American Morning
BP taking public relations beating
(CNN) – There's a growing cry today both online and along the Gulf Coast to boycott BP. Yesterday, the anti-war group Code Pink heckled the oil executives right before the hearings, holding up signs reading "BP kills" and "BP = bad people." More protests are planned for today.
In South Florida, demonstrators carried "mobile oil slicks" in the form of large black plastic tarps that were placed along sensitive areas of Miami Beach. This environmental nightmare is now a full-blown public relations disaster for the British oil giant. Our Joe Johns has the report.
Read more: 'Top hat' lowered to Gulf oil leak site
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The last BP in our adjoining town closed over a month ago, the BP dealer in my small community started closeing at 7PM no more 24 hours.
No one in our area will buy BP products.
Buyer Beware BP will quickly reorganize and comeback as a different brand name.
Big money Big Liar's
Sadly our own goverment regulatory people have been asleep at the wheel for years. Time to vote the deadwood out of office.
Big Oil and corporate apologists are in for a big lesson in the true cost of this industry, and the extent to which their corporate trial lawyers can shield them from accountability. By the end of the summer, the human toll (other than the 11 lost rig workers) will become clearly evident. Any marine-based industries will be wiped out, especially fisheries. The economic toll on the rest of the country won't be far behind.
BP or whoever s idea it was for the dome,was the wright decision,however they needed to consider that the flow would surpass the pipes capacity.They need to pull the dome back up and install and test two BOP`s on the dome.Lower the dome with all valves open to prevent the dome from floating because of positive pressure.The three outlets should allow them to anchor the containment dome.Then once a pipe to the surface is connected to the center outlet,slowly shut off one BOP,then the other.
Why did the so quickly give up on the dome(because it wasn`t someone importants idea).
Finish designing the wheel then build the wagon!
Get on it BP this is our world,everybody and every animal.
PR is the last thing BP has to worry about; right now, they should be concerned about going to jail for causing this nightmare due to greed and gross negligence (having no working BOP on the Deepwater rig, re: Senate testimony May 12th). Or maybe they should worry about the law suits that can be filed outside of the recovery cap (presently a paultry 75M). In the end BP loses the money they they so blatantly craved and felt was worth destroying the Gulf.
Why is it BP is required to, and has, added an extra safety feature "dome" on all their oil wells in Argentina, and in the North Sea, but they are not required to do so in US waters? This is obviously a political decision, probably lobbied against in the US, with all the deligence that the "oil friendly lobbists" could muster.
Our goverment must accept some of the blame for this particular oversight.
And I must ask "Eric" (who does sound like he works for BP) how "exemplary" are BP's actions, when they have denied responsibility since day one..."It's not our rig"...we just get rich from it.
They turned away help that arrived the first day, claiming that "all was under control, no big problem". They lied about the amount of oil that was escapeing, right up until outside parties could prove them wrong.
Eric, your defination of "exemplary" is very much different than Webster's.
I will not buy BP, until everyone on the Gulf coast is happy with the clean up effort that BP should, without a doubt be reponsible for. And believe me, the people in Alaska are still not "back to normal" and happy with Exxon's efforts all the years after the Valdez incident.
The oil companies come out every year smileing about record profits, but something like this happens, and ..."it's not our rig!" is their responce.
@Eric.
I work in energy and agree with you regarding BP's exemplary efforts to stop the leak and clean up the spill. BP is in the unfortunate position that as the leaseholder, and name on the Initial Exploratory Plan (and other DOI documents, correspondence), they get to hold the bag when things go wrong - even if the actions of their subs may have caused the accident.
I hope that the top hat will divert the oil from the leak, and a permanent solution to stop the leak can be generated and implmented in short order.
Oil is a natural thing... There is no damage being done.
It matters not who to point the finger at Eric! It is all of their fault combined! BP was the responsible party at the drill site and plainly took shortcuts as did transocean and others. I don't care if they have to spend every last dime they have to clean it up, its called doing what is right!
First of all, "BP = bap people" is asinine. I know a number of people who work for the company and they are quite far from "bad." To characterize a hundred thousand people as such based on this incident is nothing but insipid, misplaced, narrowminded aggression.
This is an incredibly unfortunate event, to be sure, one that I am sure no one wanted to happen. BP is, indeed, doing an exemplary job in the cleanup efforts; a commendation that does not, of course, counterbalance the fact that there are root causes to this probably preventable accident. I highly doubt that BP has "killed the Gulf of Mexico" as one mentioned.
