Stop Protesting BP...

...unless you are living a life without petroleum, petrochemicals or natural gas. Because otherwise, you're a hypocrite.

Don't get me wrong; I'm horrified by the spill in the Gulf. Saddened by pictures of guck-covered pelicans struggling to fly. Angry to read that sea turtles are being burned alive inside open-water booms. Disgusted at the stories emerging that British Petroleum side-stepped safety procedures, which may have ultimately caused the blowout. Indignant that many of BP's "cleanup efforts" were staged photo-ops.

But I am also willing to admit that I personally have some culpability in the root causes that lead to a massive oil spill.
I drive a car that runs on gas.
My house is heated by natural gas, my kitchen stove runs on it.
Right now, within reaching distance, there are at least 14 things made of plastic. That's just on my desk. Hell, the keyboard I'm typing on is plastic. (Plastic is made from petroleum. We all know that, right?)
I use lotion and cosmetics.
I dust my house with a microfiber cloth, wrap up in a microfiber blankie when I'm chilly in the evening, wear clothes made of polyester, love my flip-flops.
Click here for some more things made of petroleum. Surprised?

My point is: Oil and its refined, manipulated and packaged byproducts are ubiquitous in our modern society. We're addicted to it, and not only because we love to drive. We also firmly believe that our food is only good if it comes sealed in plastic or is deposited safely in plastic baggies before going anywhere; that tap water is inferior to that which sloshes around in a plastic vessel from a store shelf; that products we buy are only "new" if they come sealed in blister-pack plastic that one risks personal injury opening; that our cars, cell phones, computers, hairbrushes, garbage cans, children's toys, cleaning products, storage bins, shall-I-go-on must be lightweight, indestructible, ergonomically convenient and above all disposable.
Recycle plastic? Sure! But where does it go then? Who cares! I feel better just tossing it into the bin with the triangle of chasing arrows. Does anyone think to look for products made from recycled plastic? Or choose to purchase items that don't come in plastic, if that option is available? Use refillable water bottles? Take your own grocery bags to the store? Walk to the store?
For some depressing mythbusting about recycling plastic, click HERE.

So back to BP and the other oil companies. What is their responsibility in all of this mess? They are simply applying the rules of capitalism: Give the people whatever they are willing to pay for. And as the universe always manages to show us: Accidents and mishaps will happen. Nothing is ever perfect. And there is never any one entity responsible, no matter how opportunistic and dishonest the service provider might be.

Just like the current US housing crisis that was caused by companies willing to use devious and unfair lending practices because every Joe and Jane Sixpack suddenly felt it was their God-given American Right to own a big new house, whether or not they actually earned enough money to pay for it. Someone gave them a loan for it. Then the Sixpacks were astonished and angry when they couldn't make their mortgage payments and the evil bank took away their house.
Just like everyone on facebook was shocked that their personal information was being given out to any and all advertisers and other web sites, even though they entered all of it themselves. On the Internet. Where nothing, ultimately, is private because we've all demanded to know everything about everything. But not our own everything. Just everyone else's everythings.

Et cetera, ad nauseum. Personal responsibility, anyone?

Everything has a cost, monetary or intangible. What are you willing to sacrifice, really, to show Big Oil that there needs to be a change?

Until you (and I) can answer that question and behave accordingly, put down your placard, get in your plastic car that runs on gas and go home.