Oil Spill Bibliography

Smith, Martin, and Marcela Gaviria. "The Spill." PBS. PBS, 26 Oct. 2010. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

        In the last 10 years, the British Petroleum company also known as BP, has arguably become one of the most unsound companies in the history of oil extraction. Within those ten years, BP has had more than four major massacres which have resulted in the death of employees, the destruction of company infrastructure, and millions in settlement costs. Despite the company's constant shift in leadership, it is apparent that BP exercises a grossly negligent Business plan which pinches pennies and results in the death of employees.

Pelley, Scott. "Blowout: The Deepwater Horizon Disaster." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 16 May 2010. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.

        This article investigates the negligence employed by British Petroleum leading up to the 2010 oil disaster that is now being called the worst oil spill in history. The article outlines events that led up to the disaster and the warning signs that were ignored British Petroleum. The story also depicts the harrowing escape of one of the survivors of the disaster and interviews a former BP insider who warns of another potential disaster.

Rushe, Dominic. "BP May Face $18bn in Fines for Gross Negligence as Federal Trial Resumes." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 01 Oct. 2013. Web. 02 Mar. 2014.

        For petroleum a phase $18 billion in fines for gross negligence as the federal trial resumes. The plaintiffs attorney argues that British Petroleum was woefully unprepared for the 2011 blowout and lied about how much oil was flowing from the well. BP tried to hide the amount of oil that was spilling into the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Verizon oil rig disaster. These and more come his new arguments for the prosecution in the recent days of the trial. US District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans is presiding over the trial and it is already apparent that he is leaning the prosecution's favor.

Essay #12

  (a) Divided government is when a political party controls the white house and another party controls the House and Senate. Due to the lack of agreement between the two parties, a political gridlock is often created and creates a standstill between the two where nothing is decided on. A divided government can also cause problems with the relationship between the people and their government because the people lose trust in the government when things aren't being taken care of.

        (b) An incremented cost in election campaigns have caused a distrust in regime in general. This is because as elections have become much bigger, the connection to the public and the political opinions have been lost for more corporate tactics.

        (c) Two specific instances of a decline in trust and confidence in the government are the recent recession and court cases involving congressmen. The recession is a great example of the general public's distrust in their government. This was made evident in the following election with a majority party change. Therefore, court cases involving Congressman or members of the senate being charged with stealing government funding. With a distrust in government citizens decline their right to vote and lead to protest.

3) Trust and confidence in government have declined in recent decades.

(a) Explain how divided government has contributed to the decline in trust and confidence in government. Be sure to include a definition of divided government in your response

(b) Explain how the increased cost of election campaigns has contributed to the decline in trust and confidence in government.

(c) Explain two specific consequences of the decline in trust and confidence in government for individual political behavior.