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Here's an ultimate solution: privatize all surrounding property, remove all restrictions, but also all liability caps, don't bail anybody out if liability drive
by orblivion 16y ago
Here's an ultimate solution: privatize all surrounding property, remove all restrictions, but also all liability caps, don't bail anybody out if liability drives them out of business, and let the oil companies, their insurance companies, and the property owners figure out where they want to drill.
- locopati 16y agoAnd welcome to the tragedy of the commons (where commons == the planet that is our home)
- orblivion 16y agoNo, commons is exactly what I'm avoiding here by making all the land privately owned.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- kragen 16y agoHere's a solution to your solution: incorporate each oil well as a separate corporation wholly owned by an oil company, carrying no insurance, and remitting its entire profits each year to its shareholder as a dividend. The corporation can buy the property it wants to drill on, so that there's no property owner to demand insurance. Then, if there's an accident like this one, all the other property owners can sue the oil well, which will go bankrupt and pay them pennies on the kilodollar. In short, your "ultimate solution" is ultimately thwarted by the institution of the limited-liability corporation. (An analogous bug exists even without limited-liability corporations, but it's less severe: "Tortfeasor regrets that he has only one life to give to atone for his torts.")