Theory Post

     With the revelation that the oil companies are incapable of effectively handling oil spills everywhere, not just the Gulf, an increasing number of governments are coming to the conclusion that their countries should start using more alternative energy resources. For example, president Obama is increasingly trying to shift the US, the most energy consuming country in the world, away from the usage of oil by implementing restrictions on offshore drilling. However, there are still many who view oil spills as mere side effects of the benefits we get from using it to power our everyday lives because one simply can't eat their cake and still expect to have it. However, there are certain ways to minimize the chances of oil spills.We could start imposing stricter restrictions on oil companies, but that would force the price of petroleum to increase, and would only lead to more complaints about oil. Then again, these restrictions may or may not affect prices, depending on what they are. If the restrictions are safety precautions ensuring that the equipments used for drilling meet a certain standard and are of a certain quality which would minimize the risks of spills, then this would mean that these safety costs shouldn't affect the price of petroleum to consumers, because they should have been taken into account by the oil industry in the first place.
      In addition, to further reduce the chances of oil firms abusing their financial and economical benefits, which they bring to less economically powerful countries, equal media attention should be given to all oil producing countries whenever huge environmental tragedies resulting from oil, like that of the Gulf occur. All oil producing countries face very similar risks from drilling crude, and thus it is only fair that they shouldn't be discriminated against just because the media feels they won't gain sufficient ratings on t.v. I think the media is a very powerful tool in severely limiting the malpractices of oil companies everywhere because it shows the impacts of the disaster on a diverse group of people whose reactions are necessary to draw responses from the oil company responsible.