British business on Wednesday expressed alarm at the “inappropriate” and increasingly aggressive rhetoric being deployed against BP by President Barack Obama, warning that the attacks on the oil company could affect energy security and damage wider transatlantic industry relations.
Richard Lambert, director general of the CBI, a leading British employers’ organisation, told the FT the presidential attack was “obviously a matter of concern ”“ politicians getting heavily involved in business in this way always is”.
He suggested the White House strategy was misplaced, stating that “apart from anything else, BP is a vital part of the US energy infrastructure. So the US has an interest in the welfare of BP, as much as the rest of the world does.”
Apparently, BP’s behavior in this disaster has nothing to do with its diminished profitability. As we have learned in the United States in the past 15 months, even rainy weather and cloudy skies are Obama’s fault. I never cease to be amazed at the ingenuousness and dishonesty of business executives when they are called to account for their decisions and behavior. We didn’t do anything – it’s Obama’s fault. Perhaps the only thing more reprehensible than their assinging blame and rationalizations is their assumption that the rest of us are so stupid as to be convinced by their lies.
Reply to #1.
Dan,
Up until about a year ago it was all ‘Bush’s fault’ and those saying that where not the least bit ashamed of uttering words of that sort.
The level of civility in politics had reached a nadir where Bush seemed to be the cause of anything and everything that was viewed with a ‘negative eye.’
Now, Obama’s in the ‘hot seat’ and you seem to be saying, if indirectly, that Obama deserves a higher level of civility?
Who determines what level of civility is appropriate? Who is the ‘national referee?’ And wouldn’t the actions of a ‘national referee’ be contrary to the intent of the First Amendment to the Constitution?
Let’s don’t forget to look in the mirror on this one.
Americans have an incredible lust for oil, and all of the trashing of BP and Obama, as well as the deep concern over the environment would all vanish in the first hour of a United States deprived of it’s gasoline and plastics. Right now prices and supply remain steady, so all is right with our world, and so we get all righteous and cry over oily pelicans and rattle our environmental swords.
But it is our lust that forces a company like BP to drill in mile-deep water in the first place. It is that lust that causes our politicians to short-cut the approval process for rigs of that design. It is that lust that will keep BP in business on our steetcorners for decades to come. And it is that lust that will cause future accidents like this one, or worse.
So lets all get really, really angry….but be careful where we point the finger. After all, it’s the summer travel season, and I’m loooking for the best gas prices around! Bet you are too!
#3
I in part agree with you. Our lust for oil is a part of the problem. Our lust for high levels of return on our investments is part of the problem. Politicians, who put getting elected and reelected ahead of principle and put keeping their big donors happy over applying proper pressure on companies like BP, are part of the problem.
I differ with you when you said, “it is our lust that forces a company like BP…” “Forces”? I’m sorry, but the people of BP are moral agents as well. They can make choices. They can choose to make more and more obscene amounts of money, or they can choose to run their company by principle. They choose and continue to choose to cut corners to make a buck.
Like the housing bubble and the financial bubble, the oil bubble has burst and it is spewing out into the gulf. Unfortunately, in all these cases, we will all end up footing the bill, through taxes, higher oil bills, greatly seafood sources and another part of nature badly damaged.
As for me, my retirement money has taken a hit, my house is worth less than I paid for it and I am becoming increasingly uncomfortable with my work that has me burning up a lot of oil driving all over the countryside.
Whether one blames Obama or BP or oneself, I know that all of us will pay for it one way or the other.
Doug Hale+
#2, sadly, you really didn’t read what I had to say, since you had already determined that what I wrote challenged what I assume is your political ideology. What I wrote had to do with accountability and the willingness of certain ideologues and others to shift the blame from those who are truly liable. You raised the issue of civility.