> BP also paid a significant fraction of their market cap to clean up the wide-reaching effects of the spill. Some money did go to environmental cleanup. But

> BP also paid a significant fraction of their market cap to clean up the wide-reaching effects of the spill. Some money did go to environmental cleanup. But a large proportion of it is going to pet projects. Two especially egregious projects in my home state are a plan for gigabit Internet and to dam one of the largest undammed rivers in the US to create two recreational lakes with a waterpark in the middle of nowhere. Not BP's fault, of course - you can lay that firmly at the feet of local businesses, the well-connected, and local governments. Still, when you see "BP paid out $X for the oil spill", remember that a lot of that had nothing to do with restoration.