Big Oil’s polluted profits

    The mainstream media reported it rather matter-of-factly, no questions asked: Due to the soaring oil price, the world’s leading energy firms in 2010 recorded sky-rocketing profits. Exxon-Mobil, Chevron and Shell, for example, reported annual profits of $30.5 billion, $19 billion and $18.6billion respectively. BP would normally also rank among the big rollers, but ended the year with a $4.9 billion loss, as a result of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The worst manmade environmental disaster in history could cost the firm a whopping $40 billion. Strangely, even though the event occurred less than a year ago, it seems largely forgotten today. As BP magically made the oil disappear by sinking it to the ocean floor with the help of thousands of tons of chemical “dispersants,” so the accident vanished from the public eye. See no evil, hear no evil. It just illustrates how the environment remains a