By Dave Ryder and Don Cole – angry about the oil spill disaster, we wrote this protest song as an indictment against the greed and failure of BP and ALL big oil corporations that failed to install proper safeguards on offshore drilling rigs. It is dedicated to the 11 men who lost their lives in the Deepwater Horizon explosion.
>> The MP3 can be downloaded by clicking here.
>> Here are the lyrics. (The ASCII art is from this free online generator)
>> Here is the link to the video.
The really sad thing about this whole deal is that it all could have been avoided by installing an acoustic safety switch on the rig. These switches are mandatory on rigs drilling offshore of Norway and Brazil, but apparently “big oil” successfully lobbied (read: bribed) congress to not have to install them on rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.
They cost less than $500,000 – half a million bucks.
That kind of money is NOTHING to “big oil”. NOTHING. I bet Tony Hayward’s yacht cost more than that.
Here is a video explaining how Dick Cheney under the Bush administration fucked America over by letting the oil companies drill without these safeguards:
Here is the link to the video:
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77pBcf0o444
Finally I want to post some facts I got from Wikipedia:
1. Up to 348,000,000 gallons leaked (and some people believe that is a conservative estimate) – that’s enough oil to fill the Rose Bowl stadium to the brim over 4 times.
2. The spill area covers as much as 9,100 square miles – here is satellite imagry:
3.The area closed of for fishing covers 36% of the gulf. Here is a map of the “No Fishing” zone: 
4. Researchers have identified oil plumes in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, including one as large as 10 miles long, 3 miles wide and 300 feet thick in spots.
5. On 24 May, EPA administrator Jackson said the 700,000 US gallons of chemical dispersants already used was “approaching a world record”. Stating she was “dissatisfied with BP’s response” she ordered the EPA to conduct its own evaluation of alternatives, and ordered BP to scale back dispersant use.
6. As of 16 July, 2,624 dead animals had been collected, including 2,095 birds, 467 sea turtles, 61 dolphins and other mammals, and 1 reptile. Also, dolphins have been seen which are lacking food, and “acting drunk” apparently due to the spill. A reporter kayaking in the area of Grand Isle reported seeing about 60 dolphins blowing oil through their blow holes as they swam through oil-slick waters.
7. As BP was reported to be offloading billions of dollars in assets in preparation, some estimates suggested the total liability could amount to as much as US $100 billion (UK £67.5 bn) by the conclusion of the disaster.
$500,000 is starting to look pretty cheap, dumbasses.
