Like most news reported by the media, facts can be skewed. Bias in news worthy stories is inevitable and should be expected. This is why thinking for yourself and doing your own research is important.
The Chicago Tribune recently did an article about BP. The same themed story was ran by the News-Sentinel as well, but the outcome of each article are quite different.
This is what all the fuss is about. "BP received permission from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to be exempt from environmental laws that cap the amount of toxins into the lake. It will be allowed to include in its daily discharges into the lake 54 percent more ammonia (above the current 1,584 pounds) and 35 percent more sludge (above the current 4,925 pounds)."
"The exemption will allow the refinery to continue with a planned $3.8 billion expansion that will allow it to handle heavy crude oil from Canada, which requires more extensive processing."
"The oil we get from Canada will be oil we don't need to get from the Mideast."
The good and the bad about this can be weighed and viewed on many different levels. There are always two sides to every story. The environmental implications are quite clear, but who is to judge the environment against the cost of oil to citizens and the dependence on countries who are not necessarily trustworthy.
The Chicago Tribune seemingly left out the part of this deal with Canada. Their implications were purely shedding light on the fact that this allowance for toxins to be dumped into the lake is bad for the environment. Folks, this is a Catch 22 clearly, debatable for many reasons. It's important whether you agree or disagree to always give all components of the story. Without understand the facts you are depriving yourself of valuable information. Sludge waste is NOT being dumped into the Michigan Lakes as the Chicago Tribune will lead you to believe. Emissions aren't as low as we would like and there is excessive silt being dumped into the lakes.
I do not agree with putting more ammonia in the air and I do not agree with allowing more pollution in any body of water. I do however see the debate and am happy that I do not have to make these types of decisions. One can only hope that a fair compromise can be made.
I mean do we really want to continue to depend on the Middle East to supply oil to our country? No, of course not. Do we want Michigan's lakes to be polluted? No, of course not. Fighting about this will not solve the problem, everyone needs to stop being catty and sit down to figure out other possible solutions.
Reducing emissions is something BP is striving to do as are many other companies in our nation. It's one thing in a pile of things that needs to be taken care of and checked off the metaphorical list. If you would like to learn more about BP you can read their fact sheet click through to the BP Whiting Refinery Fact Sheet.
  Labels: BP, emissions, environment, pollution |
