Weather Watch: BP is shirking its responsibility

BP - end this nightmare. Since April 20 oil has been spewing into the Gulf of Mexico and now, six weeks into it, things are going from bad to worse.

This weekend, anger and frustration finally hit boiling point in the US as BP's idiotic CEO Tony Harward made stupid comments to the media as heartbreaking images of beautiful birds drowning in oil hit the news wires.

Harward seems to be suffering from foot in mouth. "I'd like my life back," he told reporters - a reference to the stress HE is under from this disaster. He later apologised - using Twitter - saying sorry to the family of the 11 men killed when the rig blew up on April 20.

I'm sure those family members were "following" BP on Twitter.

But it's not just that. In an article today he was quoted saying a number of other stupid things.

It doesn't stop there, either...this weekend BP aired a television commercial in which Hayward, looking sad and serious, says he's "sorry" about the disaster and will do what it takes to make it right. But the TV commercial has backfired. It was a strange thing to do. The ad cost a staggering $50 million to make - meanwhile thousands are without jobs as the slick devastates the fishing industry. The money could've been spent on those people. Or on paying unemployed people to clean up the beaches. Americans are outraged at the ad - and rightly so.

In a blog I wrote a month back I said: "Unless it is revealed that BP cut corners or broke the rules I don't think we should be judging them. We should be supporting them to clean this up and stop the leak as quickly as possible". Well, the time of judgement has arrived and it is very clear that BP has cut corners, broken the rules and now there are allegations of lies, cover-ups and an attempt to BS the public on what is really happening.

The images of the birds dying from the oil brought tears to my eyes. It was incredibly hard to watch a stunning pelican trying to stand, its eyes looking so scared...its feathers black and wet instead of white and fluffy. The reality of what is actually happening has sunk in. In the past 24 hours more birds have been brought in to rescue centres than in the entire six weeks before that.

Instead of BP really investing in the clean up - getting good PR for that - they instead decided spending $50 million saying "sorry" would work better. It hasn't worked and it makes them look smug and arrogant.

Their PR department seems to be working harder than those trying to actually stop the leak.

Last week Obama visited a beach affected by the spill. It's alleged BP staged hundreds of workers behind Obama and the cameras. BP said it wasn't a stunt and the workers were legit. One week later, with no Obama around, that same beach is drenched in oil with not a single person on it cleaning.

It is disgusting how BP are treating this entire disaster.

Hayward said the oil spill was a just a "drop in the bucket compared to the size of the Gulf of Mexico". What a stupid thing to say. Even if he is technically right, tell that to the fishermen and the industries that support those fishermen. This oil spill will affect them for years. Many are out of work now.

And Louisiana is still struggling to get back on its feet after Katrina. That hurricane, along with Rita, were two of the biggest hurricanes on record - devastating the state and particularly New Orleans. Thousands died and the city is still in ruins. The fishing industry was an area that bounced back...until now.

On Twitter people are demanding a boycott of BP.

I don't support this. Despite my disgust at BP I think boycotting the brand will only impact more innocent people. BP is one of the main super investors in the UK. For those retired people, BP going under would mean no retirement money. Here in NZ boycotting BP would only hurt our people locally.

BP has lost one third of its value already. That's a fairly big punishment.

One only hopes the US government prosecutes the managers of BP. Jail time, huge fines, and smugness wiped off BP's face would be a start.

While devastating, oil leaks aren't a dime a dozen thankfully. We have an addiction to oil. In America alone 10,000 gallons of oil is used a SECOND - that's 20 million barrels a day. Consumers demand oil drilling. We need it. And disasters will sometimes happen. But it is unbelievable that this could've been avoided.

What sickens me is that this organisation, the fourth biggest on the planet I believe, cut corners to save money...and now that corner cutting is costing American's millions of dollars in lost income and killing hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent and beautiful animals.

Meanwhile that arrogant Hayward earns around $20,000 NZD a day. How does that make you feel?

BP - stop the PR spin. Invest money into the local US economy. If you do it properly you won't need to invest a cent on PR TV adverts...the news media will do it all for you.

The questions I have about all of this - how come BP never had a backup plan for a disaster like this happening? And how many other oil rigs, owned by BP or other oil giants, could have the same problem?