For two months now, oil has poured into the Gulf of Mexico from the blowout that destroyed the Deepwater Horizon oil platform. The media has provided a nearly as relentless stream of images, from computer generated predictions of the oil as it escapes the Gulf and climbs the East Coast, to tear inducing video of pelicans struggling but immobilized in oil the consistency of hot fudge. Through it all, rage has built against the company responsible for this mess, BP. After 60 days, I think it is high time that someone stands up for BP, and since I have seen no one else willing to do it, let me be the first. Leave BP alone! I’m not sure that they have done anything wrong, but I will happily tell you who did, and is.
All right, that last part includes a bit of hyperbole. Obviously BP has done one or two things wrong. As I already pointed out, they are ultimately responsible for the spill -- accident or not, and I think it is safe to say that their CEO Tony Hayward made a public relations gaff or two.
That, in itself, seems to be a mistake of BP’s. Hayward started out by saying that the oil spill was really pretty “tiny” when compared to the scope of the Gulf, a statement that was a both true and completely uncomforting. It was at this point that Hayward’s popularity began its decline, and this would have been the correct time for BP to find someplace new for him to be – like upper Latvia or at the bottom of an abandoned Kansas salt mine. This problem, at least, seems to have been rectified today; Tony Hayward has his life back, and he can enjoy it far away from the public eye.
Aside from this, BP has acted pretty much as I would have expected them to, both before and after the blowout. Regardless, in an effort to find someone to blame, a great deal of finger-pointing is going on. The desire to place blame is just human nature, but people should be careful that they are not tricked into believing that BP should be the focus of their ire. Only one party in this fiasco has acted “recklessly” or “negligently,” and it’s not BP; it’s our government.
The government decided where BP would drill this well, what safety features were required, and what BP’s liability would be in the event of an accident. As it turns out, none of these decisions were right, and the government’s reaction has been predictable: blame someone else. The government's talking points are designed only as misdirection.
• It was corporate greed that caused BP to drill at depths which were clearly unsafe. Never mind that oil companies have been forced away from drilling inland or in shallow coastal waters, or that BP doesn’t drill anywhere without the expressed consent of the government.
• BP was “reckless” in their pursuit of profits. They made decisions based on cost and not safety. We are expected to ignore that businesses balance risk all the time. The government can offer a laundry list of things that BP could have done to prevent this disaster; none of these were things that the government required.
• BP must be made to pay for any of the costs that are related to the spill, and if there has been any criminal conduct they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Of course, BP has, from the beginning, offered to pay any legitimate claims of damages, something not required by law since the government capped liability in 1990 at 75 million. And, if we are concerned about criminal behavior, perhaps we should be taking a very close look at the Mineral Management Service.
As usual, this complete failure by our government is used as justification for greater control and authority. This accident isn’t seen as a reason to drill in safer areas, but instead, to limit drilling to an even greater extent. The immediate loss of jobs from this is already being blamed on BP. We are told that tighter regulation and more oversight are needed, but no one in government seems to be able to answer why oversight was lax or why current regulations were insufficient in the first place. What good will new standards do if they are waived or ignored? The current cap on liability is being revisited, and lawmakers are questioning what an appropriate cap might be. I have yet to hear anyone suggest, however, that perhaps we shouldn’t have a cap, particularly if the government has no intent to honor it anyway – as appears to be the case with the current cap.
People have finally started to open their eyes to the fact that government cannot solve every problem. If you are reading this, I implore you to leave BP’s blame to the court system where it belongs. Don’t let yourself be misdirected by those who are themselves culpable. Listen closely to any politician from any party who uses the tactics I have described. When they call for accountability, be sure that you help them with that -- at the voting booth.
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Wow, Kelly. When you said you were coming out of your libertarian closet, you weren't kidding!
ReplyDeleteYou are correct, though. This is very accurate and needs to be said. While I can't say that BP is blameless, the government certainly isn't either. This is yet another case of the government rushing in and expecting us to believe they can solve a problem OF THEIR OWN CREATION.
Obviously, none of this would have happened if BP had not drilled in the first place. It seems likely that BP made errors in procedure that led to the accident, but that should work itself out in the courts and the markets. The problem we have here is government interference with systems that would self-regulate more effectively.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could remember the name of the Libertarian candidate who said, "Government breaks your leg, gives you a crutch, and then asks you where you would be without them." (paraphrased)