Posts Tagged ‘Lamar McKay’
Hanging Pictures…Six Months Later
I still think we need a few more...
As a teenager, my sisters used to enjoy exploiting my temper to get me in trouble, pushing my buttons until I did something stupid and wound up grounded. I fell for it all the time. I think it was their secret game but I’ve never been able to prove it. One day when our parents were out, my younger sister and I argued about taking out the garbage and I became so angry, I decided to scare her so she would leave me alone – so in a typical teenage ill-advised move, I punched the pantry door in the kitchen. Problem is, the pantry door was a hollow door and I put my fist through it. Oops, and of course my sister immediately ran for the phone to tell my parents what I had done. My father came home, I got grounded and he charged me fifty dollars for a new door.
He never bought the door though, instead opting to take my mother out to dinner with the money. When they moved ten years later, the broken door still had not been replaced. Didn’t need to. He just hung a picture over the hole so it looked good as new.
Six months later, the Obama administration and British Petroleum are hanging pictures all over the Gulf.
They are doing it with words, press releases and commercials.
They are doing it with meaningless promises.
They are doing it, waiting for everyone to stop paying attention so they don’t have to do it anymore.
In the same week that Bob Dudley announced his new plan of giving bonuses tied to safety at British Petroleum, it was noted by the Wall Street Journal that those who were in charge of company operations leading up to the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon are those who remain in charge today.
Lamar McKay, the chairman and president of BP America, remains in place. James Dupree, the man directly responsible for “safe and compliant operations” in the Gulf of Mexico, has suffered just a cosmetic change in his job title. Doug Suttles, one of the public faces of BP’s oil spill response, is no longer in his previous role as chief operating officer of BP’s now defunct Exploration and Production unit, but it seems likely to take up another role in the company.
It would seem that to keep the old guard in place, not only makes it difficult to institute a radical change in policy, but also sends a message down the company line that this new change in policy is not being taken as seriously as it needs to be. Three huge accidents in recent BP history, costing lives, cultures and still as yet undetermined destruction and the only people to get fired are people like Tony Hayward who maintains he didn’t even know there was a problem. What about the people who did?
Meanwhile, despite what the government would have you believe the oil is still everywhere, yet BP continues to lay off clean-up workers. These same workers are starting to give up on certain beaches because they don’t have the personnel and British Petroleum is getting away with it, still holding to that promise of making things right.
Wrong.
They’re only hanging pictures.
They’re holding the nail while the Obama Administration hammers it home.
Remember back in August when the administration put out that whole 74% of the oil gone scenario which was roundly mocked. As Stuart Smith points out, they’ve never really backed away from it. For every finding of oil on the seafloor, question about air safety, seafood and water safety, Jane Lubchenco reassures us all that everything is fine:
“Each reopening (of fishing areas) is a reassuring sign that areas once impacted by oil can again support sustainable fishing activities,” said NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco, “Tourists and consumers should know most Gulf waters are open for fishing and seafood from these waters is safe to eat.”
The problem of course is Jane appears to be one of the few people who actually believe such statements. Independent scientists continue to doubt her and the government’s claims, instead finding dispersants and oil in the water still, and harboring serious questions about the long term effects of heavy metals which are making their presence known in the Gulf and even in the rainwater. A scientist at the University of Georgia, Dr. Samantha Joye recently compared the sea floor to a “graveyard,” stating that of the 78 core samples taken, only five had life where typically all 78 of the sea floor samples should; obviously this is a problem and one the NOAA isn’t addressing or commenting upon.
This is not over, six months later…we’re just beginning and those that should be helping are only hanging pictures on the wall. Although British Petroleum and the Obama Administration make quite a team, each policy change from BP is only another picture. Each statement from Jane? Just another picture. Each commercial during the Sunday football game, or every time the NOAA re-opens more water despite not testing for dispersants or heavy metals… picture after picture after picture, and at this rate, it would seem they’ll keep hanging pictures until the accumulation of nail holes destroys the wall for good.
This has gotta stop.
