BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil leak is looming over everything that happens in the U.S. and international politics. People are angry, but can’t do anything tangible about it. Yes, you can donate money, or if you live along the shore you can become part of the cleanup effort, but the fact that the rest of us (unless you volunteer there) can’t do anything with our hands to help out is frustrating and makes us feel powerless. No matter how many blog entries I write about it, I can’t get BP to go back and do something about the safety standards, I can’t get the oil leak filled in with concrete, and I can’t bring back the dead animals or the destroyed wetlands. And while I have a strong urge to tell BP what’s what, no matter how much I do that, I can’t change the way things are at this very moment.

But watching the politics around the issue, from Obama cracking down on BP and telling them what they need to do and the Republican Senator Joe Barton apologizing to BP for what the White House is doing (a “shakedown?”), I don’t like the way the national discussion is going on this. So I will take my writing instincts and outline what I think are the most effective responses, from both sides, and how those responses will help us all move forward.

GOVERNMENT

1. Updates: Obama and the Coast Guard have been corresponding with BP and the public about this. The Coast Guard has been harder on BP in telling them what they need to do, and that’s good. Obama needs to continue being the voice of reason, the Coast Guard the voice of pressure. Keep it up, guys.
2. Targeted Financial Care: We did a bailout for the banks, and we have money left over. Why not take the leftover funds and create a fund that will help the people along the Gulf with loans that will then be paid back by BP? It would be more immediate, and the legal pressure of payback from the government will be more effective than individuals or a class action suit from residents.
3. Adjust Policy: They’ve indicated some of this is happening. Yes, we need to shake up how permits are given out and how well the protocols are followed. Also, we need to take a long, hard look at our energy policy. This is the catalyst for investment in clean energy. Use it as such.

BP

1. Apologize: Yes, they’ve put out a video talking about how they will make this right. And that’s good. But send your people, executives, into the lions den. Get them out of the office and walking around taking some of the heat from locals- no speeches, just listening and apologizing. Hard, but do it. Make it human and real.
2. Money: Just today BP announced a $20 billion escrow fund to pay out legitimate claims. It’s the best move they have made so far.
3. Adjust Policy: I don’t know the inner workings of BP, but if their bottom line is more important than the safety of the wells they are drilling, now is the time to change those policies, in a very real, public way that people within the company believe and take to, take action on.

And we all need to accept our roles in the desire for oil. The complacency of our desires led, if indirectly, to the aggressive exploration of and for this oil.

Photo Credit: Fibonacci Blue