A Day At the Yacht Races for BP's CEO

by Nikki Gloudeman · 2010-06-21 06:13:00 +0100
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BP's response to the oil spill has been rife with gaffes. But the latest may be one of the most egregious yet.

CEO Tony Hayward, on the heels of testifying before Congress about the spill, just spent the day yacht racing off the coast of England.

The move sparked outrage from gulf residents, pundits and political figures alike. "To quote Tony Hayward, he's got his life back," said Rahm Emanuel—a jab at his earlier admission that he'd "like his life back." On Fox News, Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) dubbed the excursion "the height of arrogance."

In one way, it's easy to see why Hayward would want to spend the day at sea; it's been a rough few weeks for the beleaguered executive. As the Christian Science Monitor put it, "Two months into the Gulf oil spill, some Americans might grudgingly admit that even a man charged with solving the worst environmental crisis in US history needed a day here or there to recharge the batteries." During a time of such turmoil, we often lose sight of the fact that people like Hayward are still just people, regardless of the position they're in. And we have no way of knowing exactly why he decided to participate in the race. It could be because he doesn't care, but it could also be because he simply needed to de-stress.

That said, the act is damning, for a couple reasons.

First, Hayward has already shown himself to be out of touch with the crisis. His Congressional testimony was widely lambasted for being too nonchalant, and previous statements like the aforementioned "I want my life back" have made him seem insensitive to people of the Gulf. If this were an isolated incident, the public might cut him slack. But it's not.

Second, he chose yachting, one of the most obvious examples of excessive wealth and distance from the everyman. BP's adherence to the bottom line over safety has cemented their status as corporate money mongers. The public knows all too well that the oil giant will continue reaping riches, despite the crisis, and that the $20 billion they were recently forced to fork out will hardly make a dent in their margins. A yacht ride just pours salt on this very sensitive wound.

Hayward must have known both these things when he decided to set sail. The fact that he did it anyways shows, at the very least, serious ineptitude.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Nikki Gloudeman is a senior fellow at Mother Jones magazine where she writes about the environment and other topics.
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