Punch BP in the Wallet

Here's something that can be done to punish BP and minimize their opportunity for future harm, and it can be done now  rather than waiting on fancy political maneuvers.

Discretionary Debarment

BP continues to stonewall the American people about the growing Deep
Horizon disaster in the Gulf, even while the company reaps millions of
dollars in profits each day from its other federal leases.

The White House, the Department of Interior, and Congress are all crying
foul, but they are not taking action to hold BP accountable. If the Obama
administration is serious about making BP pay, there is a very simple and
powerful tool at its disposal: the EPA can take away BP's billions in
federal contracts.

Ask EPA Administration Lisa Jackson to impose "discretionary debarment"
and strip BP of all federal contracts. Click here to sign our petition.

The Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to bar BP from
receiving U.S. government contracts. Suspension of BP contracts would mean
the loss of billions of dollars and effectively stop the company from
drilling in federally controlled oil fields both on and offshore.

This is the strongest possible action that could be taken against BP.

Discretionary debarment is among the most serious actions EPA can take.
EPA's own regulations allow the agency to ban BP from future contracts
after considering "the frequency and pattern of the incidents, corporate
attitude both before and after the incidents, changes in policies,
procedures, and practices."

Prior to the current Gulf spill, EPA had linked BP to at least four
instances of criminal misconduct and BP has paid tens of millions in fines
for environmental crimes. According to the public interest investigative
journalists at Pro Publica, the EPA is considering re-evaluating BP and
determining whether the company's actions leading up to and following the
Deep Horizon spill are evidence of an institutional problem inside BP that
would qualify for debarment action.

Tell the EPA to take action to strip BP of all existing and future
government contracts. Click here to automatically sign our petition.

If BP is hit with discretionary debarment, the company would lose valuable
contracts for selling fuel to the military and would be prohibited from
obtaining or renewing drilling leases on federal land. It could also
cancel BP's current federal leases. The impact on BP's bottom line could
be in the billions of dollars.

Neither Congress, nor President Obama, nor Interior Secretary Salazar have
taken steps to truly hold BP accountable. It's up to EPA to use the
regulatory tools at its disposal to make BP pay.

The American people are outraged by the politicians' inaction in the face
of an exponentially growing economic and environmental disaster in the
Gulf. It's time for EPA to take immediate and decisive action.

Your pressure works. Sign the petition to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson
today.

- The Change.org team in partnership with CREDO Action