Heads in the Sand

It seems like the government could be doing more about the BP oil leak. If a private citizen were caught dumping a single barrel of crude oil into the ocean, I'm fairly confident that he would be taken to court, fined, and possibly jailed. Why isn't the federal government, perhaps under the auspices of the EPA, being more proactive with BP? A hefty fine, per day or per gallon, should be incentive enough to get the job done.

On a slightly less realistic note it would go a long way towards building good faith if some of the other oil companies publicly stepped up and offered a hand. Exxon, I'm looking at you. I remember Valdez. That's probably too much to hope for. You don't see commercials for gas stations on TV too much these days. No, everyone is trying to distance himself.