Thirteen Gulf of Mexico”burn events” occurred on June 15 alone. (Photo: Ho New/Reuters)

If forest fires result in poor air quality that require alerts, then wouldn’t oil fires cause even worse conditions? Check out the photo above. Then tell me that’s not causing toxic pollution.

I live in the L.A. area where we have a lot of major fires and a lot of air quality alerts because of the smoke and ash.  If I see huge billowing clouds of smoke, I stay indoors with the windows shut.  That’s what we’re instructed to do, and that’s what we do. When I’m forced outside, the effects are noticeable: My eyes burn, I cough, there’s a fine dusting of ash everywhere, the sky is brown/gray, visibility is limited, and you can’t help but smell the smoke, let alone inhale it.

BP is burning oil because it’s easier and less expensive than any of the alternatives. But that’s pretty much how they do everything (like, you know, killing 11 people): on the cheap:

The risks of firing up the slick are obvious. The burning creates toxic gases including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds like benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene, all now being added to the atmosphere, eventually to be blown inland. [...]

So far they’ve burned nearly 5 million gallons, creating massive toxic clouds of black smoke. [...]

By the end of June, BP hopes to be sucking—and burning—2.2 million gallons of oil and natural gas a day. [...]

The EPA says its monitoring of air quality along the coastline reports nothing out of the ordinary. But since the drill site is 50 miles offshore, thus beyond federal authority, there is no official monitoring taking place at ground zero. Similarly, because ground zero is outside federal reach, no permit is required to burn. [...]

So why continue to burn the oil, other than to save money, effort, and time? Who can think of a reason? Hands? Why, here’s one now!

By burning the crude rather than transporting it to shore and selling it—the profits of which the company has promised to donate to a fund to restore and improve wildlife habitat—there’s much less oil to sell, thus reducing the company’s economic risk.

And that’s what it’s all about, right? Profit over people. BP: Big Profits.

H/t: AltaKocker