Question

Please construe the The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill under the doctrine of “utilitarianism”.

Answer 1

The “Utilitarianism” philosophical and ethical theory states that the best course of action is the one which can maximize utility. Here utility is something that can produce the greatest good/ well being of the greatest number of individuals/people/animals. This ethical theory is another version of the theory of “Consequentialism”, according to which an action’s consequences can only reveal whether it is right or wrong. But utilitarianism differs from other forms of the theory of Consequentialism (including Altruism and Egoism) in that it treats all living beings and their interests/stakes in an equal manner. Jeremy Bentham is the founder of the Utilitarian philosophy, which is also called as Benthamism. The term Utilitarianism was coined or popularized by the successor of Jeremy, by the name John Stuart Mill.

The industrial disaster “Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill” (also known as the BP oil disaster) began in the year 2010, on 20th April, in the Gulf of Mexico region, at Macondo Prospect. This region and area lies off Louisiana's coast and is a part of the United States Exclusive Economic Zone. The oil spill is considered to be the largest in history so far and estimates put it close to around 4.9 million barrels (or 210 million US gallons). The oil flow could not be contained fully in the subsequent months and therefore the oil well was sealed completely in September 2010.

The explosion and spill occurred because of a flawed oil-well construction plan, and there was less use of cement than required in between the production and protection casings. The workers were also notable enough to control and safely handle the offshore oil rig operations. The cost-cutting decisions that were made by BP and a lack of any kind of system which could ensure the safety of the well are the causes attributed to the major oil spill. Around 11 people died because of the incident and many suffered from conditions related to exposure to an oil spill. The spill also damaged and weekend the tourism and fishing industry of this Gulf region and caused comprehensive damage to the wildlife and Marine habitats of the region.

The Mexico Gulf Deepwater Oil Spill And Utilitarianism

When construing the oil spill under the ethical doctrine of Utilitarianism, We can see that it is just opposite to the ethical theory. This is so because the utility is decreased for everyone (including stakeholders, common people, and marine animals) who are involved in the disaster or is affected by it. The disaster is Immoral as the spill caused irreparable harm to the people and society. It destroyed many businesses and the beaches that were based on fishing and tourism. The Gulf oil spill is still a major human health concern and also destroyed aquatic and marine life and habitats. The spill was a wastage of billions of dollars and the containment efforts were also quite costly.

The “Greatest Happiness” principle of the Utilitarianism theory, which may be defined as providing the most utility to the most number of people, is being compromised in this case. The best action, according to the theory is the one that maximizes the benefits and happiness for the greater number of people. Therefore a single person may have to sacrifice his/her own interest to bring happiness and benefits to the greatest section of society. Mill also states that the morality of any action is not judged on the basis of negative or positive intentions but on the basis of the consequences, and these should maximize the utility for the most number of people. Providing most happiness, benefits or utility to the most people is moralistic. A business organization should aim to create a balance between the happiness and utility derived by it and the society and people at large. The spill did not make anybody happy and these included the officials as well as the clients/customers of BP. The money (around the US $ 8 billion) and efforts that were spent for controlling the spill could have been used for other useful purposes as well including the upgrading of the machinery. Any nation would not like to grow economically while harming its eco-diversity or health of the citizens, as such growth is not sustainable and is unethical. Therefore the primary emphasis of BP should have been on making the drilling operations more secure and risk-free than being extremely profitable and risky. While the cost-cutting measures undertaken by BP helped it to lower the operational costs, the firm later had to spend more than dollar 8 billion for covering up the drawbacks of the disaster and the harms it caused. Organizations should have a long-term perspective on gaining financial benefits and profits as well. As this case study proves, being ethical can also be good for the financial health of the company.