Keep talking, keep writing, keep pressing…it would appear it is up to the independent scientists, the people of the Gulf Coast and the rest of this country who cares about the reality in the water to keep shouting for the truth, to ignore these pictures they’ve placed in the foreground.
Shit, when I was a teenager at least I got grounded. In the Gulf of Mexico and in this country today, it would seem they just hope we forget about it.
Many of us don’t see this as an option.
Have a nice day.
British Petroleum’s $52 Million Dollar Mental Health Grant Leaves People Suffering
Now...what did I forget? Umm...rent? Food? Job? No, I own, ain't hungry and got one...damn, must have been something else...something...
On Monday, British Petroleum finally ponied up $52 million dollars to assist providers throughout the Gulf Coast in delivering mental health services for residents in need. Two studies, one by the Ochsner Medical Group and the other by National Center for Disaster Preparedness have both found Gulf Coast residents to be highly susceptible to symptoms of anxiety, stress, depression, PTSD and substance abuse, similar to any regional group so impacted by a catastrophic event, especially one with no end in sight. The grant money from British Petroleum is both welcome and desperately needed.
It is also only part of the story.
Not covered by this $52 million dollars are more comprehensive benefits such as assistance in finding employment, education, case management, food, direct assistance for rent and mortgages, utilities and other expenses. These areas are typically covered by FEMA, and can only be invoked through the Stafford Act, something the President typically does at the request of governors in the affected states. None have made this request so Barack Obama has not invoked Stafford. The reasons given are simple, nobody wants the tax-payers to foot any of the bill for British Petroleum’s catastraphuk.
In the meantime, Catholic Charities recently announced it is almost out of money and is now operating on scarce reserves. The organization has been providing assistance for food, rent and utilities to 19,000 families affected by the oil spill. In May, British Petroleum gave the charity $1 million dollars to help but when provided services cost $120,000 a week and BP’s initial donation came in almost three months ago, this has left Catholic Charities running on fumes while more families request assistance every week. As reported in Mother Jones, at one center a couple of weeks back “200 people showed up for 125 [grocery] cards. We’re still seeing more people than we can help,” said Margaret Dubuisson, Catholic Charities’ director of communications. Those at the charity, while appreciative of BP’s initial assistance and the mental health grant recognize behavioral health as only part of the problem, worries about feeding your family, paying the rent and bills and finding new work all contribute to the continued anxiety and stress of the region.
In June, twenty-seven non-profits aligned with Catholic Charities and requested an additional 12 million dollars from British Petroleum to assist in resources for providing services. While British Petroleum has made no promises, they say the request is under consideration, releasing a statement that reads in part, “We are proud of the partnership we’ve had with Catholic Charities. They were first on the ground and provided immediate assistance to those in need. Our partnership allowed them to expand their efforts to seven parishes. We have received many proposals with similar requests…we have been in conversations with all parties, hoping to identify the best way to support the community.”
While their consideration is appreciated, receiving no definitive answers have forced the charities to seek other ways to meet demand.
The Executive Director of Catholic Charities, Tom Costanza hopes the solution could be the Oil Spill Trust Fund created by the Oil Pollution act of 1990. Currently this fund has 1.6 billion in reserve, but its Chief of Programs Branch John Baker said in an interview the fund cannot be spent on human recovery, though the law might be amended to make such a thing possible, “We don’t even do pain and suffering or personal injury,” Baker said. Also off-limits is British Petroleum’s $20 billion dollar trust fund. Kenneth Feinberg, the trusts administrator recently stated that while he hasn’t ruled out all help to non-profits, he feels that financial assistance to food banks and temporary shelter programs is not covered by the fund. Mary Landrieu seconded this, stating that while she would work to help the non-profits, this is not how the claims fund is intended to be used.
These rejections are leaving Gulf Coast charities in a bad position. Broke, and breaking. Not having access to FEMA is “whole new ground in disaster recovery,” Costanza said.
So, taking a step back from all this, one question must be asked: would the charities and the people of the Gulf Coast be in these straits if it weren’t for BP’s catastraphuk?
No.
