Brits tell US to lay off the oil spill rhetoric

[msmith537]

@Happy Poster

You don’t understand.

We do not love BP. We do have shares in it, and want it to do well, but that’s by the by.

Our major protest is the way that your president, for naked political advantage, is trying to shift responsibility for the reckless actions of Americans across the Atlantic onto us.

The reality is, if he comes down hard on BP Americans will suffer far more than us. BP has more than twice as many American employees as UK employees. American shareholders own more of BP than British shareholders. And it’ll be your economy that suffers more.

No offense, but you, RSA CEO John Napier in your link and BP CEO Tony Hayward “wanting his life back” sound like a pair of fucking idiots with their heads up their ass. BP (formerly Brittish Petroleum, a multinational corporation incorporated under the name BP p.l.c. and registered in England
and Wales with registered number 102498 with headquarters in City of Westminster,** London, UK**.) is absolutely 1000% at fault. Even if they did everything absolutely correctly (which they didn’t) and the spill was just a series of unfortunate and unforseeable circumstances (which it wasn’t) they would still bear the responsibility for its resolution and cleanup. Your entire attitude, as well as that of Napier, reflects the same attitude of corporate entitlement that is so pervasive these days. They are simply attempts to shift blame and responsibility away from culpable parties through distraction.

I mean really, are you out of your mind? Why don’t they stop picking on BP? Are you really arguing that BP should get a pass for creating one of the biggest ecological disasters ever because they are British and that would be “bad form” old chap?

And you are not living in “reality” if you really believe that the economic damage from BP loosing shareholder value and paying off lawsuits is close to the economic damage they have caused in the Gulf of Mexico.

[Diceman]

@Happy_Poster

Even stupider than that, the industry is a huge part of that region’s economy.

Obama is sacrificing the damaged region and the cleanup operation for personal political gain. And it’s taking us to have to point this out to them. The spin is incredible, I have to give him that!

I want to give Obama the benefit of the doubt, but it really looks like he’s just phoning it in and his only real concern is how this will affect his re-election prospects. It took him almost two months to meet with the families of the guys killed in the explosion. Remember them?

[jjimm]

@msmith537

No offense, but you, RSA CEO John Napier in your link and BP CEO Tony Hayward “wanting his life back” sound like a pair of fucking idiots with their heads up their ass.

No argument there.

I mean really, are you out of your mind? Why don’t they stop picking on BP?

Because they’re also conveniently ignoring Halliburton and Transocean.

[Broomstick]

@Quartz

Because Obama’s anti-British attitude stinks. As a person, he’s entitled to it; as POTUS, he needs to rise above his personal animosity

Personally, I find it refreshing to have a president who doesn’t get all gooey-eyed when it comes to the UK. They are an ally, not a friend. Right now both nations find it in their interests to get along but if that changes, well, nations don’t have friends, they have allies, and that can change.

Mind you, I like British people, but the people and the government aren’t the same thing.

[jjimm]

@msmith537

Are you really arguing that BP should get a pass for creating one of the biggest ecological disasters ever because they are British and that would be “bad form” old chap?

Missed commenting on this. No of course not, and as far as I know, nobody’s saying that. I presume you’re being hyperbolic, which is fine.

Anyway, the BBC’s North America correspondent has an interesting perspective on the thing, and reports that, at least personally, he has experienced no Brit bashing in the Gulf.

[Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party]

@Broomstick

Only because BP bought out Amoco in the 1990’s. Gee, guess what - a lot of us were pissed off at that company being bought out by foreigners. Funny, too - the local BP refinery near where I live suddenly had a spike in violations after that. The only thing that changed was management - which was suddenly a bunch of absentee landlords living in another country on another continent - so guess what conclusion I drew?

That you know fuck all about how internationals work? Absentee landlords? What the fuck. BP America is a corporation in itself. It’s based in Texas. Are you seriously thinking the day-to-day operation of an oil refinery in America is being handled by London?

[Squink]

Someone down in Birmingham needs to burn a British flag, maybe send it’s ashes to Liverpool.
That’d help inflame the idiots more.

[Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party]

What with that quasi-religious symbol, the Union Flag, being close to every Brit’s heart? Burn a piece of cloth with a pattern on it, who gives a shit?

[Ferret_Herder]

@jjimm

No argument there.Because they’re also conveniently ignoring Halliburton and Transocean.

