Weekly Recap: The BP Oil Spill

Happy Friday DINKS! We hope you all had a great week.  Our weekly roundup discusses one of the biggest news stories to ever spill over throughout the media; the BP oil spill in the Golf Coast. I chose to write about this topic not necessarily because it is directly related to finance, but because of the major indirect impact it has on our lives.

Many of us may live, vacation, or have family who live in this southern area that includes Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas.  Over the last few years the world has experienced its share of extreme disasters but this is the second mass destruction to hit the Gulf.  Whether you have stock holdings in BP Oil Company or your family has been affected by the spill,  I think that this catastrophe affects everyone in some way.

Everyone is looking for someone to blame, and it seems that everyone has an opinion on the subject. At this point I don’t think the origin of fault is important.  The focus needs to be on the clean up and the effort to minimize any further potential losses.  The damage control is crucial at this point. In my opinion, right now it is bad press for BP oil, but regardless it is still press. Some people say that all press is good press.  Will this oil spill be the end of BP oil…no, I don’t think so. People will continue to fill up their cars with gas, and heat their homes with oil.

It may seem that large corporations can survive any catastrophe, regardless of how big it is. Unfortunately in this case, we cannot say the same for the wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico.

We have seen other similar situations where large corporations make mistakes, release an official apology in the press, and then start to clean up their mess (pardon the pun).  The contamination last year in Maple Leaf cold cuts was a good example.  More recently, the recall of the Shrek 3 glasses by Mc Donald’s due to toxins in the paint, has also received negative press. This is just a small bump in the road for these major corporations. Do I think that BP Oil, Maple Leaf Meats, or Mc Donald’s will be going bankrupt anytime soon? No I don’t.

Here are some clips and news releases about the oil spill along the Gulf Coast, along with other financial reads from this week:

• Kevin Costner blasts Big Oil ‘bureaucratic maze’ @ CNN Money
• The View Discusses BP Oil Spill Apology @ VodPod
• BP coughs up $20 billion for ‘small people’ affected by oil disaster @ The Montreal Gazette
• 8 Reasons Rich People Hate Their Lives @ Copyblogger
• 11 Creative Ways to Avoid Becoming a Workaholic @ Zen Habits
• Would You Waste 1 Year of Your Life For $100k? @ Free Money Finance
• Beyond Net Worth: Tracking Financial Progress Better @ My Money Blog
• How To Negotiate Your Rent in 2010: A 10-Step Guide @ Software Advice
• Carnival of Personal Finance – “How who you know affects who you are” ed. @ Pop Economics
• Carnival of Money Stories! @ Ultimate Money Blog
• Best of Money Carnival #5 @ Free From Broke

(Photo Credit sashafatcat)