Gulf oil spill ethics

Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly interviews ethicist Paul Wolpe on the moral aspects of oil spill.


BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: With spilled oil now reaching all the Gulf States, the White House this week demanded more answers from BP. Meanwhile, a prominent ethicist is calling for a much deeper national discussion about the moral implications of the spill. Kim Lawton reports.

PROFESSOR PAUL ROOT WOLPE (Director, Emory University Center for Ethics): It’s an ecological tragedy, it’s an economic tragedy, it’s a political tragedy and it’s an ethical tragedy. Given that that is the case, what is the ethical response?

KIM LAWTON, correspondent: Paul Root Wolpe directs Emory University’s Center for Ethics. He says because American dependence on oil is partly responsible for the crisis, it needs to be addressed in the responses as well.

WOLPE: One basic ethical issue is, as we criticize BP or as we criticize other responses to this, we have to look to ourselves and ask ourselves what are our contributions to this crisis? The second issue is how are we going to balance our dedication to the environment to our need for comfort?


Watch here.

For an extended interview with Wolpe, watch here.

What are you willing to give up to slow the demand for oil and gas?

Posted by Ann Fontaine on July 13, 2010 7:00 AM | |
Comments (2)

I agree with Professor Wolpe. I've said as much and been accused of trying to deflect the blame from where it belongs, on BP and the federal government's slow response. By no means do I let BP off the hook, because the company was reckless in their operations and did not put safety first. The federal agencies were slow to respond and let BP call the shots for far too long.

Still, Prof. Wolpe's final quote in this post is true. We must all examine our consciences to see how we contribute to make possible this sort of catastrophe.

June Butler

Posted by GrandmèreMimi [TypeKey Profile Page] | July 13, 2010 11:05 AM

In 1989 Exxon told the cleanup workers the same story, that the crude oil is not toxic. Some of us are living proof of the toxic exposure, and many others have died. Please view the YouTube video, and help get the message to Gulf residents, BP crude oil cleanup workers, and President Obama. Respirators need to be supplied to oil cleanup crews.
Thank you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M1J7U2GYA0

Posted by Merle Savage [TypeKey Profile Page] | July 13, 2010 9:32 PM

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