The Gulf oil spill continues to dominate the news, and with good reason.
It seems that every effort by BP to stem the massive deep-well oil flow gets stalled. The perception is that BP really doesn’t know what it is doing. Yeah, they got a cap in place on the Deepwater Horizon well this last week but oil still flows into the Gulf.
The major issue is that BP put profits above safety. They apparently knew the risks drilling so deep in the Gulf. Still, they just went about business as usual and didn’t worry that there might be a massive blowout let alone put any thought into disaster planning.
BP CEO Tony Hayward even admitted the company couldn't handle the crisis. "What is undoubtedly true is that we did not have the tools you would want in your tool kit," he said.
Before that, with foot firmly in mouth, he added insult to injury by declaring that the spill is not a problem because the gulf “is a very big ocean.” Then he goes onto add that “the environmental impact of this disaster is likely to have been very, very modest."
Let's not forget the various corporate finger-pointing about which particular company – BP or a myriad of sub-contractors – was to blame and drew the ire of Congress. It really was kind of comic to watch but I wasn't laughing. More than anything it was pathetic that no one wanted to take responsibility.
Now there is news of a criminal investigation. I'm not sanguine that anything will come of it, let alone indictments or convictions.
Why should I, over here in California, care? I remember the 1969 oil spill in the Santa Barbara Channel. While much smaller by comparison to the Gulf blowout I think it is still relevant.
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