BP’s real PR lesson

This is the worst oil spill in the history of the United States. But as long as there is drilling, there will be spills. It is unavoidable. The question is how we are going to prepare and demand that our government and the oil companies realistically prepare from now on.

PB is anathema. we all agree The company is responsible for the worst oil spill on record. Oil is reported to have been flowing at a rate of 60,000 barrels per day. And the gulf spill wasn’t BP’s first mishap; in 2005 an explosion at one of its refineries in Texas left fifteen dead. Our outrage and anger at the company is appropriate. They should pay and take responsibility for what they have done. The company’s shares have plummeted. He is going to pay billions and the legal battles will continue for years. But if BP remains the sole focus of this tragedy, we have missed the lesson and missed a valuable opportunity.

BP is indicative of a much larger and more serious problem. As revealed in Senate hearings on June 15, other oil companies had eerily similar emergency plans to BP’s. It seems as if there was a simple ineffective plan that was shared by the entire industry. The plan included the phone number of a dead expert to call in case of emergencies. It also included strategies to save seals and walruses that were threatened by a spill on the Gulf Coast. The only downside to the plan was that calling in a deceased expert probably wouldn’t do much good, and there are no seals or walruses in that part of the world.

Unfortunately, the BP spill was an accident waiting to happen. The company’s attitude seemed to be that they would risk bearing the consequences of a spill, rather than invest the time, money, and effort necessary to protect against a spill or develop a workable plan of action should a spill occur. .

This spill has become a huge media story. Aside from the tragedy of lives lost, wildlife decimated and businesses destroyed, it’s a devastating public relations debacle for BP. But if we are to benefit in any way from the 24/7 media coverage of the spill, the focus must shift solely from BP to the oil industry as a whole. Yes, BP must be held accountable and paid to clean up the gulf and compensate those who are losing their livelihoods, but let’s use this as a call to action to dig deeper into the root causes.

Obviously, we must look at other forms of fuel and energy, but that will take time. In the short term, the oil industry and the government (which is as much to blame as the oil companies) must do everything possible to ensure that such a spill does not happen again and develop effective action and response plans. which actually addresses the problem when a spill inevitably occurs. The media is reporting, the government is furious, BP apologizes and lives are being destroyed. Let’s take this devastating episode and use it to demand that both the government and the oil companies develop real action plans that safeguard our natural resources and our country as a whole.

Copyright © Antonio Mora 2010