The (deputy) director's cut

So now who thinks that BP stands for Beyond Petroleum, as all those glitzy ads they’ve been running the past few years would like you to believe? After last week’s shutdown of their operations in Prudhoe Bay, thanks to leaks in transit pipelines resulting from corrosion and neglect, their friendly flowery sun-type logo that’s supposed to symbolize environmental stewardship is now a bit sullied. That’s what happens when your primary marketing strategy is to essentially spray whipped cream on horse dung. It might look good for a while, but eventually the true nature of the concoction is going to come through.

No, despite their best marketing efforts, the events of this past week clearly show that BP is still very much about petroleum. It’s not like BP turned off the oil spigot and said "Oh well. Thankfully we have all that solar we can turn to". They’ve even changed their initial plan to fully close down operations at Prudhoe Bay, as they will continue production in the western half of the oil field despite the fact that it hasn’t been adequately inspected. Their plan is to monitor the pipeline, which will only be able to detect a spill after the fact. Even by keeping half the operation open, this latest disaster in a rash of oil-related catastrophies around the globe is going to cost the company in the neighborhood of 200,000 barrels a day. At $75 a barrel, the loss in revenue this will mean to the company and the risks they are taking to keep some oil flowing, they’re about as "beyond petroleum" as the Tour de France is beyond performance-enhancing drugs.

BP’s shutdown came in the wake of a corrosion-related spill in March that dumped 270,000 gallons of crude oil onto the tundra, which went undetected for days. It’s gut wrenching, especially when a disaster of this nature could have been avoided with simple maintenance and due diligence (does anyone else find it funny that the technology used to clean transit pipelines is called a pig?). I think the fact that it came at the hands of the oil company that supposedly was going to take us into a new energy future makes it even harder to swallow. Like you’ve been let down by someone you trusted. The slow, sweet dance of seduction in the form of their "Beyond Petroleum" marketing has quickly turned to being thrown over a barrel. And with today’s price of gas, we’re on the wrong end of the pump.

Want to know what makes this even worse? Not everyone is upset about the spill at Prudhoe Bay. The folks at Exxon are enjoying the fact that the bright light of scandal and corporate irresponsibility has moved to someone else for a change. They are now free to wallow in their record profits outside the public spotlight, continue to fund junk science that questions the validity of global warming (remember when cigarette companies "questioned" the science that said smoking causes cancer?), and shirk any notion of developing alternative energy sources. You know what they consider an investment in alternative energy? Squeezing oil from tar sands. The tar sands in Alberta, Canada are found under a region of boreal forest and wetlands larger than the state of Florida. Producing oil from tar sands generates 2.5 times as many greenhouse gases as conventional oil production. Mining and drilling of the heavy oil also threatens to contaminate ground water, and turns the lush boreal forest and wetlands into moonscape wastelands. ExxonMobil's tar sands facility in Alberta is the largest in the world, producing about 225,000 barrels of crude oil a day. An expansion is underway to increase production capacity by 40 percent. And that’s their investment in the alternative energy.

So what does this all mean? It means that oil companies on both ends of the spectrum – BP who at least gives lip service to developing alternatives to oil and Exxon who could give a sh*t – are set up to destroy the last pristine areas on this planet in their perpetual quest for oil. Like a crack addict who will do anything to get more crack, we’re letting them have their way with us to feed our addiction to fossil fuels. As if that’s not bad enough, keep in mind that we’re paying them for the service.