The Enclosure of the Gulf

[marmar]

from OnTheCommons.org:


The Enclosure of the Gulf
Poisonous muck for miles: the perfect metaphor for our corrupted political and regulatory system.

By David Bollier


The noxious gusher of oil flowing from one mile beneath the Gulf of Mexico is an unprecedented environmental disaster, no doubt about it. But will we learn the right lessons from it?

There are any number of narratives that are starting to take root, and all of them are true as far as they go: the incompetent and corrupt regulators at the Interior Department, the incompetence and arrogance of British Petroleum; the lackadaisical response by President Obama weeks after the spill began. The implication is that a different regulator, CEO or President would have done things differently.

Perhaps. But the real problem here is structural: There is no adequate governance structure for the commoners to protect their shared resource, the Gulf of Mexico, and all that depends upon it. These sorts of “accidents” are almost becoming routine: the Massey Energy coal mine disaster, the Toyota “stuck accelerator” safety hazard, the Wall Street abuses of derivative financial instruments.

These are just the “mega-scandals.” There are all sorts of smaller, regional ones that occur every day: the mountaintop removal coal mining in the Appalachias; the over-fishing of coastal waters by industrial trawlers; the appropriation of precious groundwater by multinational companies; the genetic engineering of crops and pesticides that is spurring the evolution of “superweeds” and pesticide-resistant pests.

The point is that the corporate institution is systematically taking resources that belong to all of us; privatizing the market gains and socializing the risks; and then dumping the wastes back into the commons, letting the government (i.e., us taxpayers) and hapless local residents pay the costs. Government, regulators and politicians essentially sanction this behavior, stepping in only when the results becomes too visible or egregious. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.onthecommons.org/content.php?id=2761

[Demeter]

1. The Great Lakes are covered by an international treaty

Of course, it's always Chicago that tries to destroy that treaty...I'm thinking the Windy City is the source of all evil that didn't start on Wall St. It may even feed the Wall St. monster.

[Robbien]

3. Not just Chicago, Indiana is doing its part to harm the lakes

Just last year Indiana waived pollution regulations for BP's refinery in Whiting to allow it to dump massive amounts of toxins in the lake.

Michigan and Wisconsin are giving bottled water companies rights to bottle massive amounts of lake water.

Yes, Chicago is a very bad player in the Great Lakes conservation effort, but it is not the only one.

[Laelth]

2. Privatizing gains and socializing risks. That's it in a nutshell. k&r n/t

:dem:

-Laelth