EPA BAILS OUT GREKA'S OIL

If you've been paying attention, you know that Greka Oil & Gas Inc. has spilled more oil around here recently than the Governator uses to fill up his Hummers. And it seems that no amount of public or private pressure has encouraged them to adequately clean up its messes. Therefore, it looks as if the EPA is going to step in and do it for them. Here's a portion of the recent Santa Maria Times article on the subject ...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is taking over the cleanup of an oil spill in Santa Barbara County after failed efforts by Greka Oil & Gas Inc., a company whose long record of inland oil spills could soon lead to new legislation.

Officials announced the federal takeover of the Bell lease site in Santa Maria today, saying Greka has not removed petroleum-contaminated soil in a creek in the two months since the spill.

Greka, which state officials have called California’s worst inland oil polluter, has been responsible for three spills at the site since last summer totaling more than 29,000 gallons of crude oil and toxin laden water.

“That they’re federalizing this is a big deal,” said Steve Edinger, assistant chief of the state Department of Fish and Game. “It’s basically the EPA saying ‘We need to step in and make sure the environment is taken care of and cleaned up.’ It’s not something that happens very often.”

If you're like me, you probably read the headline "EPA federalizes cleanup of oil spill at Greka site" and gave it about ten seconds of thought before moving on to more exciting news items. Well, I'm glad I gave it a another look, because -- if you'll indulge me -- I'd like to show how the Greka issue really points to a more disturbing trend. And I'd like to start by talking about another quote from the article ...

Robert Wise, who works at EPA’s Superfund division, scoffed at the idea that the company headed by Randeep Grewal does not have the funds.

“There’s really no question as to whether Randy Grewal has the money — oh yeah, he has the money,” Wise said. “The question is whether he wants to pay for this.”

Yeah, that is a good question. If not him, then who? Let's come back to that ... As I stated in a previous post, the recent government bailout of Bear Stearns really left a bad taste in my mouth. It's not that I necessarily blame the Fed for taking this action, but I am mostly disturbed by the fact that Bush would bail out a corporation while, at the same time, refusing to help the average man who is losing his home ...

"It’s not the government’s job to bail out speculators," Mr. Bush said, "or those who made the decision to buy a home they knew they could never afford."

What the Greka and Bear Stearn incidents really bring to light is a fatal flaw with the "free markets will fix everything" philosophy. These corporations (and many like them) want to have their cake and eat it too. They claim that government regulations are unnecessary and inhibit profits. But look who has to jump in and save them when things go bad. I think Bill Maher said it best on a recent episode of Real Time ...

"They (Corporations) believe in the free market for profits but they want to socialize losses."

That's exactly right. And it leads us right back to the question of who pays when these types of events occur ... We do!