New BP CEO Bob Dudley Blusters About “Rush to Judgment” by Media and Others; U.S. Rep. Ed Markey Blasts Back Saying “BP” Stands for “Blame Passed”

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It seems BP has another winner in its new chief executive, Bob Dudley, who is blaming news reports and competitive oil companies for a “rush to judgment” – which he claims made the disaster worse.

In a telling story run by Yahoo News, Mr. Dudley says: “I watched graphic projections of oil swirling around the gulf, around Florida, across and around Bermuda to England – these appeared authoritative and inevitable. The public fear was everywhere.”

Remember, this is a guy who was among the BP executives going on TV during the early days of the spill pushing that “5,000 barrels per day” estimate, accusing scientists who argued the flow was closer to 70,000 barrels per day (bpd) of “scaremongering.”

U.S. Rep. Ed Markey got it right when he responded to Dudley’s comments, saying: “… BP is continuing to point the finger at everyone but themselves. Since this disaster began, BP has stood for “Blame Passed.’ ” Markey also noted that Mr. Dudley had refused a request to address a congressional hearing to discuss the spill, and asked him to reconsider. Eventually, Mr. Dudley should face those questions under oath, and we’ll finally hear exactly what he knew and when he knew it.

This would be easy to dismiss – especially since the Dudley comments were made to a British business group – but we can expect that this is the start of the oil giant’s defense against all those “proximity” business claims around the Gulf. Company officials will no doubt argue that they are not responsible for the media or those wild damage estimates, even if some were, indeed, completely correct.

Once again, so much for “Making It Right.” Check out the story here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101025/bs_nm/us_oil_spill_bp

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Stuart H. Smith is an attorney based in New Orleans fighting major oil companies and other polluters.
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