19,000 families wouldn’t be in need of help. Rents wouldn’t be going unpaid. Jobs wouldn’t be lost and they wouldn’t be having trouble putting food on the table. While everyone is appreciative of the initial donation by British Petroleum which allowed the non-profits to, as BP’s statement rather self-servingly put it, “expand their services into several parishes,” it is not helpful when that company then stops any further assistance and makes the charities wait and wonder for two month whether any more assistance will be forthcoming. Feinberg has decreed that he will expedite claims in 48 hours to affected Gulf Coast residents and this is a great thing, but what of the affected families who experience glitches in paperwork, have trouble documenting their claims, or run into other bureaucratic snafus? And what of the people the charities were assisting before this oil spill, who were already in need, whose assistance will suffer because the end results of this oil spill broke the charities they were depending on?
British Petroleum owes these charities much more than they have given.
And not to be ignored are the politics involved. None of the regions governors, especially the two with 2012 presidential aspirations want to be the guy who asks the president to invoke the Stafford Act, especially when they run on campaigns of a limited federal government, but in the meantime their constituents suffer and will continue to do so even with the $20 billion dollar escrow and the $52 million dollar mental health grant. Yes, calling in FEMA would put this on the taxpayers dime, but hasn’t the government been issuing bills to British Petroleum for services rendered all along? If the 1990 oil pollution act doesn’t allow these reimbursements, then why not work to change the law and make it retroactive?
Of course none of that would be necessary if BP would just come through on making people whole as they have so often promised.
When announcing the mental health grant on Monday, Lamar McKay, British Petroleum’s US President said:
“We appreciate that there is a great deal of stress and anxiety across the region and as part of our determination to make things right for the people of the region, we are providing this assistance now to help make sure individuals who need help know where to turn…”
That’s nice Mr. McKay, but helping people cope with mental health problems without working to alleviate the conditions fueling the stress, anxiety, PTSD and depression is like closing a window only halfway to keep out the storm’s driving rain.
Your company broke the charities.
Your company bought them.
The ultimate responsibility to fix this mess is yours.
Read the articles
Charities Seek Help for Gulf Coast Victims
Needs of oil spill victims should be met: An editorial
Have a nice day.
About F’in Time…BP Gives 52 Million Dollars to Fund Mental Health in Gulf Coast
And if you ask nicely, in seven weeks Mr. McKay and BP will be concerned about you too
Give credit where credit is due, and I will..just check back with me in two months and I’ll give British Petroleum all the credit in the world for doing what it is they morally should have done from the beginning.
From Channel 6 News in Houston:
BP announced on Monday a $52 million award to fund behavioral health support and outreach programs across the U.S. Gulf Coast region.
The award will be given to federal and state health organizations. The multimillion funding will help residents link up to support available through providers in their communities and it will be available through local outreach programs and a special toll-free phone line where information on available services will be provided.
“We appreciate that there is a great deal of stress and anxiety across the region and as part of our determination to make things right for the people of the region, we are providing this assistance now to help make sure individuals who need help know where to turn,” said Lamar McKay, President of BP America.
While I welcome this news, the above quote would seem to indicate that Mr. McKay and his corporation never really understood the stress and anxiety of Gulf Cost residents at all. If they had, they might understand that the interminable delays and unwillingness to commit to aiding mental health programs only served to add to the anxiety and stress of everyone involved in providing these services and especially, those in need of them.
Let us not forget what had to happen to get today’s announcement:
Multiple requests had to be made by multiple states (Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi) with no response from BP for weeks.
In July, the Executive Director of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness), Michael Fitzpatrick, had to call out BP for its irresponsibility in a public, national letter.
Also in July, the Louisiana DHH was forced to advise the US Department of Health and Human Services in a publicly released letter how they’d requested funds from BP to provide much needed services, but were getting nowhere.
So, Mr. McKay, whereas it is appreciated your company finally did the right thing, your grand pronouncement of compassion and care? It rings about as true as the forced apology from a playground bully, right after you finally got busted by the sociology teacher…remember? When you got caught being an asshole?
Read the article
$52 million for behavioral health support across the Gulf Coast region
Have a nice day.
