Never has two letters caused such debates and discussions, and to my surprise little uproar or protest. BP (British Petroleum for those who didn’t know it actually stood for something) has won the crown of being responsible for the biggest spill in American history, which brings me to my thoughts…so far.
A multi-billion dollar company sets up a drilling mechanism without proper research, no, without adhering to the outcome of said research for the sake of making more money. In doing so, cutting costs (saving/making money) on behalf of the company and at the risk of surrounding communities, the environment, businesses, families (I could keep going…)
Meanwhile back at the ranch, it’s business as usual. For years, it’s business as usual because everybody’s wallets are growing. Stocks are up and acquisitions are growing. Nobody bothers to step and say, “Hey, that drill in the Deepwater Horizon isn’t up to code.” Nope, they continued drilling, ignoring the flags that were raised during inspections, turned blind eyes to the warnings of possible dangers and deaf ears to the counsel of revamping the process and making it safer, and more eco-friendly.
And then “The Spill” (which is more like a gusher)
BP execs are scrambling and taking cover. Pointing fingers and throwing blame as fast as the oil that’s being pumped into the Gulf (estimated at 2 million gallons a day!!) Those that were wrangled and being forced to take responsibility aren’t going down alone. I would (and I’m not a gambler) these are some of the same men, who took all the credit (and bigger bonuses) for coming up with the idea of drilling there in the first place. Interesting how they want company now.
Nobody has chastised or forced BP to revise their drilling techniques or have held them accountable for drilling until, the unthinkable has happened. Suddenly, proof of failed inspections and reports of managers pushing for work/drilling to continue have emerged. Executives claiming never to have seen or heard of such warnings are rising. What sickens me is that these individuals sit at the tables of the hearings and all repeat the rehearsed answer “BP will pay for everything connected to the spillage” No one is taking responsibility! No one has yet stepped up to the plate and swung the Bat of Moral Conduct and admitted they were WRONG!
To add to the circus, execs from other leading oil/energy companies are being questioned about their drilling operations and one had the nerve to exclaim that nothing like this would happen with his company because they “have a plan” (??)
My take: I think the other companies are just gloating that it was BP and not them. They’re angry at the growth of BP, for getting to Deepwater before them and when BP negotiated amongst their immediate contacts for partnership, therefore NOT sharing the wealth, they are now on the outs. It’s every greedy oil company for itself. Amidst these researchers, scientists, and anyone else that could possibly come up with a solution to this monster sized problem, still nothing is getting done. Sure, a few million gallons have been collected, but still millions are being pumped into the Gulf.
Our President declared we WILL get this resolved and BP will be held accountable. But at what cost to our coasts?
To your point, we live in an innovative age, and yet with all this technology we can't identify anyone that is smart enough to raise a solution?; or, is that we don't want to credit anyone outside of BP for the knowledge. Or are we that greedy that we will let another company sink and watch because we love another persons misery.
ReplyDeleteI am appalled that this severe spill has been going on for over 55 days, and there's no end in sight. The birds, the fish, all the creatures of the sea, the families, the homes, we are all connected by water, and soon this issue will be washing up, yep, you bet, right on the sands of the CEO and CFO's who have ALL these better plans in place. I think they forgot, they live in this world too...their children and children's children, will be reading about this selfishness in the history books.
We need to do something and quickly, and not for nothing just my own two cents, but we don't have to wait for the President to tell us the solution, at this point We The People should have a solution in mind....I do - lets' take all the CFO's, CEO's and Officers, put them in the gulf in a house on the beach and leave them with the same resources of those who live there, and see how fast they come up with an idea.
One last thought, who's job is it to monitor that companies are following procedures?