OIL POLLUTION AND ORGANIZED IRRESPONSIBILITY

BP: “No asses to kick”

By Thomas Pany

[This article published 6/18/2010 in the German-English cyber journal Telepolis is translated from the German on the Internet, www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/32/32817/1.html.]

The problem for BP does not seem so bad if the compensation claims and other demands connected with the oil pollution in the Gulf are settled legally. Experience refers to the Exxon-Valdez. After long legal quarreling, Exxon had to pay less than half of what the corporation was first liable [cf. Oil pollution: Will the bill ever be paid? (1)]

Yesterday’s appearance of BP head Tony Hayward before the “House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation” (2) made a fool of frustrated committee members (3) and the public. He emerged from the rather dirty affair without great damage to his hairstyle almost as in a film. The trick comes down to personality-splintering. As practiced by Hayward, it is not a case for the psychiatrist but a demand of the day that business makes to a successful manager and corporate chairman.

The “natural person” explains that he feels what all natural persons feel. Tony Hayward emphasized his “shock,” “devastation” and how much the affair in the Gulf grieved him in his testimony (4) before the committee. “I am deeply sorry,” he said. To counter any suspicion of deception, Hayward knew human tragedy was involved.

This is a tragedy: people lost their lives, others were injured and the Gulf Coast environment and communities are suffering. This is unacceptable, I understand that and let me be very clear: I fully grasp the terrible reality of the situation. When I learned that eleven men had lost their lives in the explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon, I was personally devastated.

The person Hayward which is part of the legal person BP is different. This Hayward knew nothing. As at a wall, all questions ricocheted with the same answer, the committee members lamented. Hayward stonewalled all more exact inquiries on the causes of the misfortune. He knew nothing and was not responsible, a model answer that appears in several places in the report (5) of the “Wall Street Journal”:

“With respect, sir, we drill hundreds of wells each year,” he (Hayward) said slowly, fingering a pen as he testified.

“I’m not stonewalling,” Mr. Hayward said. “I simply was not involved in the decision-making process” before the explosion.

The answer that the BP CEO was not informed about every particular incident in the hundreds of drilled holes may sound plausible at first. But if the BP head was informed in writing b before his interrogation in the concrete case (6), Hayward’s statements can only be understood as a role performance.

Hayward knew very well about the danger. Parts of the documents that criticized BP for taking risks in the Deep Horizon drilling (7), choosing poorer grade material because of cost- and time-pressure – the drilling was behind schedule (8) – and omitting important work procedures come from the corporation itself (9).

An aphorism of unknown origin [see Siemens und die Multation (10)] show how the ground is prepared on which BP representatives play their part to fulfill certain public expectations [“We worry about the concerns of the little people” (11)] while accepting as little responsibility as a play actor committing a stage murder.

“Corporations have neither bodies to be kicked nor souls to be damned.”

The question of the responsibility of corporations is raised in principle in the historic environmental disaster at the Gulf of Mexico. The legislation leaves open many loopholes. Ideologists understand this the fastest. Thus the sensational remark of Texas representative Joe Barton who in a spectacular way apologized for the action against BP may not be so astonishing:

“I apologize. I do not want to live in a country where anytime a citizen or corporation does something wrong is subject to some sort of political pressure. That – again in my words – amounts to a shakedown. So I apologize.”

On account of the furious reactions, Barton retracted his apology but repeated it later.

LINKS
(1) www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/32/32598/1.html
(2) energycommerce.house.gov/index.php
(3) online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704289504575312491209833862.html
(4) energycommerce.house.gov/documents/20100617/Hayward.Testimony.06.17.2010.pdf
(5) online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704289504575312491209833862.html
(6) energycommerce.house.gov/index.php
(7) www.nytimes.com/2010/06/15/science/earth/15rig.html
(8) query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html
(9) www.nytimes.com/2010/06/15/science/earth/15rig.html
(10) www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/25/25121/1.html
(11) dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/16/bp-we-care-about-the-small-people/
Telepolis Artikel-URL: www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/32/32817/1.html



RELATED LINKS:

“BP in BC”
rabble.ca/rabbletv/program-guide/2010/07/best-net/bp-bc-drilling-canadian-rockies

“Giant Oil Skimmer Being Tested in the Gulf”
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38079601/ns/disaster_in_the_gulf

“Massive Oil Solution Already Exists”
portland.indymedia.org/en/2010/05/399850.shtml
www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/gulf

“The BP Gusher and All-Pervasive Irresponsibility”
renergie.wordpress.com/2010/05/25/bp-is-not-the-only-responsible-party/