Beyond Petroleum
May 28, 2010
BP changed its logo to green and yellow in the first quarter of 2001 to emphasize their environmental focus and introduce the new tagline, “beyond petroleum.”
After the events of April 20, BP probably wishes their tagline was, “anything but petroleum,” which is now leaking from the deepest well ever drilled into the Gulf of Mexico and onto the pristine shores of the southeast United States. Meanwhile, BP’s executives continue to bumble and stumble around, looking no better than common criminals.
There is no way to even begin mitigating the negative impact of this tragedy until the oil leak is completely stopped. Even then, it will likely be the largest oil spill in U.S. history. There is a right way and a wrong way to handle a crisis like this in the media. Does handling it the right way mean you save your company from all harm? Of course not. But it can minimize damages. And the way BP is handling this crisis is only making it worse. It amazes me that time and time again, large corporations and the people that run them continue to make some of the most stupid business decisions I’ve ever seen in the face of a crisis, especially an environmental crisis.
BP must step up and admit responsibility for what happened. The same thinking applies to BP that applied to Toyota back in March (check out my blog on this subject). Simply put, BP isn’t doing enough: not enough action, not enough contrition, not enough information. Top executives can’t even seem to demonstrate the slightest interest in the problem. Not a single BP executive came along during a recent trip to the Gulf region by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and a Congressional delegation. At least Toyota took the time to say they were sorry!!
This entire oil spill fiasco has been painful to watch no matter how you look at it. Obviously it’s been horrible from an environmental perspective. It’s been equally as painful to watch the ineptitude and inaction of top-level BP executives. This is followed closely by the reaction of the administration who, according to a New York Times article, has granted “at least seven new permits for various types of drilling and five environmental waivers” even since President Obama announced a moratorium on offshore drilling! This lack of communication just shows that the left hand of our government has absolutely no idea what the right hand is doing. How is it possible we are still issuing permits for drilling given what’s currently going on??
Does anyone have their shit together where the environment is concerned? This is a disgrace to everyone involved.
LINKS:
You Sleep When You Die – Toyota is back – true or false?
New York Times – Despite Moratorium, Drilling Projects Move Ahead
The BP CEO was on site and doing interviews. He said the right words….in the first week. Then reality hit…BP blamed the drilling company. Said it was “their people and their procedures”. Really….so BP, who was paying the bills, is absolved of all responsibility??
Pass the buck…it is the unfortunate way corporations work today. Leave the mess to government and the common person to clean up. (ie, the Financial melt down..)
BP and their sub contractor actions are criminal. First, they must be held accountable and forced to execute and pay for the entire clean up, which will take years. Then the trials should begin…
The winner in this entire situation…Middle East oil. The US will reduce drilling in our territory as a knee jerk reaction. And unless we, the US people, reduce oil consumption then we will become more dependant of foreign oil….yet again.
Perhaps this environmental destruction will finally be a wakeup call to Americans….we can only hope some positive comes from this horrendous story.
I agree with some of what you say, but to be honest none of this will ever change until we as Americans start realizing that the same 5 people we carry around in the huge SUVs also fit into a midsize sedan. That just because we have a boat we take out onto the water 5-6 times a YEAR doesnt mean we have to drive around a v8 Dodge Ram 3500 EVERYDAY just to get ourselves to work. Boycott BP? sure, but all that will do is put more money into some OTHER oil company’s pockets, who will then in turn drill themselves and cause the same problems BP has. We have to look at the big picture, that this will soon, unfortunately, be forgotten, and that next month people will continue to buy their huge trucks and SUVs and ‘forget’ that there are hybrids out there. sedans are made to accomodate 5 people. Why is it that a family with 2 children think ‘Oh, I have two small kids, I need a Tahoe now! My Camry just won’t do!” We need to get out of that mentality and only then will all these environmental problems start going away. Blaming BP is just another way to back away from admitting to ourselves that ‘my single Ford F350 going off the road won’t make a difference, this is THEIR fault!” Pump money into education so that our kids can learn and be the generation to change our dependence.
Sure BP has to take responsibility for this disaster. There are also a few other issues that have surfaced during this whole thing. Like the safety regulators who were not doing their jobs, the oil suppliers who were filling out their own safety reviews, the explosion warning signs that were ignored by platform workers, down to the emergency permits that won’t be granted to block the intrusion of oil into the marsh lands.
Not trying to say what BP didn’t do hurt them but lets face it there were and are many things that could have limited the effect of this tragedy that don’t have anything to do with where the executives of BP were. Public speeches are important but wouldn’t really have done as much as some of these other actions that might have saved the environment.
Sure BP has to take responsibility for this disaster. There are also a few other issues that have surfaced during this whole thing. Like the safety regulators who were not doing their jobs, the oil suppliers who were filling out their own safety reviews, the explosion warning signs that were ignored by platform workers, down to the emergency permits that won’t be granted to block the intrusion of oil into the marsh lands.
Not trying to say what BP didn’t do hurt them but lets face it there were and are many things that could have limited the effect of this tragedy that don’t have anything to do with where the executives of BP were. Public speeches are important but wouldn’t really have done as much as some of these other actions that might have saved the environment.
Interesting perspective, especially your closing thought… “Does anyone have their shit together where the environment is concerned?” Your rhetorical question poses a necessary challenge to all business across the globe. What steps have you taken at your company to preserve the environment, Zimmerman?
Sure BP has to take responsibility for this disaster. There are also a few other issues that have surfaced during this whole thing. Like the safety regulators who were not doing their jobs, the oil suppliers who were filling out their own safety reviews, the explosion warning signs that were ignored by platform workers, down to the emergency permits that won’t be granted to block the intrusion of oil into the marsh lands.
Not trying to say what BP didn’t do hurt them but lets face it there were and are many things that could have limited the effect of this tragedy that don’t have anything to do with where the executives of BP were. Public speeches are important but wouldn’t really have done as much as some of these other actions that might have saved the environment.