BP's Payout Fund Completely Irrelevant

(Aired on June 16, 2010)

BP announced today that it will set aside $20-billion to pay the victims of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  This announcement, of course, is completely irrelevant. 

It means nothing.  It wouldn't matter if BP said it will set aside a zillion-kajillion dollars, and it wouldn't matter if the total was $10.  BP had earlier said that it will pay for the damages caused by the oil spill.  That's the statement the company should be held to.  Any attempt to put a dollar value on the damages at this stage of the game is completely ridiculous.  The company hasn't even stopped the flow of oil into the gulf yet, so it has no idea how much just that action will cost.  To say then that they will set aside $20-billion for the victims is completely premature.  No one knows ultimately how much damage this will cause and how many victims the spill will claim.

BP's Chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg, also issued an apology today for what it calls a "tragic accident" - an apology that is likely meant to head off any court proceedings.  Once again, Svanberg apologized to the American people, but this may amount to being a disaster that impacts the entire hemisphere, not just one country.

There is no room for middle ground here.  This company has to be held to account completely for what has happened.

The number that BP has come up with - $20-billion - has clearly been pulled completely out of thin air, and must be an attempt by the company to put a cap on how much it will pay out.  We now how successful BP is at putting caps on things that are out of control.  The company won't have any more success with this cap.BP announced today that it will set aside $20-billion to pay the victims of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  This announcement, of course, is completely irrelevant. 

It means nothing.  It wouldn't matter if BP said it will set aside a zillion-kajillion dollars, and it wouldn't matter if the total was $10.
BP had earlier said that it will pay for the damages caused by the oil spill.  That's the statement the company should be held to.  Any attempt to put a dollar value on the damages at this stage of the game is completely ridiculous.  The company hasn't even stopped the flow of oil into the gulf yet, so it has no idea how much just that action will cost.  To say then that they will set aside $20-billion for the victims is completely premature.  No one knows ultimately how much damage this will cause and how many victims the spill will claim.

BP's Chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg, also issued an apology today for what it calls a "tragic accident" - an apology that is likely meant to head off any court proceedings.  Once again, Svanberg apologized to the American people, but this may amount to being a disaster that impacts the entire hemisphere, not just one country.

There is no room for middle ground here.  This company has to be held to account completely for what has happened.

The number that BP has come up with - $20-billion - has clearly been pulled completely out of thin air, and must be an attempt by the company to put a cap on how much it will pay out.  We now how successful BP is at putting caps on things that are out of control.  The company won't have any more success with this cap.