It is saddening to see how quickly people’s opinions and actions have shifted in the wake of the Gulf oil spill. For instance, students, professors and the general public are demanding that UC Berkeley sever ties with BP because of the spill. BP provided a $500 Million grant to create an institute that is working on developing new plant based fuel sources. This is a tremendous project that could result in the discovery of new alternative fuels that would inevitably reduce our use of crude oil.

What people continue to do in the aftermath is not see the potential ramifications of their decisions. Ending this relationship with BP will result in a loss of jobs on the UC Berkeley campus, a tremendous blow to the research of alternative fuels, and it will contribute to an ever-growing anti-BP sentiment that has swept the country and will likely only result in more economic hardship as the public and government put pressure on the oil industry.

Do the world a favor and look in the mirror and try telling yourself with a straight face that you don’t consume products derived from crude oil. If you drive, buy groceries, drink soda/bottled water, wear clothes, are reading this on the Internet right now… then guess what, you consume oil and this oil spill is a result of that demand. We all need to support programs like the one at UC Berkeley, that is solely the result of BP’s generosity, that will help relieve our insatiable appetite for crude oil from environmentally sensitive areas.

[tags]oil, bp, UC Berkeley, alternative fuels[/tags]