"10 Reasons To Still Be Pissed Off About the BP Disaster"

Today is the anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon blowout that caused a catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. The consequences to people, natural resources, and industries are still happening, and just beginning to be understood. BP is making profits, paying dividends, and having protestors from the Gulf hustled out of its shareholder meetings by police. The tarballs? Security guards patrolling Louisiana public beaches still prevent journalists from filming them. The $20 billion in compensation set aside by BP has not prevented many people from feeling that their lives have been ruined by the event. Elected officials have resumed the chant: "Drill, baby, drill." Now Freedom-of-Information requests have brought to light documentation that the UK government refused to go to war in Iraq without guarantees that BP and other British firms would get a share of the conquered nation's oil.

Kate Sheppard reports for Grist April 19, 2011, and other stories.

SEE ALSO:

"Exposed Memo Reveals Definite Ties Between Big Oil and Iraq Invasion" (Treehugger)

"'BP Hasn't Made People Whole'" (Mother Jones)

"A Year After BP Blowout, Gulf Lawmakers Say Drill" (McClatchy)

"Gulf Oil Spill: Fishermen Say They Are Sick from Cleanup" (ABC News)

"Fed'l Records Show 3,200 Wells Abandoned, Unplugged, Unprotected in Gulf of Mexico" (AP)

"BP Is Looking Strong a Year Later" (AP)

"BP's PR Campaign Fails To Clean Up Reputation After Gulf Oil Spill" (Guardian)

Protesters Ejected From BP Annual Meeting In London (SkyNews)

"The Best Writing on the BP Oil Spill" (Treehugger)

"Lots of Ink: The Gulf a Year Later. Not Real Bad. Not Real Good. Need More Data. Etc." (Knight Science Journalism Tracker)