Surviving Capitalism (Not) : BP Resists EPA’s Order to Use Less Toxic Dispersant

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, May 24, 2010

BP Resists EPA’s Order to Use Less Toxic Dispersant

from Pro Publica.

We’ve reached out to the EPA to ask what the agency will do about BP’s refusal to comply with its directive. Where the EPA goes from here will give a window into how much authority the federal government has—and is willing to exercise—in its oversight of the cleanup, an issue on which the Obama administration continues to receive criticism.