# YOU are partly responsible for the BP oil spill

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-partly-responsible-for-the-bp-oil-spill/544632>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [June 26, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-partly-responsible-for-the-bp-oil-spill/544632 "2010-06-26T21:49:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-partly-responsible-for-the-bp-oil-spill/544632/81 "2010-06-30T14:14:35Z")

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> [@Algher](#):
>
> I drive a 41 MPG hybrid auto (Ford Fusion). No guilt there.  
> My only real guilt would come from my commute - 75 miles a day. Nothing that can be done about that.

Other than moving closer to work? Or getting a 250cc Yamaha Virago at about 80 MPG?

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**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-partly-responsible-for-the-bp-oil-spill/544632/82 "2010-06-30T14:17:57Z")

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> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> My wifes old 88 Honda CRX use to get a legit 55 mpg but of course it was a 2 seater.

It also didn’t have airbags, side impact bars, or any of a dozen safety- and emissions-related gubbins that have driven vehicle weights up over the last 20 years.

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**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-partly-responsible-for-the-bp-oil-spill/544632/83 "2010-06-30T14:25:34Z")

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> [@Der\_Trihs](#):
>
> I was hardly old enough to be held responsible for much of anything. But considering that the result of Three Mile Island was nothing more than an expensive machine breaking, I’d certainly prefer a hundred Three Mile Islands to one oil spill like this one.

This is why I use support for nuclear power as a touchstone for distinguishing between genuine concern and BS rhetoric on the global warming issue. The scope of that problem is such that conversion to nuclear power would be preferable _even if it were as dangerous as the opponents claim_.

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**Author:** ![valleyofthedolls](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a4c791/32.png) [@valleyofthedolls](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/valleyofthedolls)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-partly-responsible-for-the-bp-oil-spill/544632/84 "2010-06-30T15:33:20Z")

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> [@Bridget\_Burke](#):
>
> Yes, as consumers of petrochemical products, we’re all to blame. In a way.
> 
> But your finding BP’s criminal negligence “amusing” reeks of sanctimony.

This is the 2nd time you’ve done this. I have never said I find BP’s malfeasance funny. What I have said (2x) is the public’s reaction is funny. Do you see the difference? When you vote in politicians who spend their lives stripping away or blocking environmental protections and when you consume oil at a staggering rate (it’s not just mpg as some people naively believe, oil touches everything you do, from the shiny new computer gadgets you have to have to the food in your refrigerator) and then you’re shocked and outraged when something like the Gulf incident happens, well, now that’s funny. Feel free, however, to believe _that_ reeks of sanctimony if it makes you happy.

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