"There is no one who wants this over more than I do. I would like my life back."
-BP CEO Tony Hayward, who also attended a yacht race in the Isle of Wight during this oil crisis.
So, BP has gone and done it now. They have messed with Texas. Tar balls have begun to show up on the beaches at Galveston, and the oil keeps coming. Here we are, almost three months later, and the oil keeps flowing. The Exxon Valdez disaster was nothing compared to this. We already surpassed that amount of oil in just two weeks.
Of course, I know nothing about how to contain an oil spill, but I am continually dumbfounded when I watch the CNN live feed of the oil spewing out into the gulf, and nobody can do anything about it. Why do we have the technology to build such equipment to get the oil, but we don't have the technology to stop it? I have a feeling that when it comes to spending money to obtain oil, there is no limit, but to protect the environment when an accident happens, suddenly there is nothing anybody can do.
I think if BP had been honest and forthcoming about everything that's going on, and the people in charge acted a little more compassionate, there wouldn't be this utter hatred of them that Americans have right now for this company. They constantly try to downplay the effect of the spill, at first claiming that only "5,000" barrels a day are spilling into the ocean, when in actuality it's more like 50 or 60 thousand. They have referred to the damage in the ocean as "tiny." They refuse to talk to CNN, or even let reporters take pictures of animals covered in oil.
Then you've got the CEO taking a vacation to watch a yacht race in England. What the hell? You know, I took a vacation recently, after working a FREAKIN' YEAR to earn it. And this guy wants to take a vacation during the biggest oil crisis in history? The way I (and most people) see it is...you don't get a vacation until every last drop of oil is cleaned up. Bastard.
BP should look to Toyota for how to handle a crisis. Toyota is now admitting to everything they have done wrong and trying desperately to correct it. They have spent millions, if not billions, on fixing cars that probably don't even have anything wrong with them. Owning a Toyota myself, I have received numerous letters from them updating me on which cars are being recalled and why. Will I buy another Toyota? I don't know, but I don't feel the hatred for the company like I do with BP.
I really hope that when we buy our next car, the prices for hybrids come down. I'd buy one in an instant. Oil dependency has got to stop.
-BP CEO Tony Hayward, who also attended a yacht race in the Isle of Wight during this oil crisis.
So, BP has gone and done it now. They have messed with Texas. Tar balls have begun to show up on the beaches at Galveston, and the oil keeps coming. Here we are, almost three months later, and the oil keeps flowing. The Exxon Valdez disaster was nothing compared to this. We already surpassed that amount of oil in just two weeks.
Of course, I know nothing about how to contain an oil spill, but I am continually dumbfounded when I watch the CNN live feed of the oil spewing out into the gulf, and nobody can do anything about it. Why do we have the technology to build such equipment to get the oil, but we don't have the technology to stop it? I have a feeling that when it comes to spending money to obtain oil, there is no limit, but to protect the environment when an accident happens, suddenly there is nothing anybody can do.
I think if BP had been honest and forthcoming about everything that's going on, and the people in charge acted a little more compassionate, there wouldn't be this utter hatred of them that Americans have right now for this company. They constantly try to downplay the effect of the spill, at first claiming that only "5,000" barrels a day are spilling into the ocean, when in actuality it's more like 50 or 60 thousand. They have referred to the damage in the ocean as "tiny." They refuse to talk to CNN, or even let reporters take pictures of animals covered in oil.
Then you've got the CEO taking a vacation to watch a yacht race in England. What the hell? You know, I took a vacation recently, after working a FREAKIN' YEAR to earn it. And this guy wants to take a vacation during the biggest oil crisis in history? The way I (and most people) see it is...you don't get a vacation until every last drop of oil is cleaned up. Bastard.
BP should look to Toyota for how to handle a crisis. Toyota is now admitting to everything they have done wrong and trying desperately to correct it. They have spent millions, if not billions, on fixing cars that probably don't even have anything wrong with them. Owning a Toyota myself, I have received numerous letters from them updating me on which cars are being recalled and why. Will I buy another Toyota? I don't know, but I don't feel the hatred for the company like I do with BP.
I really hope that when we buy our next car, the prices for hybrids come down. I'd buy one in an instant. Oil dependency has got to stop.
This issue scares me on a level so deep in my core that I mostly remain silent about it. My feeling is that they've broken the earth, they punctured an artery so deep and so powerful they will be powerless to stop it.
ReplyDeleteWhen the BP guy was talking about the slant drilling for the relief wells that should be completed in August, I was decidedly not convinced. As he spoke, he looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights. He sounded weak to me.
If they can do slant drilling to relieve this, why don't they just do slant drilling in the first place?
