Voice of the People

BP has used newspaper ads to tell their side of story on the $3.6 billion expansion. They tell of how they are friends of nature and the residents of the Midwest. They say that they are building this expansion for us, for the temporary construction jobs, the 80 permanent jobs, the increased tax base and to lessen our dependency on foreign oil. They claim any additional pollutants will be harmless. Before everyone starts feeling sorry for BP and thinks the public is at fault for questioning their actions lets think about a few things.

First, additional pollution is going into the lake will have an adverse affect. You don’t have to be an environmental extremist to acknowledge that.

The BP expansion may provide an increased tax base thus generating more tax revenue, but this is not guaranteed as our tax structure changes and BP has already received tax abatements for this project.

Canada is a foreign country. We have had problems over tariffs with Canada before. The only way to foreign oil independence is to use less of it. There doesn’t seem to be much of a chance of that happening. Last quarter we used more gas than ever.

The 80 permanent jobs that are being touted by them isn’t very impressive. BP could create more jobs by spending what is necessary to fully improve their waste water capabilities. $150 million for improvements to an ancient facility like theirs isn’t nearly enough to make a difference.

BP says there is no room for expansion at the lakefront. Nonsense! The wastewater plant needs to be moved away from the lake anyway. If sandy crude can be pumped from Canada, untreated water can be pumped to a treatment plant offsite.

The only reason BP is willing to invest this type of money is PROFIT! BP will make billions of dollars for years to come when this project is complete. There is only one chance to have it done correctly, before it is built. We all need to put more pressure on the head cheerleader for BP, Governor Daniels. He doesn’t see anything wrong with this project. Mounting pressure from all sides doesn’t phase him. He is standing firm. Does this sound familiar? We have seen it before. Do you think the Governor has a plan to lease Lake Michigan to BP?

Kevin L. Cornett

Posted 8/2/2007