they were forced by the enviormentalists to drill in deep water. Had they drilled in shallow water as they wanted to any problem would have been easier to solve and the damaged contained more easily. Bottom line is we are going to drill for oil, there is too much need, demand and too many jobs and industries involved for us to stop. I think the lesson learned here should be to drill in at depths where you can get to a problem and fix it. The enviromentalists in good faith believed they were doing the right thing, but the reality is I think it made the problem worse and the impact on the enviorment more severe. So we all pay, anyway it goes we pick up the tab, I used to live in Fort Walton Beach FL. I swam at the beaches I now see destroyed, I boated in Destin pass and Destin bay and I have fished in the gulf, it breaks my heart to see the damage, to imagine water that was so blue and clear that you could see the bottom 50 feet down from the boat this whole thing is sad but make no mistake it is us who will pay for this and a multitude of ways.

I think the short answer is BP...and I'm afraid that when the chips fall, it will mean a liquidation of their assets...and people's claims will be worth pennies on the dollar.

This spill is probably bigger than BP.

I have a spot in my gravel driveway where I spilled a few quarts of gear oil three years ago. As I was spraying weeds yesterday, I noticed a very distinct area with absolutely no weeds...where the oil was spilled. I fear the long term impacts of this will outlast the existence of BP by a long shot.

I believe the cost of Clean-Up and Reparations for losses due to the oil spill, in spite of many efforts to obfuscate this responsibility, falls solely on BP

BP made the investments and assumed the risks to, hopefully, profit from the venture. BP hired Horizon and others to actually plan and implement the oil exploration, but (so far as I know) BP would the sole benefactor of success if the well payed out. The others were merely sub-contractors, paid in full for their efforts, with no long term interest in the well (I don't KNOW this, but I believe this to be true. More informed observers will probably quickly challenge my assertions if not accurate).

If the sub-contractors made errors in the performance of their tasks, it is up to BP to identify the specifics and request remedies through contract and other Civil means.

I certainly do not see any justifications for any Congressional investigation, or that said investigations are germane, except to examine any shortfalls in the regulation, inspection, and oversight by the various U.S. agencies that have those responsibilities. Unfortunately, Senate oversight is more about "face time" and the committee members' re-election campaigns than actually finding causes and solutions.

But I digress.

Since BP and its shareholders were the only ones to gain profit from the gamble, they should equally be the sole parties to cover the losses, including the liabilities for all the collateral damages and losses sustained by those whose livelihoods have been threatened or lost. (It certainly would be the same for any of us if, for example, our vehicle ran into a business and injured some patrons).

Some commentators on this thread have argued that BP may soon no longer be able to cover the losses, and that our government will then need to step in (bail outs?). Given that BP has posted RECORD net profits ($20B in 2008, $14B in 2009, $5.6B 1st Quarter 2010) there seems little credence to the claim that BP lacks the liquidity to cover these claims (the Huffington Post reports that 4 days of BP profits would cover ALL of the clean-up costs thus far). If BP has to sell parts of the companies it has acquired to cover these losses, that's the risk they gambled by playing the game.

If our government has ANY role in this mess, it should be to enforce the timely remuneration of claims by U.S. citizens against all damages caused by a foreign owned corporation operating in the U.S. economic zone. I see Florida has requested a $2.3B escrow account for potential damages. Why hasn't a U.S. department (FEMA?) followed a similar posture for all losses and claims. If nothing else, the money is needed to keep tax revenues (Federal, State, and Local) coming in.

short & sweet Bp should pay & they have the money even if it cost 50bill plus it will not raise our cost because nobody will want to make the great usa made about oil