On April 20, 2010, The Deepwater Horizon, owned and operated by TransOcean Ltd., and leased to British Petroleum, PLC, exploded and sunk in the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven employees and injuring seventeen others, and causied an ongoing catastrophic oil spill that endangers the area's fishing culture, threatens its tourism industry, and jeopardizes the entire Gulf coast ecosystem.
Since then, it has become abundantly clear that British Petroleum recklessly cut corners in order to maximize their profits - an intentionally negligent act which certainly contributed to the ensuing disaster, misled the American people in regards to the amount of oil that is polluting the Gulf of Mexico, misled us about the toxicity of the dispersant they've used to break the oil up, and recklessly sent clean-up crews out into the Gulf without the proper safety equipment.
British Petroleum must be held accountable for their actions, and must pay the appropriate restitution to those who they've harmed, as well as for the clean-up of their massive oil spill: If the company, in light of the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, is to enjoy the same Constitutional rights and privileges as does the American people, the company also share in the responsibilities that real people must endure.
Already, there are plans to minimize British Petroleum's financial obligations to those whom they've done wrong, with members of Congress actually apologizing for our government's negotiating with BP a deal to set aside $20 billion dollars to pay for damages - a sum which, sadly, will most likely be too low by anyone's measure.
We can not, and will not, sit idly by and let the American taxpayers get stuck paying the tab for British Petroleum's negligence, nor share too much concern in regards to the company's stockholders failing fortunes while those who've been genuinely harmed by this catastrophe go unaided.
To that end, the Rockford Coffee Party assembled a group of dedicated researchers and drafted a resolution holding British Petroleum accountable for the Gulf oil spill, the environmental damages and the accompanying financial costs.
We then presented the document to other Coffee Parties across the country, who have either adopted the resolution, as is, or did so with slight modifications.
Following the Coffee Party's mandate to civiliy approach national politics, the resolution we passed was as bi-partisan as we could make it without watering down the document into meaningless mush.
We believe we succeeded in our endeavors.
Our intention is to present the document to Congress on the morning of July 19th, and demand that our representatives adopt and pass into law the actions we've proposed.
On that same morning, the Rockford Coffee Party will be rallying in Cerny Park, located in beautiful suburban Warrenville, Illinois.
Warrenville is the home of BP America's North American corporate headquarters, as well as Warrenville's largest single employer.
We are calling out to all Americans tired of seeing corporations relentlessly rape our waters and despoil our wild places and then demand that we pay the costs for their excesses to join us, on July 19th, in Cerny Park.
Following listening to the line-up of speakers we are putting together, we will march from Cerny Park to the very doors of BP's corporate offices, and let the know precisely what we think of their business practices.
To learn more about the Rockford Coffee party's planned rally and protest, as well as the resolution we passed ''HOLDING BRITISH PETROLEOUM ACCOUNTABLE'', go to http://www.wix.com/rockfordcpm/bp2
For more information about the Rockford Coffee Party, contact:
DEL WASSO,
Rockford Coffee Party Coordinator,
PHONE: (815) 908-1794,
EMAIL: RockfordCPM@aol.com,
or go to http://www.rockfordcoffeeparty.org/
