re: #23 lostlakehiker

BP talks a good green game, but they don’t have a good record on the ground. Or in the water. Capitalism requires for its proper functioning that capitalist players not be allowed to spawn negative externalities on any major scale, not for free. They have to be held to account.

I don’t want BP destroyed with punitive fines. I just want them to pay the damages. If that destroys them as a corporation, it will be a lesson to the others, but the damages are unlikely to be that large. If it hurts their bottom line, well, a great many other economic players have been injured by this spill, and the damages BP pays can go toward compensating them for their loss.

Yep, Gulf Coast fishermen are also capitalists. They didn’t cause this but it could ruin them. BP should be forced to pay even if it means liquidation.