Bending the Third Rail
Because We Should, We Can, We Do
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Drawn and Quartered
Here is the one of the best cases for government, and government regulation, that I can think of.

Remember that little pipeline closure from yesterday? And remember that itsy bitsy 260,000 gal oil leak awhile back?:
The Post suggests BP was negligent and didn't take care of the pipelines. "They have known about these problems for a long time and promised for many years to fix them, and they haven't done so," said one local environmental lawyer. BP's pipeline had a major leak in March. Government-ordered inspections that followed—five months later—turned up the corrosion. According to the WP, the EPA is launching a criminal investigation.

The Wall Street Journal says the problem may ultimately be wider: Oil companies have tended to underinvest in infrastructure
Now let's be fair here.

I can understand the oil companies shirking their responsibilities to repair infrastructure, i.e. oil pipelines. Afterall, it's not like they haven't made much money lately. Profits are tight afterall.

1 Comments:
Blogger Lynne said...
Wow, what a creepy graphic!

And the oil companies have invested in infrastructure. Have you seen Exxon's Lee Raymond? That's a massive infrastructure. One can see why $400 million was needed for that.