While it’s good fun to hear President Obama spitting rhetoric about kicking ass and slinging shots at BP, claiming to hold them entirely responsible for the Gulf oil spill, one starts to wonder if it’s anything more than the usual media charade political-puppet show to entertain and appease the frustrated public.
It’s hard to take Obama’s tough-guy act seriously considering the US Military is the largest energy consumer in the world, and BP continues to supply it with more oil than any other company.
The Pentagon is currently paying BP $980 million for the fiscal year in military fuel contracts, the Washington Post reports. Last year, BP provided 11.7 percent of the fuel purchased by the Defense Department, more than any other single supplier.
While politicians love to talk about barring BP from new drilling contracts and holding them accountable for their consistently criminal behavior, naught has been mentioned about their ties to the US military. BP spokesman Robert Wine even commented that at least one “big contract” regarding the supply of fuels for US military operations in Europe has been signed since the explosion at Deepwater Horizon on April 20 that led to the still unchecked Gulf oil spill, the largest environmental disaster the United States has ever seen.
It’s no surprise that this is a conversation Obama would prefer not to have with the public, as he continues sending Americans to die on a wild goose chase through the hostile terrain of Afghanistan, in what is now America’s longest running war.
Former EPA lawyer Jeanne Pascal initially supported taking action toward suspending BP’s federal contracts until an official from the Defense Department informed her that “BP was supplying 80 percent of the fuel” for operations in the Middle East.
As for Congress’ meager efforts of hostile repercussions towards BP, Mother Jones‘ James Ridgeway rightfully exposes them as “election-year greenwashing” — a public jab that hardly accomplishes anything.
Perhaps the real question we should be asking isn’t when will we fully hold BP accountable for their atrocious behavior, but when will we do the same for our own militaristic oil-devouring government?
