BP is in Deepwater
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Now that Romney will soon be flying off to the Cayman Islands or to Switzerland to check on some of his off-shore banking transactions, we all can breathe a sigh of relief. I hope that he takes all of his Binders of BS with him. Only his followers accepted his view on women, healthcare, economic recovery, taxes, etc.
While millions are grateful for Romney's departure, we are still facing, and probably will have to face for decades, another form of BS. This time the BS is coming from BP. BP's BS started before April 20, 2010 when the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig's blowout occurred resulting in an explosion, fire, and the polluting of much of the Gulf of Mexico. Tony Hayward, chief executive for BP in the Gulf of Mexico, replaced Edmund John Philip Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley (called by regular people, John Browne) on May 1, 2007. The Baron Browne was forced to resign due to poor management skills in the Gulf of Mexico, his sex life problems, and the use of BP funds for personal reasons. Hayward spoke at Stanford Business School on May 12, 2009...a year before the spill occurred. He said that BP's and that of his listener's "...primary purpose in life is to create value for our shareholders. In order to do that you have to take care of the world." That sounded nice, but the discrepancy between what he said and did is as vast as the oily mess created by BP in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010. Hayward stated also that BP "...made a few little mistakes early on." In addition, the environmental impact of the disaster was thought by him to be very modest...and he said that a month after the spill occurred. Finally, Hayward admitted that the spill was a serious problem. He said on May 30, that "...we're sorry for the massive disruption it's caused to their lives. There's no one who wants this thing over more than I do. I'd like my life back." I agree that it was a massive disruption, but he wanted his own life back. Well, what about the 11-men who lost their lives on the rig? Wonder if they too wanted their lives back also? Then there are the lives of 10s of thousands of people along the Gulf Coast, the wildlife, and companies directly or indirectly affected by the disaster. Wouldn't they also want to go back to a normal life? And who was it that caused all this disruption? BP and its chief executive...Tony Hayward. The next day, May 31, Hayward dismissed comments made by three university scientists about their contention regarding suspended oil plums under the surface of Gulf of Mexico. He said that there was "no evidence" of the plums. Less than a week later on June 5, the Daily Telegraph, which is a British conservative newspaper, disclosed that Hayward had dumped a third of his BP stocks prior to the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Interestingly, BP shares fell 30% after the disaster. However, it should be noted that the Daily Telegraph said, "There is no suggestion that he acted improperly or had prior knowledge that the company was to face the biggest setback in its history." Finally, on July 15, over 12-weeks of all sorts of maneuvers to stop the oil flow like top kill and junk shot, which didn't work, the well-head was finally sealed. While there were calls for Hayward's firing or at least his resignation, BP's Board of Directors said that he "has the full confidence of the Board of Directors of BP." Nevertheless, on June 18, BP assigned Bob Dudley to head the restoration of the Gulf Coast. Five weeks later, Dudley replaced Hayward on July 27, a week after the oil was stopped. However, that was not before around 4.9 million barrels of oil flowed into the Gulf of Mexico. Nearly, 500-miles of the Gulf Coast from Florida to Louisiana were directly affected by the oil spill. This includes countless fishermen, businesses, residents, wildlife, and the environment. This video is a prediction of the movement of the oil spill based upon the tides and currents that should be expected during this 2-month timeframe in the Gulf and Atlantic Ocean at that time of the year: What rattled me is the level of BS coming from Hayward. Essentially, he was BS-ing both the Congress and the American people. When he wasn't BS-ing, he was stonewalling all of us. President Obama had to deal with both the disaster and Hayward and BP's BS for over 2-years. This is a photo of Obama, his cabinet members, and vice-president at the table discussing the disaster with BP executives. Look at the picture of Hayward, which is the first person on the left of the picture.
For the first time in this disaster, Hayward seems like a child caught lying to his father. Several days ago on November 14, the US Department of Justice and BP finally agreed to a settlement of $4.5 billion. BP pleaded guilty to 11-felonies that were the result of the deaths of BP's workers on the oil rig. In addition, 3-BP employees received criminal charges filed by the Justice Department. Two BP employees were charged with negligence and the other for lying to Congress. The one who lied to Congress stated that the spill resulted in 5,000 barrel/day even though he knew that BP's estimate was around 92,000 barrels, which is nearly 20 times more oil/day being discharged into the Gulf. They also pleaded guilty to 14-criminal charges resulting from the deaths of 11-employees of BP. In addition, BP accepted a fine of $525 million, because they mislead investors regarding the oil flow from the ruptured well. Beyond this, BP is still liable for claims under the Clean Water Act for those that were business persons, fishermen, and anyone else that was monetarily injured due to the oil spoil. That cost could be around an additional $21 billion. BP and the rest of us need to learn an additional lesson from the Deepwater Horizon well. We need to understand the old statement: penny wise and dollar foolish. Or rather for the BP Brits: penny wise and pound foolish. While that British idiom goes back to around 1600 in Britain, it is as true today as it was 4-centuries ago. Granted, I can't do anything to undue the Deepwater Horizon disaster any more than Hayward did to undue the disaster for which he, as the head of BP in the Gulf, caused and for which he and BP are responsible. However, I have a responsibility, which I have exercised since the oil spill. I haven't driven into any BP gas station to get gas or any other car related product since the disaster...and I never will. I can't imagine any other American subsidizing BP or their BS. __________________________________________________________________________ Here are a couple new examples of BP's BS: Also, there are healthcare issues that will start to surface:
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