BP: Big Pussies
I was listening to the BBC yesterday morning, and was shocked and appalled to hear BP and the British government express dismay and surprise at the anger in the US. I’m a little too lazy to go through the Beeb’s archives, but thanks to a number of other articles, I don’t have to.
Here’s deputy prime minister Nick Clegg:
Clegg, in Spain for an economics forum, voiced his displeasure after U.S. President Barack Obama said he would fire BP President and Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward and was wanting to know “whose ass to kick” over the environmental nightmare that began April 20, when a Transocean rig leased by BP exploded, killing 11 workers, then sank into the gulf two days later, spewing oil ever since, The Daily Telegraph reported.
meanwhile, the Mayor of London demonstrates he’s a twit:
Boris Johnson, the mayor of London has had enough of President Obama’s blame BP game . “Well I do think there is something slightly worrying about the anti-British rhetoric that seems to be permeating from America…I would like to see cool heads and a bit of calm reflection about how to deal with this problem rather than endlessly buck-passing and name-calling…. I do think it starts to become a matter of national concern if a great UK company is being continually beaten up on the international airwaves.”
gee, I’m SO SORRY Nick and Boris, but maybe you oughta consider that BP’s spill is bigger than BP claimed, and it’s destroying our coastline. perhaps you should shut the fuck up considering what YOUR country would look like if Exxon did the same thing in the English Channel:
Boris is particularly upset about the pensioners:
Johnson’s major concern, and that of other British politicians, is that huge numbers of British pensioners are losing their retirements because every time America blames BP the company’s stocks takes a serious hit. “BP’s shares fell by 12 percent at one point today on the London market, after hitting their lowest level since 1997 in New York trading overnight, amid intensifying political attacks in the US…. The slump means the firm’s share price has almost halved since the spill started.”
What I find extraordinary is that BP’s bonds, due for repayment in 2013, were trading yesterday at prices of less than 90 cents in the dollar. In other words, investors were regarding them as junk bonds, with a measurable risk of default.
That must be bonkers, surely?
And although there has already been considerable damage to the wealth of current and future British pensioners, the harm to the US economy may also be considerable.
Some 39% of its shares are held in the US, with some 14% by US individuals.
I’m not sure how happy they’ll be that every time the US president lays into BP, they find themselves a bit poorer.
Are you guys fucking kidding me? Pardon me, let me be a little clearer: ARE YOU GUYS FUCKING KIDDING ME? ARE YOU FUCKING JOKING???
because thanks to B-fucking-P, hundreds of thousands of people in the US are, right now, without ANY WORK WHATSOEVER. P&J oysters, a compnay with a 134-year history of providing local seafood to New Orleans is laying off workers and importing oysters from the Pacific coast. Fishermen have been idled for weeks. Entire communities that depend on tourism have been devastated by the ongoing spew of oil.
The angry rhetoric has nothing to do with some sudden decision to hate Britain, and everything to do with the fact that BP dodged 760 safety regulations, including an environmental impact study, blew a massive uncontrolled oil gusher 5000 feet underwater, and has steadily misrepresented the extent of the damage, chased away reporters trying get the word out, destroyed people’s livelihoods and culture, and caused an environmental apocalypse off America’s shores.
Eat shit, you fucking assholes. I hope it happens in YOUR backyard.
