Posts Tagged 'Gulf of Mexico'

BP’s CEO on Capitol Hill

During today’s epic drilling, during which Tony Hayward dodged questions and responsilbity for the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, I couldn’t help but wonder whether it’s too soon to start laying blame.

After all, oil is still gushing into the Gulf. Shouldn’t the CEO of the company behind the disaster be directing the effort to stop the flow, rather than deflecting tough questions from lawmakers?

As candid and cruel as some of those questions were, I would rather have been in the Capitol Hill hot seat, rather than on board a boat, trying to figure out how to stem the tide of the ecological disaster, if I were BP’s CEO.

At the very least, he did say he was sorry…

Taking Responsibility: BP’s Oil Spill


While I appreciate BP’s CEO admitting that the tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is his company’s fault, I couldn’t help feeling that I share some of the blame.

I buy gas (not from BP stations since the April 20th explosion, but still…) and, as it turns out, I am a BP shareholder.

When I looked today at a breakdown of my kids’ savings accounts in the UK, I noticed that BP is the top held share in both funds.

I didn’t pick the shares — the Child Trust Fund administrator did — but I didn’t protest when I saw the statement. My kids are too young to ask probing questions about why we support big polluters with their college funds, but that day might come soon.

Maybe it is time for us to switch to alternative fuels, and to diversify the kids’ savings into ethically sound companies.

In the meantime, if we make it to a Gulf of Mexico beach this summer, we will be sure to bring the tar remover.