Oh, Halliburton especially will not be ignored - when it comes time to start suing. For now they’re concentrating on who’s supposed to be cleaning up this mess, and BP is the big oil company (and not, say, a rig company) who’s supposed to have technology to deal with this stuff instead of apparently being about as efficient as the people working on the massive 1979 Gulf of Mexico spill were.

I’m not blaming Britain, I’m blaming this fucked-up system that subsidizes and rewards the gigantic oil companies and anyone who gets in bed with them, to the point where they cut corners in massively dangerous ways. Plus corporations are supposed to be serving their shareholders - well, what a more awful way to reward BP shareholders (which yes, do include Americans, many of which include people investing knowingly or unknowingly via their pension fund brokers) than to be involved in an incident caused by blatant violation of safety standards. “Everyone else is doing it” is not an excuse.

We’re not pissed at Britain. We’re pissed that 11 workers died and that countless gallons of ocean water and countless miles of land are being polluted because of this major fuckup. This is only the beginning. Go re-read Broomstick’s post if you skimmed it. The Gulf Coast is just starting to experience disruption. The US’s seafood production is going down the toilet, the Louisiana coast is now extra-vulnerable (and with New Orleans still working on rebuilding from Katrina’s effects), the heartland’s agricultural shipping may be disrupted.

Sure, BP is putting fishermen to work cleaning up oil + dispersant, but there are many reports of illnesses and hospitalizations, with workers complaining of severe headache, nausea, respiratory problems, and so on. People have been trying to get protective and respiratory gear but BP brushes them off and our government sends them in circles from one agency to another about who’s supposed to be in charge of that.

Up here around Lake Michigan, we’ve been doubting BP’s environmental commitment (and government’s concern about it) for a while now. BP decided to create 80 jobs in Indiana, and in return, they’d get to increase how much ammonia and heavy metals they could dump into our lake! Fortunately after complaints and pressure on the government, BP said they’d manage to not dump more pollutants. Gee, thanks, we totally believed that you’re concerned about the environment after hearing that.

And of course, now it’s getting attention that BP and subsidiaries/associated companies have spilled the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez spill (we still rue the name of Exxon too, BTW) in the Niger Delta every year for the last 50 years. God knows how many other oil companies, regardless of who owns them/the majority of their stock or where they’re incorporated, are doing this too.

I’m sorry if some people are getting their knickers in a twist that the full formal name, or what the speakers perceive as such, of an oil company is being spoken. Meanwhile, I’d love nothing more than the government sending any lax regulators/overseers/etc. from the MMS, Halliburton, Transocean, and BP down there to pick up tar balls off the beach and wash off [del]shrimp and fish[/del] (oh wait that won’t work) shorebirds with dishwashing liquid.

[Happy_Poster]

I just came back from a boozy lunch to look at your retail sails fail. I’m about to go out to pub again.

Tonight I’m gonna tell you what I really think.

Well, you know what I really think.

but I’m gonna be less polite.

[orcenio]

BP executive: “Oi. I say, you blokes need to slow your roll, we done got’s this oily beeoch…blimey”

[jjimm]

Great post, Ferret Herder. And I don’t think anyone (except perhaps for Tony Hayward) is downplaying the vastness of the disaster, nor the appalling behaviour of international Big Oil.

The only minor nitpick with what you’re saying is that the complaint - and the reason the British PM is going to call Obama to ask him to tone it down a bit - is not to do with who is going to be sued, it’s that it’s solely BP that is currently the target of Obama’s very public ire. The other companies involved in the disaster have been overlooked in this rhetoric.

(BTW if you want to be sick in your mouth a little bit, British or American, here’s what one British conservative has to say about it.)

[cards]

@jjimm

This seems worth repeating. BP is a corporation incorporated in the UK. Union Carbide and Occidental Petroleum are incorporated in the US. Union Carbide India Ltd. and the Piper Alpha were staffed by native people in the country of operation, as was the BP rig that caused this catastrophe.

Attacks on the above companies are legitimate. Attacks on the country of incorporation of the above companies are irrelevant.

It seems, but perhaps it’s just paranoia, that many of the public criticisms of BP are implying that it’s shit because it’s British, or are attempts to deflect the true source of responsibility away from anything whatsoever to do with the US.

Well put. I’m somewhat surprised that my fellow Americans on this board are focusing on the “British”. Given the liberal bent of the SD, I would normally expect the SD to focus on “soulless corporations”. It looks like the politicians are shaping this to deflect blame onto others and the typically critically thinking SD members are buying into it. Odd.