Unfortunately I have seen more coverage of an oil-covered duck than I have of the eleven lives presumably lost in the explosion of 20th April. That indicates an incorrect focus; environmentalists and capitalists alike are to be reminded that it is the human element throughout that is most to be affected. It is the not the case that ducks and dolphins are important, nor is it disputed that offshore drilling is a compelling issue now moreso than ever....but these must not become the focus over other factors at the true heart of the matter.
Here is a solution from an environmentalist : Why not try to get off the oil? why not try to head in a direction that is not so disastrous? Why not get you lazy, greedy heads out of your asses, and try to live a cleaner, healthier life? No oceans, no land = no life at all.
Get a clue people, if you can't see this wake up call...well then you might as well go down with BP.
I agree with Robert.
If a drunk driver has an "accident" he is deemed negligent.
Failing to take the necessary precautions is not an accident, its negligence.
Did you know that 8 years ago a study found that %50 percent of all "shear rams" tested failed?
This was their so called "last resort" device.....
I hear all this talk from BP like "we have never dealt with a problem at this depth"...
How is it then , that the big question "What happens if the shear rams fail?" was never asked... or should say never answered.....
These capitalists will destroy the world if the are not stopped. The put profits before life. The government in nothing, but a protector of capitalists class property anyway the will just leave us with the clean up bill.
@kw
Accidents happen, and sometimes they are the result of negligence and lax government oversight. Clearly that is the case here.
Environmentalist do have solutions: No offshore drilling, better regulation, and invest in renewable energy, for starters.
BP just killed the Gulf of Mexico, and it was preventable.
I've been boycotting BP for years over their policy of checking IDs when you buy beer. I'm 60 and find it annoying.
Accidents happen and no one, not even BP wants oil spilling into the ocean. BP is trying to stop the spilling of oil but it is not as simple as placing a cork. It is easy to become critical over this when you are an 'environmentalist' who bears little responsibility for much of anything at all.. The environmentalists do not offer a solution.
My expectation is that BP is doing everything they can and all the 'environmentalism' complaints are not serving any constructive purpose.
This could revert to the lowest common denominator for clean up and that would be paper towels on the beach.
@ Eric ~~ sounds like you work for BP.
As someone affiliated with the hydrocarbons trading business I would like to say what CNN should have said: Boycotting BP gas stations is completely pointless and only hurts the franchisee. As an environmentalist I boycotted Exxon in college and I understand the desire to make a difference, but now that I understand the way hydrocarbons trading works I feel silly about having done this. Consumers tend to think that the oil BP drills goes in a steady stream from their rigs, into their refineries, to their blending operations and out to their racks and then finally the finished gasoline is splash blended with BP's ethonol and sent to BP gas stations. The reality is that the crude pumped from BP's wells is immediately sold to the highest bidder whether it is Valero, Hess, Exxon, gulf oil, ect.... That crude may then be sent to a refinery operated by the purchasing company or may be sold over and over again in an attempt to profit off of price arbitrage. The traders trying to acquire crude for refining operate in the same way in that they buy whatever has suitable specifications and is cheapest regardless of what company drilled it and if they have an opportunity to sell their purchase at a profit they will get rid of it and buy a similar product that suits their needs. After products are refined the components are traded in the same fashion and then after the components are blended into gasoline the gasoline is traded between different companies. Even the ethanol that is splash blended when the gasoline comes off the rack could have been traded three or four times before it makes it into the gasoline a consumer buys. I've seen situations where the trader for a major oil company had a product needed by another trader in his own company for blending and didn't realize it until their external broker put them together... The only way you can boycott BP without only hurting the franchisee is by not buying refined products anywhere.
It should be noted that BP's behavior with regards to this spill has been exemplary. They are a spending a fortune on cleanup and pulling out all of the stops in an attempt to stop the leak and while as project leader they are responsible for cleanup it was Transocean's rig that had faulty faulty shutoff valves manufactured by Cameron corporation.
To clean up the spill, use Chicken Feathers! They soak up alot of oil, they float when wet & oily, they are easy to disperse, they are cheap, they are plentiful, they are easy to collect, they require no special training to use and they can be burned with the oil in something like a steam generator.