Is BP being scapegoated?

[owtth]

No, the reason the American people must shoulder some of the blame is, as I said, their insistence on treating any government regulation of anything as if it's Stalinism, and their childish demand for cheap fuel to fill-up their absurdly wasteful vehicles.

Both these things directly contributed to the oil washing-up in Louisiana.

Some of them surely did, agreed. But for most it would be akin to a burglar saying that their victim must bear some responsibility as they didn't secure their house at night. They are unique because of the scale of their fuck-up if it had been a smaller spill they would probably have gotten away with a few dozen millions. When you fuck over groups who have the power to rewrite the rules as you go along (governments) you have to expect to get smacked occasionally. Especially when you devastate the livelihood of many registered voters. In my opinion the most extreme punishment will probably be insufficient, because events such as this are so rare as to not figure into the risk assessment of the companies involved. BP are big they'll probably survive whatever is thrown at them. If the penalty was the breaking up of the BP group then something good may come of it. I won't hold my breath though. It is strange that Haliburton have dropped out of the media eye having been so prominent at the start.

[Horwood Beer-Master]

No, the reason the American people must shoulder some of the blame is, as I said, their insistence on treating any government regulation of anything as if it's Stalinism, and their childish demand for cheap fuel to fill-up their absurdly wasteful vehicles.

You know, sweeping generalizations ain't helping here.

I did specify merely 'large parts' of the American population in my first post. I assumed having done that I could afford to be lazy with my wording in my next post, since people could refer back to my first post and see what I meant.

I obviously wasn't meaning to say that all American's behaved in that way, I merely couldn't be arsed on this occasion composing a long convoluted sentence where I felt a shorter, more concise (if more inaccurate, if taken in isolation) sentence would suffice.

[Horwood Beer-Master]

...it would be akin to a burglar saying that their victim must bear some responsibility as they didn't secure their house at night...

You don't think perhaps there are a just few differences between failing to secure your house at night, and failing to impose some government regulation on people doing untested deep-drilling for oil off your coast?


Analogy fail.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

No, the reason the American people must shoulder some of the blame is, as I said, their insistence on treating any government regulation of anything as if it's Stalinism, and their childish demand for cheap fuel to fill-up their absurdly wasteful vehicles.

You know, sweeping generalizations ain't helping here.

Nor is scapegoating , but it is valid point that the worlds biggest consumers of oil are behaving very differently because the spill is in their waters for a change .

Okay, two wrongs make a right. I've been wrong all along on that.

[owtth]

...it would be akin to a burglar saying that their victim must bear some responsibility as they didn't secure their house at night...

You don't think perhaps there are a just few differences between failing to secure your house at night, and failing to impose some government regulation on people doing untested deep-drilling for oil off your coast?


Analogy fail.

The regulations were there, they weren't followed.

[Feck]

Off -shore exploration is messy and dangerous . So is transporting the stuff . I just think the reporting of this is motivated in part by an agenda that has little to do with health, safety or enviromental concerns .I have heard complaints that BP didn't keep stocks of dispersants around that shows the stunning lack of knowledge in the people who are then saying that they know All about oil exploration and clean up operations.

[AnInconvenientScotsman]

Firstly, can I point out that although a warrant for his arrest was issued in 2009, the CEO of Union Carbide is still living comfortably in his home in the US despite being responsible for the deaths of 25,000 people, the mutilation of over half a million people and the thousands of still-births and malformed infants in Bhopal. Secondly, have a look at Nigeria, where in the Niger Delta locals have had to live for half a century with heavy pollution from oil spills, thanks to the global community's lust for oil.

If you think the oil spill in the gulf even begins to compare to the sheer tragedy of both of these events you need to take a close look at your priorities and this is exactly what Americans, or at least the American media, need to do. It seems that you only care about disasters like this when it affects you and then you try and shove the blame onto others. Yes, BP are responsible for this but Americans have allowed them to flaunt regulations to feed their need for oil. It's simply immature.

If you want justice for the Gulf spill, then how about demanding the same for the people of Bhopal, how about you pressure your government to arrest and extradite Warren Anderson? How's about you demand justice for the villagers of the Niger Delta, the residents of areas once teeming with life that are now lifeless?

We all know you won't because we all know that the American public are selfish, overly individualistic and childish.


Don't get me wrong, I'm not directing this at the generally intelligent, empathic, kind individuals we have here and all of the caring people who happen to be US citizens, but even you must acknowledge that your country is destructively selfish and dangerously ill-informed: I mean, come on, demanding an apology from the Queen? Some of you don't even understand reality.

[Horwood Beer-Master]

...it would be akin to a burglar saying that their victim must bear some responsibility as they didn't secure their house at night...

You don't think perhaps there are a just few differences between failing to secure your house at night, and failing to impose some government regulation on people doing untested deep-drilling for oil off your coast?


Analogy fail.

The regulations were there, they weren't followed.

My understanding was that the regulations in place in the US were far more light then they would have been for a similar drilling operation in UK waters.

Besides which, does a responsible government only check if people have been following the rules after an enormous-great cock-up has occurred?


It's not "regulation" if you only enforce it retrospectively.

[Feck]

I think after a full enquiry certain members of BP's staff on that rig will be shown to have been taking unacceptable risks .

And Yes BP and Transocean should and will be made to pay ,I think that is obvious ; but the rabid anti Obama and anti UK sentiment I've seen in the US is not about what happened or why or how to sort it out .

[Martok]

I wonder how many Americans know BP is half American?

[Martok]

My understanding was that the regulations in place in the US were far more light then they would have been for a similar drilling operation in UK waters.

Oil companies are self regulating here in the US, which of course means no regulations.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

I just bet that every other company doing similar drills in those waters are giving thanks to whatever non-existent deity they worship that it was BP and not them that fucked up! They are running around adding all of the safety checks that they should have had in place already and destroying any evidence that they were as profligate as BP when it came to safety! Such is the nature of big business - cut any corner you can for as long as you can and hope some other cunt cocks up before you do.

[Ian]

I wonder how many Americans know BP is half American?

I don't think Americans are blaming BP because it's a foreign company. I think people would be just as critical of Exxon-Mobil if they were the ones who owned that rig.

[Rum]

I wonder how many Americans know BP is half American?

I don't think Americans are blaming BP because it's a foreign company. I think people would be just as critical of Exxon-Mobil if they were the ones who owned that rig.

Well for a few days there Obama was very pointedly calling it 'British Petroleum' instead of the more usual BP. It is about as British as Camembert these days.

Our shiny new Prime Minister phoned him a couple of days ago (true) and told him to fucking stop it and he has. That'll learn him.

[Pappa]

Wow... that's an amazing pic.