oil rigs

The oil industry is subsidized beyond virtually any other business in America, enjoying tax breaks that average $4 billion a year. The massive tax breaks reaped in BP's disastrous Deepwater Horizon project, which caused the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, are typical.

BP used a cheaper and riskier well design in more than one-third of its Gulf of Mexico deepwater wells -- significantly more often than most other big drillers in the area, according to The Wall Street Journal. The same design was used in BP's Deepwater Horizon rig.

BP can compensate the family of a rig worker killed in the Deepwater Horizon explosion a mere $1,000, thanks to the outdated Death on the High Seas Act. Congress has vowed to change the law, but the cruise line industry won't make it easy.

Exactly one month ago, President Obama announced that he will proceed with offshore oil exploration as part of his broader energy plan. In addition to funding the development of alternative energy sources like wind, solar and biofuels, the plan will open up a chunk of the Atlantic coast of the...

Profits at British oil giant BP surged 135% in the first quarter, but that good news didn't stop investors from unloading its stock for a second straight day, responding to uncertainty over the costs it will incur to clean up the rapidly expanding oil slick from the loss of a Gulf of Mexico drilling rig.