A couple of problems. You didn't really address any of these issues. Apparently to you dumping a little oil in a ditch or some tar in a bog is equivalent to dum

A couple of problems. You didn't really address any of these issues. Apparently to you dumping a little oil in a ditch or some tar in a bog is equivalent to dumping millions of galleons into lakes, rivers, and oceans. Did you know that with all those beautiful stories of Exxon and others cleaning up oil spills, washing off baby ducks and sea lions, that most of them die? A 1996 study by UC Davis found that in the years following an oil spill in 1990, only 10% of pelicans that were "saved" from the spill survived beyond two years (while nearly 100% of a control group were still alive)? Furthermore, You probably need a dictionary for Christmas. I didn't even suggest you were something as harsh as irresposible. My use of the word "criminal" in no way implicates you as a criminal, nor implies an illegal act. "Criminal" in this context is a synonym for shameful or disgraceful. So cool your jets. I'm not sure what you're arguing beyond that. Somehow a couple of anecdotes makes for proof that we're hard on oil companies? We nowhere near make it painful on the oil industry. A company reporting billions in pure profit doesn't feel anything from a $20m fine. And how does that $20m compare to the $10-50 billion the oil industry got in subsidies alone that year? Looks more and more like a slap on the wrist to me. Some poor schlub got 16 years for leaking 6000 barrels, but no one at BP or Haliburton--knowingly installing bad blowout valves and other cost-cutting measures--did any jail time for loosing almost 5 million barrels into the Gulf? There's much more evidence for leniency on our part than accountability. I'm just so tired of no one wanting to do better in this country. Be it guns, energy, education, poverty: it's everyone else's problem, it's just the way it is, and there's nothing we can do about it. I guess we're the Not-So-Greatest Generation.