Good News Friday

It may not be a permanent solution, but it's still cause to celebrate to hear that BP has managed to stop oil from flowing into the Gulf. The last thing we need in dealing with the worst environmental disaster in the country's history is for it to continue to worsen even as we try to counter it. Hopefully B.P.'s ongoing efforts to disperse and/or capture the oil that's already been spilled will have more of an effect now that there's no longer a supply of fresh oil to overwhelm them, and this cap will hold out until the much-discussed relief well that is currently being drilled to permanently solve the problem can be completed in August.

As They Should

President Obama has vowed to make BP pay for the gulf oil spill, and three cheers for that. Given that ample evidence is accumulating that the company cut numerous corners in regards to safety while drilling the Deep Water Horizon well, they need to pay dearly for their recklessness. Furthermore, if the libertarian argument that the force of the free market will drive companies to consider safety and environmental impact in their activities is to hold true, the real cost of failing to do so when engaging in a risky activity like deep-sea offshore drilling must be reflected in the marketplace. BP deserves no mercy whatsoever, even if this crisis bankrupts it. Let it off the hook, and the next company that's running late and over budget on a potentially environmentally risky project might decide saving time and money is worth the risk of a major catastrophe.

I hope my liberal friends will remember this the next time they're tempted to accuse us libertarians of being nothing but shills for the interests of big business.