Where does the Buck Stop, when it comes to BP Oil?

(10 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

There used to be a day when the ‘Blame Game’ was just NOT an option. There used to be a time, WHEN Action was called for, Action was taken.  

My oh my, how times have changed.

“The buck stops here” is a phrase that was popularized by U.S. President Harry S. Truman, who kept a sign with that phrase on his desk in the Oval Office. (Footage from Jimmy Carter’s “Address to the Nation on Energy” shows the sign still on the desk during Carter’s administration.) The phrase refers to the fact that the President has to make the decisions and accept the ultimate responsibility for those decisions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B…

There used to be time when our Leaders were actually Pro-active about securing our Energy Future — and not simply willing to muddle along, with whatever the tide might bring in.

Well, it’s kind of refreshing to see, at least the President of BP, has been brushing up, on his ‘war room’ tactics.

BP still in uncharted waters

Robert Peston — 09:31 UK time, Thursday, 6 May 2010

It is 16 days since the explosion on the Deep Water Horizon drilling rig. So I suppose what I found most striking about the interview on this morning’s Today Programme with Tony Hayward is that BP’s chief executive couldn’t say when the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico would be staunched – and he refused to give any guidance at all about the ultimate cost of the disaster for this £100bn British company.

Throughout the interview, his rhetoric was positively Churchillian — the leaking oil was being battled, kept at bay, by deployment in the air (a “small airforce” spraying dispersant), on the sea (a flotilla of 100 vessels endeavouring to direct the oil) and on the beaches (more than 4,000 volunteers trained up and paid $10 an hour to protect the coastline).

[…]

Hayward attributed primary blame to the operator of the fateful rig, Transocean, which was “accountable” for the “safety and operability” of the so-called “blow-out preventer”.

[…]

That said, what’s clear from the rhetoric of the US administration and President Obama is that the most powerful government on the planet believes that the buck stops in every sense (financial, ethical) with BP, in that the rig was being operated for the benefit of BP and its owners.

And if the blow-out preventer was so important, some will wonder why BP sub-contracted responsibility for it.

Good question, since when does sub-contracting — exclude you (BP) from responsibility, especially when those 100bn profits, are from checks with YOUR name on them!

And it’s kind of nice to see our distinguished Senators finally getting ‘indignant’ about something;  It seems even they are getting a bit tired of the BP Blame Game … (funny, you’d think “finger-pointing” would be a sign language, Senators could understand?)

Investigators focus on sequence of events leading to oil spill

By Erika Bolstad and Les Blumenthal

McClatchy Newspapers  Tue, May. 11, 2010 08:06 PM

The topic came up as Congress and a federal panel in Louisiana opened inquiries into the April 20 explosion, which killed 11 people and mangled a deepwater well that continues to spew 210,000 gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico daily.

[…]

None of the executives was willing to accept blame for causing the disaster, however.

McKay emphasized that BP had hired Transocean to drill the well, and questioned whether Transocean’s blowout preventers – huge devices that sit atop the well under water and are intended to close the drilling pipe in the event of a disaster – had worked properly.

“Apart from looking at the causes of the explosion, we are also examining why the blowout preventer – the BOP, as it’s called – did not work as the ultimate failsafe to seal the well and prevent an oil spill,” McKay said.

Transocean’s Newman disputed BP’s claim that the blowout preventers failed, and Halliburton, the cement contractor responsible for sealing the well, blamed BP as the owner of the well.

“Drilling had been finished on April 17th, and the well had been sealed with casing and cement,” Newman said. “For that reason, the one thing we do know is that, on the evening of April 20th, there was a sudden catastrophic failure of the cement, the casing, or both.”

Halliburton, the cement contractor responsible for sealing the oil well, put the blame on BP as the owner of the well, saying it simply was following BP’s instructions.

McKay declined to address the issue of why the decision was made to pull the drilling lubricants early. He said BP knows there were unusual pressure test readings prior to the explosion but that he was not familiar with “the individual procedure on that well.”

“The investigation is going to look at every piece of the procedure, the directives, the decisions, and the processes that was used, and that – that investigation is under way,” he said. “So I’ve not had a review of that yet.”

Asked by Sessions whether a blowout would have been less likely if the mud had not been removed, he responded: “I don’t know. I don’t know.”

Exasperated with their finger-pointing, the top Republican on the Senate Energy Committee, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, warned the executives that their negligence could harm future offshore drilling in U.S. waters and have an impact on the country’s energy policy.

“I would suggest to all three of you that we are all in this together,” she said. “Not only will BP not be out there, the Transoceans won’t be there to drill and the Halliburtons won’t be there to provide the cementing.”

Nice scolding, Murkowski, I’m glad you’ve got YOUR Contributor’s Interests at heart.  Sure is embarrassing isn’t it when ‘the kids’ start acting up like that — maybe you’ll have to give them a Time Out and take all their Toys away too?  It’s not like they really did anything “Wrong” is it?  You know, ‘boys will be boys‘, and ‘accidents happen‘ — The People will understand, right?

Meanwhile it seems that President Obama, is ‘signaling’ a “loss of patience” too, for the antics of these 3 stooges. Well, Welcome to the Club Chief, we’ve been waiting for you …

[continuing …]

A White House spokesman said Tuesday that like Congress, President Barack Obama has run out of patience with the failure to stop oil from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.

[…]

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday …

“Secretary (of Energy Steven) Chu is heading to the area and to work with the response team to make sure that we have some of the best and brightest minds down there trying to think through the next steps for doing so. But I think the president is deeply frustrated.”

Well OK then, long as you roll-a-dex the ‘best and brightest’ I guess we got it covered now.  Alright then! Commence with the Oil Clean-up War-room!

Meanwhile back on the ranch, the Environmental Damages will just keep rolling in like the ‘March of Hurricanes’, during a “bad season”.  And no one will really stand up and take the Blame, because in Modern-day America — No One ever Does.  (especially if the tale of the Exxon Valdez is any guide.)

That kind of assignment of responsibility and liability, is left to another forum, where sometimes, ‘civil justice’ is applied:

Oil Field & Oilrig Lawsuits

Oilfield and Oil Drilling Rig Accident Lawyer

If your accident was caused by in whole or in part by the negligent, reckless or careless conduct on the part of an operator, owner, contractor, subcontractor, equipment manufacturer, maintenance company, or other third (3rd) party entity, you may be entitled to a third party lawsuit for further compensation for the medical expenses, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, and pain and suffering that resulted from your injury. …

and Meanwhile, as the ‘Blame Game’ unfolds, following its predictable ‘he-said, she-said’ course, Who will file for Damages on behalf of the Planet?

Who will speak up for, and protect the Future well-being of OUR fragile world?  Who will re-direct that ‘ship of state’ on to a saner, and greener, sustainable Energy course, in any world changing way?

My guess is no one will really stand up and Change OUR Energy Future, because in Modern-day America — No One ever Does.

Rather it’s always, Full steam ahead. Steer clear of the Icebergs!

cuz this PR ‘Blame Game’ dance, is really such a bitch — you know, it can ruin your whole day!