Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Carl-Henric Svanberg became Chairman of BP about two weeks before the Gulf rupture.

Carl-Henric Svanberg, the former CEO of Ericsson. Photo taken during the Volvo Ocean Race 2009

Svanberg served as CEO of telecom company Ericsson from April 8, 2003 to December 31, 2009. Following his resignation as CEO, he remained on the board of Ericsson and holds 3,234,441 shares in the company.

It is unfortunate he has to be placed in such a difficult place internationally after only being on the job for such a short period of time.  However, it is obvious he is a decent man looking to return the Gulf to the best condition possible after the explosion that killed eleven people and crippled an entire coast of the USA.

BP Plc Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg agreed to provide $20 billion to pay “all proper claims” from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill after what he called a constructive meeting with President Barack Obama.
“He’s frustrated, because he cares about the small people, and we care about the small people,” Svanberg said today after the White House meeting. “I hear comments sometimes that large oil companies are greedy companies that don’t care. That is not the case in BP. We care about the small people.”
Svanberg spoke after meeting Obama and his senior advisers to hammer out the plan for compensating Gulf Coast residents and businesses affect by the oil spill from a damage BP well. The chairman apologized for the oil spill, which he called an accident that shouldn’t have happened....

Mr. Savnberg seems to know who his customers are, 'the small people.'  The people that have small gas tanks requiring fuel.  I am sure he hasn't forgotten where his loyalty should lie.

I find it more than amusing to hear politicians, especially Republicans, state that we have to return to 'Drill here, drill now,' as otherwise we will be faced with receiving oil tankers all over again.

To begin, oil tankers have never stopped coming to the USA ports AND it would be easier, far easier to clean up an OIL SPILL rather than stop an OIL RUPTURE.

Hello?

What would be better yet is to not have to clean up oil at all, but, simply cleaning up after 'corn stover' and 'algae spills' from trucks on their way to an ethanol plant.  Pew, stinky stuff. 

Some are saying, the clean up efforts are proving to be chaotic. 

It was late May...Two fleets of fishing boats were supposed to be laying out boom...But the boats were gathered on the inland side of the bay — the wrong side — anchored idly as the oil oozed in from the Gulf of Mexico. BP officials said they had no way of contacting the workers on the boats, Mr. Bonano recalled....

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100615/ZNYT02/6153004/2055/NEWS


...In addition to communicating via phone, we wanted to make sure there were personnel on the ground to help coordinate with our state and local partners. By May 5, intergovernmental affairs personnel were deployed to each of the command posts and the federal government had deployed subject matter experts to each of the state emergency operations centers....

...Although these structures have proven useful in many ways, it soon became apparent that state and local officials required even closer coordination to handle urgent issues even more quickly than such a structured daily process could allow. As a result, DHS established a liaison program in which dedicated Coast Guard and BP personnel with decision-making authority have been assigned to parish presidents and governors specifically to handle emergent needs. The ultimate aim of this program is to move resources and solve problems in the most efficient and at the most localized level possible. To ensure the highest level of coordination, on May 27 Deputy NIC Admiral Peter Neffenger and I visited four parish presidents in Louisiana with their assigned liaison officer to discuss immediate and long-term needs. In addition, my office continues to communicate with all of the parish liaison officers daily to guarantee that the liaison officers are getting the resources necessary to carry out their missions. Since the program began, we are already seeing the results of more efficient and effective coordination to address any issues immediately as they arise. For instance, one parish president recognized that boom was sitting on a dock waiting to be deployed. The parish president immediately called their respective Coast Guard liaison and the boom was deployed within the hour....

http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/testimony/testimony_1276179816542.shtm

With all this support and PERSONAL liasons between Admiral Thad Allen and Governors and local authorities, what seems to be the problem?  They don't know how to communicate in English or what?  Because PERSONAL LIASONS are NO JOKE.  They are sincere efforts to CLOSE THE GAP to provide effective measures to stop the damage to the coast.  So, like, what is the issue already?  Perhaps there just isn't enough FREE political television coverage?  Is that it?