Am I excusing BP for this mess, Shell for its spills, or Exxon for repainting Alaska? No, of course not. These companies committed major environmental crimes and must be held accountable. That BP is losing millions of dollars a day in cleanup and litigation costs is just; they should probably be losing more and, I’m certain, will when the court cases start rolling in earnest. Big oil has been much too cozy with certain persons in governmental positions. When any self-interested organization starts handing out major “campaign contributions,” attention should be given to the true intentions. No, oil companies need serious oversight. After all is said and done, they are in the business of handling hazardous materials. Maybe not as serious as nuclear waste, but when it’s spilled, it’s a significant problem.

I’d really like all of you to sit down for a moment and think before you start casting stones. Do you really believe, in your heart, that the various clerks, file workers, and general office workers of Lehman or Goldman were in on the whole scheme? Do you truly think that the workers at Enron knew what was going on? Of course not. Yet we vilify them along with the architects of the disasters. So, while we can certainly lay some blame with the MMS, can we truly blame ALL of the employees? We shouldn’t. For, while there were undoubtedly failures in the system and persons not doing all they should, it is entirely unfair and unjust to smear the blame across the whole of the organization. Painting with too broad a brush just leaves an inexcusable mess.

The complaint is that you never had to sit around any table with the MMS to discuss issues because the oil industry itself ticked all the boxes – some of which had already been pencilled in by the MMS for “completion”.

There’s a difference between a close working relationship and a cosy relationship.

BP has now called in the former assistant to the famous oil man Dick Cheney to help with their PR. It’s called “keeping things in the family.”