Another US Oil Spill

[Mikey]

Well, the job of the CEO is to be responsible for the actions of the company. Of course he didn't personally do anything to the oil rig, but his job is to be the personification of British Petroleum. And he's not a stuffed shirt with no idea of the realities of the situation - he's a fossil-fuel geologist.

Yes, BP is already on the hook for the cleanup plus the $20 billion relief fund, so no - there isn't any further point in beating the guy up on TV. What should happen is to make the public aware of how involved in this cock-up were Halliburton and TransOcean, and to coerce/guilt/legalese them into kicking into the kitty as well.

As far as fault - it is BP & co.'s fault; maybe the explosion itself was unavoidable with things as they were, but things didn't have to be as they were. It's already been related that the rig was made as cheaply as possible while still qualifying as an oil rig, and far greater safety measures could have been put into place. One may argue that any company in a capitalist society would have done the same, and that argument may be correct - but BP's the one left holding the bag, and just because everyone else does it doesn't make it right.