Two BPs on My Mind

BP which has in the past been British Petroleum has been much in the news, in this blog and on my mind. That is how it ought to be. The beaches where Jean Lafitte sometimes sent in his parties in his smaller boats are fouled. Those same Grand Isle beaches where Kate Chopin observed white Creole culture relaxing in its sophisticated colonial style that was both uniquely French and uniquely US American and then set out in that context the events of the novella “The Awakening”– those same fine beaches are now covered in emulsified oil. Nests of Pelicans and other birds who already struggle in this world are found to have been fouled by oil in Plaquemines Parish. Fishing is closed and chaos devils the plans of many small towns. The British Petroleum leak ought to be on people’s minds. But what about the other B.P. —  The British Parliament.

The British Parliament opens tomorrow and has been closed and occupied with things other than being a parliament since the explosion of the Deep Water Horizon. Will the Parliament address the crisis in Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico in any way? That is the question which I cannot answer with certainty today. But it is on my mind.