My daughter likes eating fish at least once a week. I fondly remember how fascinated she was at 12-18 months every time that “green” BP commercial came on with the catchy song, “make the day a little better… say hey!” What a terrific campaign that was.
I have held up writing a post on the oil spill in the Gulf, mainly because I wanted to allow some time for my outrage to subside, but mostly, waiting for the final solution to an environmental problem that a number of incapable people in positions of perceived power have created.
Living in Florida, it is heartbreaking to read about the current and potential effects of this catastrophe. The PR person in me though is extremely disappointed in the manner this crisis has been handled… passed off on, mishandled, and without concrete answers. The situation is out of control, and getting control is the first step to containing a crisis. Over a month has passed since the drill in the Gulf and the information the public is getting is, at best, scattered, vague and murky. Where is the messaging? Where is the preparation for a crisis of such magnitude? With an obvious lack in issues management from BP, I think that spending time finding one person to blame isn’t the point. There probably isn’t just one person solely responsible for the drill, but several who contributed. So, why aren’t we seeing those people in hip boots trying to salvage coastal wildlife and assuming social responsibility? Where is the human element in this entire situation? Oh, but no, it’s so much better to send useless robots to plug concrete stubs to plug the oil spill.
Finger pointing continues as our beaches and wildlife erode at the dawn of the 2010 hurricane season. I read theories of how the spill can actually help the biodegrading process, but that doesn’t have me convinced when I see the pelican drenched in oil just because he is searching for food in his habitat. I don’t see the BP CEO anywhere near there, either.
Clearly the PR process needs to be better managed, and research on this should have been better conducted. Maybe BP will finally close down after all this. Maybe BP will keep throwing us millions to advertise about our gloriously oil spilled beaches. Maybe Anna will stop liking fish. Maybe BP and the government will continue down playing the issue.
Or, maybe they are holding out for something groundbreaking and earth shattering to happen. Say hey.