The BP-Deepwater Oil Spill: A Rationale for International Coordination of Resources

The April 20, 2010, BP-Deepwater oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico appears to have consequences that extend beyond the shores adjacent to the failed drill rig, and have impact on the national and global scale. This regulatory-ecological-resource extraction-adverse event raises issues this blogger attempts to address concerning: (1) corporate powers and autonomy, (2) resource planning, (3) corporation-government-public liasing, (4) local, national and international resource planning, risk assessment and approvals for resource extraction, and (5) possible structures of coordinating organizations.

The Deepwater Gulf oil spill has raised the above issues plus questions about corporate power and autonomy, corporate self-regulation and the future of relations (conflicts) between corporate and public interests.

Some related questions:
(1) As we now know from the BP-Deepwater disaster, future resource-extraction adverse events may well involve damages that exceed the ability of just one corporation to pay. Is there a need for accountable industry collectives fund, identify resource locations, plan extraction and cover liabilities?

(2) What about damages that extend beyond just monetary compensation, i.e global scale damage to the environment, economies and populations? How can this case be covered and what organizational formats, policies and protections might be required? When is a resource plan appropriately denied because of these dangers? Wand who shall make this decision?

(2) Are these corporate-activity adverse events expected to get worse? Can they be prevented? What kind of organizational structures can serve to answer these questions?

The Deepwater Gulf oil spill raises significant issues, accusations, doubts and questions about corporate power and autonomy, corporate self-regulation and the future of relations (conflicts) between corporate and public interests. Yet these issues must be successfully met if humans are not to sanitize, sterilize and kill the planet's life and habitability.

At the time of this blog, estimates are from 100 million to 150 million gallons of crude have been released into the Gulf of Mexico. Being driven by Gulf currents, the oil spill is expected to inundate the beaches of US Gulf shore states. As of July 7, 2010, all 5 Gulf states are receiving tar balls on their shores - Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Missouri. If the spill is not stopped, it is expected to eventually drift South along the Florida coast and then up the eastern seaboard of the United States. If still not stopped, the spill is expected to eventually impact Greenland, Iceland and northern Europe. Where ever the oil impacts, it will damage or destroy sea life, estuaries, wetlands and beaches. Regional economies may be decimated and populations might have to be relocated owing to the toxic nature of the oil components (benzene and similar hydrocarbons), the accompanying methane gas, the chemical dispersants used to break up the balls of crude oil, and even perhaps the radioactive nature of deep-origin crude oil itself.

But apart from "fault" or "how", there are perhaps larger issues generated by some simple "why's": why did deep water oil drilling occurr in the first place, and in general "why" does it appear there is trend towards inceasingly risky methods and scenarios linked with the search for scarcer and scarcer oil and other resources required by our national and global economies?

These "issues" lead to further questions that focus on the national and global scale and even give reason for changing the way nations and corporations relate to each other, and suggest organizational structures that might implement these relationships.

-have we reached a critical thresh hold in the (convenient) availability of raw materials required by national economies? (Are raw materials becoming more scarce and hence more difficult to extract from the planet? Are there increasing dangers of nation-to-nation conflict over depleting and/or more extraction-difficult resources?)

-Beyond the critical thresh hold of difficulty of extraction, are we seeing as with the BP-Deepwater oil spill a tremendously expanded potential for tangible (cost valuated)damage? In retrospect, did the original cap on BP's liability, $75 million (just 1.3% of BP's 2010 first quarter profits, $5.6 Billion), even approach a reasonable liability considering the global damage now projected?

-Are we seeing damages from careless, or even careful...it does not really matter anymore, business activities so huge they are beyond what one corporation or even an industry sector operating collectively can pay? (BP now has agreed to estblish a $20 BILLION catastrophe fund to cover lost wages, health problems, etc. resulting from the released oil.)

-More, are we now experiencing a thresh hold of business activity damages beyond which lie immense and terrible intangible consequences that are beyond compensatory (money) valuation, i.e. damages to global stability and habitability either not recoverable in a time frame we humans are comfortable with, or not recoverable at all. (The Gulf may be oxygen-stripped (lifeless) in part or whole for decades.)

- Has the scale of tangible and intangible damages resulting from business activities expanded beyond even what a single nation or even a group of nations can cope with as damages and required efforts to recover, or adjust, extend beyond national boundaries to involve the entire globe?

As corollary questions:

-have we reached, and rapidly going beyond, a critical, national and global population threshhold?

-are national governments and even industry sector collectives sufficient structures to effectively protect humanity from its business life?

There are conclusions and suggestions relative to the future of making use of the planet's resources - an evaluation and review process for the use and extraction of the planets resources:

- Organization of industry into related sectors who develop resource proposals, or long term plans, starting at the level of individual corporations, and with cooperation with national resource agencies, and eventually with an international strategic global resource planning and coordinating council.

- National resource management agencies who coordinate with local businesses, industry sectors, and evetually an international (global)combined resource planning and coordinating council.

-International Resource Management Council responsible for review and approval of resource plans and proposals from nations and industry sectors. Members of the Council represent industry sectors, nations and independents(non-profit ecological impact study associations, natural resource and animal preservation groups, etc.)

- a top level global coordinating body (evolved United Nations, etc.) whose jurisdiction might extend off-planet to monitor, codify and effect outer space leasing of planetary and asteroid territories and the extraction of their resources.

This blogger believes all of these structures will come into being sooner than later because the problems and damages with other Deepwater-like activities are looming right now and if they occur will add even more terrible and geographically widespread damages and threats to human life and the planet's habitability.