[C3]

@jjimm

Anyway, the BBC’s North America correspondent has an interesting perspective on the thing, and reports that, at least personally, he has experienced no Brit bashing in the Gulf.

That editorial is right on. The only people I’ve seen making this a US vs UK issue are British. It’s obvious that this is some sort of issue being whipped up in your press or among your politicians. It doesn’t exist here. The fury is at BP.

It’s also interesting how you all are equating badmouthing of BP with badmouthing of the UK, then in the next breath, telling us how BP isn’t a British company.

[Ferret_Herder]

@jjimm

The only minor nitpick with what you’re saying is that the complaint - and the reason the British PM is going to call Obama to ask him to tone it down a bit - is not to do with who is going to be sued, it’s that it’s solely BP that is currently the target of Obama’s very public ire. The other companies involved in the disaster have been overlooked in this rhetoric.

I agree, “BP” is just too easy to say, and they’re the ones with some sort of tech so they’re at work right now and thus in the spotlight, so they’re getting all the attention. It is unfair that other companies - and the government agency in charge - haven’t been mentioned more, and that really should change. Lots of blame to go around on this one!

[tagos]

@Ferret_Herder

I agree, “BP” is just too easy to say, and they’re the ones with some sort of tech so they’re at work right now and thus in the spotlight, so they’re getting all the attention. It is unfair that other companies - and the government agency in charge - haven’t been mentioned more, and that really should change. Lots of blame to go around on this one!

In this situation it is simply not possible to be ‘unfair’ to BP.

[Quartz]

@Broomstick

Personally, I find it refreshing to have a president who doesn’t get all gooey-eyed when it comes to the UK.

Really, I think only Reagan qualified there. But Obama is the first American president in a very long time who is actually anti-British and shows it.

[Ferret_Herder]

@tagos

In this situation it is simply not possible to be ‘unfair’ to BP.

We’re being unfair to Halliburton/Transocean/US Minerals Management Service for not sharing the blame with them. Sorry, didn’t mean to make you folks feel left out, step right up…

[jjimm]

@C3

That editorial is right on. The only people I’ve seen making this a US vs UK issue are British. It’s obvious that this is some sort of issue being whipped up in your press or among your politicians. It doesn’t exist here. The fury is at BP.

It’s also interesting how you all are equating badmouthing of BP with badmouthing of the UK, then in the next breath, telling us how BP isn’t a British company.

Not I. Nor the BBC correspondent.

@Ferret Herder

I agree, “BP” is just too easy to say, and they’re the ones with some sort of tech so they’re at work right now and thus in the spotlight, so they’re getting all the attention. It is unfair that other companies - and the government agency in charge - haven’t been mentioned more, and that really should change. Lots of blame to go around on this one!

I move that we should rename Halliburton “HB” and Transocean “TO”.

[Little_Plastic_Ninja]

I am really freaking confused. Then again, I get my news from NPR.

Where is this anti-Britain speech Obama’s supposed to have given? All I can find is people up in arms because he is saying BP needs to clean up its mess. Does he say anywhere that this is typical of British imperialism? No, because that would be fucking stupid. Does he say that they’re treating the US like India by going someplace where the resources are great, the labor is cheaper, and the regulations are easily done away with? No, he’s not saying that either, and while that’s inaccurate on a number of levels it would at least be slightly more defensible.

But it is a slam on BP, not on Britain. Is BP really that big in Britain that its drops in stock are bankrupting pensioners left and right? In trying to figure out what was going on I read this Telegraph article and came off angry at Brits where I hadn’t been before. “Please don’t say nasty things about the people who shit in your refrigerator!” it says. “I was going to buy my bread and eggs and insulin with the money they’re having to spend on cleaning it up.”

I’m sorry. I am. But this is why you diversify your portfolio. This fooferah makes as much sense as the racist Hallmark card “scandal”. I would bet you a dollar that most of the people who heard these news stories over here said to themselves “Bah, just yet another example of greedy corporate types paying lip service to safety and reliability. Come on news, finish up so I can watch House with that dashing American fellow Hugh Laurie.*”

I’ll tell you when I heard Halliburton was a part of this my eyes rolled so hard I saw the back of my skull. Words cannot express… if they were the last company on Earth, I’d be jollying up a pitchfork and torch army and bringing back the Dark Ages, when art was stylized and the socks had no elastic.

*This still makes me laugh my ass off.