BP begins to funnel off leaking Gulf of Mexico oil

[NanoSquid]

This is bad. But where have the unrealistic expectations for BP come from? People are treating them like they purposely are spilling oil into the gulf. And it's just not right. BP is working as quickly as they can to fix it, and they are helping with the environmental cleanup. What more can they truly be expected to do? Reverse the leak so it sucks all the oil back in or something?

Agreed. Obama needs to get off of his butt and do something already. Mobilize the Army Corps of Engineers. Declare a state of emergency. Stop talking, and stop trying to blame people. Deal with the problem and, if you still really feel like it, then point fingers.

He's running this country like Chicago. Thinkin' that government positions are prizes, not jobs. The USA is not Chicago.

 

[Grim Tuesday]

Where has Obama pointed fingers? I specificaly remember a speech where he said that it was no-one's fault but his. And told people to stop pointing fingers.

Image in Bush had to deal with this.

 

[Leminnes]

Well, BP isn't exactly innocent Nine. They CAUSED the spill, whether by proxy or not. Believe it or not, they're not REALLY trying to stop the spill completely. They're trying to stop it in such a way that they could still collect the oil. Which, to me, is unnecessary. They are also making clean-up workers sign contracts saying they will not talk about, interview, or publicize anything they see when they are cleaning. Which is a big no-no to me.

As for Nano, I think your expectations of the President are a bit high. The president can not call a State of Emergency because people's lives are not at stake here. It is a NATURAL emergency, but it's not like Katrina where thousands of people died or had their lives in danger. The Army Corps of Engineers are already out there, but what do you expect them to do? BP has already been ordered to build barrier islands with the help of the Army Corps, but those will only help to a point.

The president is trying to hold people accountable and I think he's doing a fairly good job at that. The NUMBER ONE priority is getting that leak closed no matter what the outcome. In fact, I think this pointing fingers game is annoying as piss. Just get the damn thing closed.

And besides that, all of us are just sitting around here complaining about it. If we really cared (and if we feasibly could given the time) we'd be out there helping clean up. However, we are not, and our talk really means little.

 

[Boylee]

At the end of the day BP is a corporation. A corporation's sole function is to make money for it's shareholders. That's it. If it means breaking the law to do so then it will. If it means compromising safety to do so then it will. Corporations calculate risk and the possible costs of breaking the law versus possible profits and often side with breaking rules as it tends to be cheaper than abiding by them. Sadly this has been evident in the numerous oil spills that have occurred in recent history. It will continue to be the case until we revise corporate law.

As for where BP stand in all this they have done exactly as they should as a corporation. Is it right? Hell no. Should they be seriously reprimanded? Hell yes.

 

[drp]

Where do you live? All I've been hearing constantly is that this is doomsday.

My opinion:

This is bad. But where have the unrealistic expectations for BP come from? People are treating them like they purposely are spilling oil into the gulf. And it's just not right. BP is working as quickly as they can to fix it, and they are helping with the environmental cleanup. What more can they truly be expected to do? Reverse the leak so it sucks all the oil back in or something?

well to be fair, they're working as hard as they can to stop the leak in a way where they can still get the oil later.

 

[Trotim]

More importantly, they never even had a plan what to do if something like this happened so they couldn't possibly have spent much on security measures.