Back to the topic of the broken earth. This leak could change life on this planet over the years. It makes me sad for my children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, if BP can't fix that leak.
I think we need to get back to simpler living, make-do living. Quit tossing stuff out so easily, and quit all this consumerism.
I think that IF this can be fixed, that we need to address the future and put this greed and need to have, have, have behind us somehow. We don't need to "update" our kitchens every few years to keep up with the neighbors. We need NEED to live simpler.
But everyone has to do it.
And that only counts if they can fix the leak.
This is greed at its worse. Greed that is killing part of the planet. Right now a small part. What does the future hold? I don't know. I just hope their relief wells work. I have absolutely no confidence that they will work.
When I say "greed", I'm not just talking about BP, but am talking about every single one of us who relies on petroleum products to get through the day, or who wants more and more and more.
Everywhere we turn we are relying on petroleum products. We focus on our cars. But look all throughout our lives and homes, schools and work. Nearly everything is somehow touched by petroleum products.
Okay, we can go buy 100% cotton clothing, but unless someone Amish made it all from plant to finished product, likely that cotton clothing relied on machinery that had parts made of some petroleum product, oiled with some petroleum product.
Lower demand, live simpler, make it a popular statement to live simpler.
Otherwise, I have no answers. I'm beyond indignation. The Earth has been broken. They should not have done that. But we need to do whatever it takes to stop it.
So Mr. Hayward going to a yacht race seems a bit a crime, eh?
ReplyDeleteWell, let's see... didn't the president hit the gold course on the same day? And seven more times since the spill began?
If one is guilty of being flippant and disingenuous then the other is too. Perhaps, more so in the president's case... self righteously proclaiming "I won't rest until the Gulf is better than before". Oh Really?
I'd also be grateful if you could tell me how BP is enforcing a "no fly" zone over the spill area. Does BP have an airforce with orders to splash anyone violating it?
Nope.
Who is enforcing it then? If you put your thinking cap on for a moment, it's not too difficult to put two plus two together to realize that it's the U.S. military. No one else has the capability to do so. Who tells the military what to do?
Oh! Isn't it the president? Hmmm... Seems that he is a tad interested in protecting BP from too much backlash. Nahhh.... that can't be. Why would he do that? Food for thought...
I think it's better to assume that everyone wants a prompt solution to this disaster and are doing their best to to solve it.
I want to add that Toyota ducked and denied the problems with their vehicles until they could no longer do so under the tremendous amount of evidence proving otherwise. Google it if you are dubious. You want BP to emulate them?
Well, they will in one regard. They too, will also will spend billions with a fix. I just don't think they will send you any letters, however.
I find this finger pointing at Obama humorous. Supposing for just a moment government was efficient, just what do you expect the feds to do? Is it the purview of the federal government to have ocean cleaning on hand to clean up just in case? A limited role for the federal government would preclude the feds from having much of a role whatsoever in this matter.
ReplyDeleteCole,
ReplyDeleteYeah, maybe I jumped the gun by saying BP should emulate Toyota. Toyota should never have let their quality slip in the first place to get themselves in such a mess.
But mainly what I was referring to was how they are handling this mess now that they are in it. Toyota isn't trying to downplay everything, avoid the press, restrict access, and have its CEO's making insensitive comments left and right.
Unfairly or not, Obama is going to get a lot of blame for this. Republicans will say this is his "Katrina", although I see the two situations quite differently.
Personally, Obama has been a bit of a disappointment to me. I think he has compromised too much, and he continues many of the policies of the Bush administration. Like all politicians, his pockets are also filled with cash from lobbyists and big oil. They're the ones who are really running the country.
Excellent RD! My hat is off to you. You get it. It was meant to obliquely humorous. Obama and the federal government are not the blame for this at all.
ReplyDeleteYour statement echoes my thoughts. The roll of government in this is limited. There isn't much they can do and Obama shouldn't be posturing otherwise to the public. It is not his place to do so if he can't deliver. The responsibility for this is solely in BP's lap. They know they're in deep doo-doo and will do everything in their power to fix it.
Yet, the Feds are protecting BP whether you can see it or not.
Ken,
I agree that Toyota is bending over backwards to make things right now, but in the beginning, they wouldn't even acknowledge there was any problems. This attitude is not unique to Toyota. Most Japanese organizations are blind to any problems they are causing until they are forced to face them and even then will try to white wash them. I know this intimately having worked in Japan for so long.
I may be a conservative, but actually, I am not anti-Obama. I had hopes that he would be sincere in his goals, even if I didn't completely agree with his politics. He is our president and I want to stand by the office he upholds. Unfortunately, he has turned out to be a disappointment for me also.
Can't wait until 2012.