With the proven negligence, malfeasance and cavalier attitude of BP, as well as the huge mess they're making in the ocean right now and the large number of lives lost due to 'accidents' at BP facilities, they should have done so long ago. They have the worst safety record of any company operating in the United States of America, and are merely guests here in our country, being operated out of London, United Kingdom. You would think that being one of the largest oil companies would cause them to want to be one of the safest. You'd think a guest would show at the very least a little bit of courtesy in a foreign land, and attempt to not only show that their company deserves to visit here but would want to show themselves worthwhile, as representatives of their home-country. You'd think that being so big, safety would be a priority, at the very least. Not at BP.
BP's Safety Record Called into Question:
BP fined record $87m for 'life-threatening' safety failings
BP's Cavalier Attitude Displayed:
Who Died And Made BP King Of The Gulf Of Mexico?
It is ONLY in BP's interest to make use of 'dispersants' which are merely hiding the oil. It's either now on the bottom or floating around the gulf in microscopic droplets, which we don't know the effect of this oil, not to mention the effects of 'who-knows-what's-in-it' dispersant, being dumped by the ton into our ocean. If they were to not use dispersant, the public outcry at their lax handling of clean-up efforts would have already shut them down. Their murdering of workers should have long ago caused criminal charges being brought against them, and the eleven killed on board the Deepwater Horizon are only the latest to die in criminal acts of a criminal company, which hasn't changed one bit, and won't, without new management. If we're not going to do anything, and just wait and see what these criminals that call themselves executives are going to do about it, we're dumber than the Europeans and most of the rest of the world portrays us as. We're less intelligent than a box of rocks if we don't demand that our government do something drastic to a company who doesn't seem to be getting the message: "Fix the problems!!!" They believe what they're doing is none of our business, since we're all just 'small people' anyway.
This company won't learn anything from being fined or held liable, obviously, since it is cheaper to operate an un-safe business which does much faster more profitable work, and just pay any fines or cleanup costs after the fact; but it is at the cost of American lives, and now our shorelines and marine life as well as the livelihoods of countless tens of thousands of Americans, who depend on the sea, fishing or tourism to make a living, not to mention deep-sea drilling. The record of Exxon speaks for itself. They had one OSHA violation in 2008. BP had almost 300 in the same time-period. When will we actually ever do something which is effective at correcting these criminals? Nothing we've done so far has worked. It is time for drastic action.
I'm mad at our government, because it's broken; but I'm not ready to start a rebellion yet, since I don't believe it isn't fixable. Our local government is worse, IMHO, since I have to drive on streets covered with potholes each and every day, but I'm not ready to take over city hall and install people that will fix the problems just yet. BP has had way to many chances thrown at them which they've simply laughed at, all the way to the bank, which happens to be offshore. Enough is enough. We need to close their doors in the United States, for good. Boycotting isn't enough, they need all new management. If we're not going to seize control, we at least need to award running the company to a group of executives who will at the very least run a safe company. If we don't take them over, we at least need to put someone on their Safety Department which will have veto power, and be able to force the company to obey every single safety regulation there is. Until we realize that BP will never respond on their own and seize some sort of control over them the problems will continue.
I used to work for BP. I started with the Standard Oil Company of Ohio, which was the original and first oil company and was started by John Davison Rockefeller, who worked at a feed store, and kept barrels of oil and gasoline out back, to sell to passersby, in their newfangled horseless carriages. When his boss told him to get rid of the barrels, he started Standard with $100,000 of his own money and $100,000 from each of his nine friends. At one point he owned 100% of the world's oil. The company was broken up by the US Supreme Court twice, because the first time didn't stick. Rockefeller simply bought it back, through several relatives. The remaining company, Sohio, operated Sohio Procare, when I started working for them, on their launch date. Can't remember what year it was, but not long after we started ProCare, the space shuttle Challenger exploded, I remember that much. Anyway, I said all that to make my longest post ever even longer, but... eventually BP made Sohio an offer they couldn't refuse, and changed the things Sohio was doing (enhancing product sales through expertise and kindness) to reflect their strategy; which was the bottom line: profit. I hated every change they made, and the British Crown owned BP at the time. There were several lords and their entourage of Secret Service agents and personal bodyguards who visited our store in Sharonville, and it was one of the most insulting I've ever witnessed from adults. They were snobs, plain and simple. Since BP went public, their profit-first attitude has obviously only worsened. They're out-of-control and need to be reeled in to reality. They're reprehensible, and need to be punished, severely.
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